This synopsis will examine the
importance of e-learning in today’s society. In addition it will briefly
address four different information communication technology (ICT’S) tools.
Why e-learning?
Computers and computer based
instruction (CBI) were launched into a number of Australian public schools in
the 1980s (Snoman, Dobozy & Scevak, 2009). Academics declared students
would learn much more through CBI than they would from teacher instruction
(Snoman et al., 2009). Technology and research has come along way since then. Prensky
(2005, p. 60) suggests students these days are uninterested in school as it is no
way as appealing as the ‘devices’ in their bags. To teach effectively using
ICT’s teachers need to consider what is appropriate for the task and not just
expect students will be interested as the lessons contains a computer game reward
at the end. The technological pedagogical and content framework (TPACK) is used
to assist teachers in identifying the correct pedagogical knowledge (PK),
content knowledge (CK), and technological knowledge (TK), to design meaningful
learning experiences (Koehler, n.d.). With this knowledge in mind educators
today know students need more than just a computer with drills to be engaged in
meaningful learning (Prensky, 2005). Why do educators need to use ICT’s in
school?
Prensky (2005, p.62) draws
attention to students feeling like they have to ‘power down’ when going to
school. He also remarks that some teachers claim students these days have short
attentions spans, his response is they do not appear to for video games, music
or the Internet. With a world full of games, smart phones, Internet and social
media, why are educators still providing ‘yesterdays educations for tomorrows
kids?’ (Prensky, 2005 p. 62). School is defined as ‘an institution for
educating children’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2010). Let education be instruction
for tomorrow using effectively all the tools we can ‘keep up with’ today.
How can e-learning support and
enhance students learning?
The cognitive domain of Bloom’s
taxonomy can be used to support higher order thinking whilst using ICT’s within
a lesson (DECD, 2008). This questioning method may underpin an educators
planning process to ensure a meaningful use of knowledge application is
achieved (DECD, 2008). In addition, using the TPACK framework to ensure correct
content, technology and pedagogy choices for the task will warrant meaningful
use for students learning. The constructivist approach encourages students to
build on their current ‘knowledge base’ this can be achieved by ensuring tasks
are authentic and meaningful (Snowman et al., 2009). Snowman et el. (2009) agree
that different learning styles may be targeted with e-learning. For example,
using an interactive whiteboard would enhance learning an engagement for
kinaesthetic and visual learners (Snoman et al., 2009).
Blogs
In 2004 Merriam-Webster named the
word ‘blog’ as word of the year. Furthermore, according to Downes (2004) an
American university used a community blog as part of their law degree to
motivate discussion among the 180 students, with grades awarded for this. Richardson
(2004, as cited in Downes, 2004) highlights that increasing numbers of schools
are using blogging as a means of communication to students and parents alike. Yet,
Lani Hunter only just started blogging. As a future learning manager I must
keep up with technology so I wearily embraced this idea of blogging. As a
digital immigrant it was a challenge in the beginning and I did not see this
tool as valuable in the classroom. Now I see the worth of creating an online
community among students, teachers, parents and the world. (see here for a PMI on blogging).
Teachers can monitor and scaffold
discussion through effective questioning allowing deeper understanding of
knowledge or concepts in accordance with Bloom’s taxonomy (DECD, 2008).
Students can stay connected to the class and teacher from anywhere in the world
as long as they have an Internet device and connection. Creating an online collaboration
allowing students to engage and comment with other students is aligned with
constructivist learning theories. The teacher may also connect students with
another class around the world to make authentic connections as part of an
inquiry or investigation.
As this is largely a discussion
forum the teacher will have to consider safety for her students at all times.
Cyber bullying can occur anywhere including a class blog. It may be a simple as
a student encouraging other students to ignore one class member. This would be
invisible to a busy teacher. Therefore measures must be taken to manage this.
In addition, copyright and plagiarism could become an issue if students were
adding information to their blog that was not theirs and they did not obtain permission
for. Consistent discussion and visual representations could be used to mitigate
this.
Wikis
On March 15th 2007 ‘wiki’ was added
to the Online Oxford English Dictionary (Wiki, 2012). This illustrates the worldwide
embrace for a tool that allows many users to upload and edit a document. In
addition, wiki’s are a collaborative approach that is supported by the
constructivist theory (Snoman et al., 2009).
The De Bono’s six thinking hats wiki was a fantastic exercise. I personally
spent my time weighing up all the comments and aligning myself with them. Did I
agree or disagree with that comment. I think this is a great way as a teacher
to encourage rich thought and discussions and allow for students to develop and
move through Bloom’s taxonomy. Furthermore, a wiki permits the teacher to
observe students contributions and add to the conversation to change the
direction of thought. This enables the teacher to scaffold the learning for the
class or groups. Grouping the class in ability groups and assigning a wiki to
each group would be a great way to cater for differentiation within the class.
The teacher could appropriately challenge each group encouraging them to move
through Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) by providing some support
along the way (Snowman et al., 2009). A Wiki is easy to set up and to add information, photos and links
to. Please follow the link to my wiki in progress.
As a teacher it will be important
to model supportive behaviour as some students will find it confronting to have
their thought/work on show for all to read. Creating a class culture that is
supportive and understanding of this would be imperative. It may be challenging
to ensure students do not delete others work, accidently or intentionally.
