e learning!

Image: ‘Crayola Lincoln Logs‘
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A newspaper article describes technology as being as important as life basic commodities. It needs to be considered right up there with water and electricity, if we are to prosper as a creative nation that is. It is suggested that we need to encourage kids to think to learn, not just memorise, oh so very true! Furthermore, technology encourages students to expand their mind and provides the ultimate platform on which to express themselves.

However, the article discusses the need for increased creativity, hence more technology is vital, yet we don’t need to encourage more sport. Given the abundant teenage digital age we live in, combined with the childhood obesity epidemic, I cannot say I agree with this point. Even to imply that we need technology to be creative is slightly ridiculous. Yes technology can help, but wonderful things have been achieved without it. Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso seemed to do just fine.

Source: Canning, S. (2008). Rear kids to be creative, not sporty. The Australian. Retrieved 7th November 2008 from, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,23551127-13480,00.html

This video speaks the praises of technology in the classroom. It highlights how important it is for students to feel connected to an interactive environment. Many students are unable to travel elsewhere, or need to study via distance education, yet students need to be able to relate with their teacher . Technology, particularly vidoe conferencing, has enabled students to achieve their academic goals and provide options for the future. It is mentioned that teachers who are proficient with the technology can apply these skills to all their claasses.

The most exciting part is that students can connect with other students from all over the world to embrace each others culture and educational perspectives. Somewhat faster and more interesting than an International Pen Pal!

Source: You Tube. Videoconferencing, technology in the classroom. Retrieved 7th November 2008 from, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRQjYG4u-U

Being a partial technology cycnic, it’s important for me to note to relief I felt when  Maria’s blog outlined just how involved and engaging technology based learning can be. As Maria suggests, it’s all too easy to assume that students want to use technology for ‘fun’ or to obtain the answers quickly and easily via search engines, otherwise known as ‘surface learning’. Yet whoever said, besides educational saddists, that learning couldn’t be fun?

Technology enables students to achieve a greater understanding in their learning and possibly contributes to increased sense of worth, as students contribute actively towards the completion of tasks. This is surely one of the most important aspects of education. What’s more, if such learning helps students to build up their knowledge to a point where one can evaluate their own learning, well, even I can’t argue with that.

Students go to school to learn, not simply to be taught or given constant instructions. It is important that both teaching ad instruction be highly effective to education, yet we must remember that it’s constructionism that is really going to help students learn. It’s not simply a coincidence that most students are crying out for more group work or activity based tasks instead of just reading from the text. No, apparently this also helps students to give their learning meaning, and quite simply, well that’s how they learn.

Constructionism is about getting the student to actually do a task, hence technology has a large role to play. For example, technology lets students make or construct something, something that they can often apply to a real life situation. It’s so important to be able to relate to a concept and build upon its meaning. If we must compare technology vs textbooks, this is one instance where technology wins hands down.

Source: Papert, S. (1980). Constructionism vs. Instructionism. Retrieved 27^th October 2008 from, http://www.papert.org/articles/const_inst/const_inst1.html

Having located an article highlighting the benefits of concept mapping, my initial thoughts have been confirmed. I believe that concept maps, particularly those developed online by the students assist in developing greater knowledge and understanding of a topic. Concept mapping is a learning activity where students interpret and build on their knowledge in a visual form.

Image: ‘YouTube: It not making sense.‘
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When learning students may either have a surface appraoch to learning or a deep approach. Surface learning often covers the bare essentials, yet deep learning requires a thorough understanding of a concept. It is difficult to develop a valid concept map without taking a deep approach to learning. Students need to understand the various definitions of a concept and be able to identify their similarities or differences to other related concepts. Overall it was found that students using an online concept mapping application achieved higher academic results in comparison to those who did not. Furthermore students were also encouraged to take a deep learning approach to their study. Not that I needed any convincing of the benefits!

Source: Chang, Shujen L.; Chang, Yegmin. (2008). Using concept mapping with peer learning to enhance concept application. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p17-27. Retrieved November 1^st 2008, from Academic Search premier, full text database.

The video highlights what can happen when teachers are the focus of the lesson, not to mention no student direction or technology featured. Source: You Tube “The Perils of the Teacher-Centered classroom”. Retrieved on November 3rd from, www youtube.com.

I enjoyed the article ‘The 6 C’s of motivation’ . The 6 c’s being choice, challenge, control, collaboration, constructing meaning and consequences, each highlighting 6 ways to boost student motivation in the classroom.