Moreover, students will have to be aware of the laws in regards to adding other
people’s photos or work — similarly to blogging.
Concept mapping
‘A concept map is a graphical tool
for organizing and representing knowledge’ (Cañas & Novak, 2009). Developed
in the 1970’s concept mapping or mind mapping has evolved and changed over
time, in turn so has the researched that supports this method (Cañas &
Novak, 2009). Snoman et al., (2009) maintain that when knowledge is offered in
meaningful, structured formats, students will learn and recall more information.
Concept maps are underpinned by the constructivist approach (Snoman et al.,
2009). Constructivists emphasise for meaningful learning to occur, a student
needs to identify prior knowledge in order to learn new knowledge (Snoman et
al., 2009).
To utilise this tool through
e-learning there are various websites that allow the development of individual
mapping. For example bubble.us (please see blog) and text2mindmap.com. Both
have their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, both have a different way to
structure the mind map and for this reason these two sites will suit different
styles of learners. First, bubble.us allows you to work straight into the mind
map manipulating the bubbles to suit your needs. At first it seems awkward but
after a few attempts it is very easy to master. Whereas text2mindmap.com starts
with a structured writing of all the information using heading or subheading to
achieve different bubbles and branches. At first I preferred the structured
writing approach much better. However after a few attempts I now much prefer
the bubble.us approach of using bubbles immediately.
Taking my experience into
consideration I would allow students to ‘play around’ with these tools to
ensure they could identify their preferred tool. Moreover it would be
interesting to split the class into their preference and have them argue and
justify why their way is better. If students were working in groups using this
tool in the future, it would be important to remember to allow students to keep
in their preferred learning style. There is no current safety or legal issues
within these two websites, however common sense for the teacher and students
alike is always essential.
Images
In society today we are pressed for
time. We live in an age where we also expect ‘things’ to happen quickly. A
television commercial has 30 to 60 seconds to get their point across.
Billboards and Internet advertisements may have only seconds to get your
attention. As a result images have become vitally important in our society.
Therefore it seems that students will need to be able to read images as well as
words.
Thibault and Walbert (2003), claim
that ‘visual literacy’ is a fundamental skill in the 21st century. To be
visually literate a student will need to be able to read, make meaning of and
communicate through; images; representations and gestures (Thibault & Walbert,
2003). A teacher is required to use images meaningfully not just because it is
‘pretty or cool’. Like reading text, reading images contains many different
levels of understanding (Thibault & Walbert, 2003). They can encourage
critical and reflective thought along with providing a visual representation of
a written explanation (Thibault & Walbert, 2003).
Strategies for looking at images
may be used when first interacting with images. The ‘see think wonder’ tool is
a great place to start (Harvard Project Zero, n.d.) The use of a Y chart to
promote language to describe what an image looks/sounds/feels like is another
method. Encouraging students to find meaning in images will start to develop their
visual literacy (Thibault & Walbert, 2003).
Explicitly teaching students to
acknowledge the owner of images when using them online is crucial. Having a
class discussion about the copyright laws and why they may be in place will
help students understand this rule. Teachers can refer to the smart-copying website for assistance. Teachers must model and instruct students
to use flickr and the filter search for copyright free images for use on
websites, blogs and wikis. Teaching students to be visually literate will
assist in their future interactions with websites, movies and PowerPoint’s. I
feel this is a highly valuable tool, to help students use and read images as it
will play a major role in their future.
Conclusion
What
a journey I have taken. My personal development and growth throughout this
course so far has been fantastic. I had many personal doubts in my possible
achievements within e-learning. After a few hiccups (deleting my synopsis,
that's all) I feel like I have come so far and I am no longer as afraid to have
a go. I still need to learn a few things like saving my work properly, embedding
voki's and movies. However I will never know it all, and that is okay. This
journey will ensure I am sympathetic to my students as I have gone through
feelings of uncertainty and fear. I too know how it is to feel worried that
other people will be reading and judging my work in an online collaborative
format. Taking this into consideration I honestly feel these experiences will
make me a far better learning manager.
References
Cañas, A. J. and Novak, J. D.
(2009). What is a Concept Map?
Retrieved from
Department of Education and Child
Development (DECD). (2008). Blooms
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Downes, S. (2004). Educational
Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5),
14-26.
Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/educational-blogging
Harvard Project
Zero (n.d.) Visual Thinking. Retrieved
from
Koehler, M., J. (n.d.). TPACK-Technological Pedagogical and Content
Knowledge. Retrieved from
Mergel, B. (1998). Instructional design and learning theory.
Retrieved from
http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/mergel/brenda.htm#The%20Basics%20of%20Behaviorism
"school". Oxford
Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.
Retrieved from .
Snowman, J., Dobozy, E. &
Scevak, J. (2009). Psychology Applied to Teaching (1st ed.). Milton,
Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia
Thibault, M. & Walbert, D.
(2003). Reading images: An introduction
to visual literacy. Retrieved from
Prensky, M. (2005). Engage Me or
Enrage Me: What today’s learner demand. Retrieved from
Wiki (2012). Wiki. Retrieved August 19, 2012, from