Personally, I feel it is important to ensure students are pushed to achieve at higher levels, that they have some input into their learning and are encouraged to work together with their classmates, amongst other important elements. I do not see how incorporating the 6 C’s of motivation directly relates to technology or e-learning, however, I do expect that using technology in the classroom could certainly aid in achieving the 6 C’s! Where meaningful learning is concerned, allowing students to conduct their own research would assist in greater understanding. Moreso, where consequences are concerned it is stated that when students are provided channels to display their work, motivation increases. How wonderful for students to strive towards the creation of their own website, podcast or blog, just to name a few!

Source: Wang, S. & Han, S. (2001). Six C’s of Motivation. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 31^st October 2008 from, http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Six_C%27s_of_motivation

The following is an audio response to the article by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler  Minds on fire: Open Education, The Long Tail and Learning 2.0   tmpodcast

Source: Seely Brown, J. & Adler, P. (2008). Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review, 43(1), 16–32.

Given how far we’ve come since the 1800′s, it seems that our classrooms don’t nearly reflect these changes. Sure, the majority of public schools have the odd computer lab and perhaps even a few smartboards, but the general everyday teaching of students hasn’t changed all that dramatically. Claudia Wallis & Steptoe (2006) highlights how we should, well really must, adapt our schools to provide the education today’s students not only deserve, but require to get ahead in this world.

Students need to a greater global awareness and to have access to a huge range of information. More importantly, they need to be able to determine what information is valid and what to disregard. Working in teams, greater social interaction and cultural awareness are all high in the ‘must do’ category. If business owners and managers had their chance to write the curriculum it appears that the major topic that would feature is technology use, followed closely by exposure to world cultures. Hardly surprising if you consider just how great an impact Globalisation has on our lives. E-learning obviously helps to provide technological skills which are typically ‘portable’ from one nation to the next, but it also allows for easy connection between cultures- something i’d never really considered, despite the demands of leading executives. So when I used to sit in a subject wondering how certain tasks would ever help me, it seems I was quite right to doubt their purpose. For it was always the more practical activities that seemed to make the pieces fit!

the pieces fit!

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Source: WALLIS, C. & STEPTOE, S. (2006). How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century. Time. Dec. 10, 2006 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html

It seems that the technologically tuned in students of today simply aren’t learning enough from an old fashioned education system. The article featured in The Australian suggests that todays students are continually exposed to the virtual world of the Internet, hand held games and i-pods, leaving them to feel as though they step into a time machine when they go to school, particularly if most lessons consist of ‘chalk and talk’.  Schools fortunate enough to offer technology to students in the form of personalised laptops boast of how much their students enjoy school. Some experts are claiming that the general lack of tecnhology within schools is causing the drop out rate to increase.

Image: ‘Big Wheels‘
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I believe that this article is in some ways exagerrated. Naturally, technology within schools needs to increase, there is no doubt about that. It is vital to teach students how to interact within their world and make learning meaningful, where technology has an enormous role to play. However, the article speaks largely of how involved students are with text messaging, online games and You Tube, which most would not consider to be of significant educational value. Technology can and does help students to learn. However it’s not the only way to learn. Surely there are some things in school, such as the all important tasks of reading and writing, that need to be conquered with good old fashioned books, pen and paper.

Source: Dearne, K. (2008). Hi-tech children tuning out of ‘horse and buggy’ education system. The Australian. Retrieved October 12th 2008 from http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23651226-27646,00.html

As up and coming teachers of the future we are continually being told to make learning meaningful to students. Rightly so! As a student that has come through primary and secondary school, and gone on to tertiary studies, I myself know all too well what lessons will stay with me for a life (or a while at least!) and what I must simply memorise to get by on a test or achieve a certain grade. The Jonassen article, What is meaningful learning?, highlights the need for learning to be engaging, where students interact in a cooperative manner. We should not simply be announcing the necessary information, but rather letting the students seek the information for themselves.

Technology allows for such activities to occur easily within the classroom. It’s not the only way it can be done, however it’s not always possible to leave the school environment to go on an excursion, or do activities elsewhere. Using technology within the classroom allows the students to actively research their topic and find their own answers. Being involved in this process helps the students to retain the information. For example, teaching year 9 gegraphy about synoptic charts and weather patterns in a class discussion simply did not have the same impact as when they accessed the Bureau of Meterology site for themselves and examined the interactive charts and found their own information. I was still there to assist, although it made my job easier, more importantly the students were satisfied in themselves that they had found the answers. Making a lesson meaningful doesn’t mean it’s always more difficult.

Source: Jonassen, D. et al (2008). What is meaningful learning? In D. Jonassen et al.(Eds). Meaningful learning with technology. (3^rd Ed). pp1-12. Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, N.J.