In the twenty-first century, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have impacted on educational opportunities. Contemporary learners are used to working with new digital technology as an opportunity to solve problems. Prensky (2001), refers to these types of learners as ‘digital natives’. As a result, learning designs have required restructuring and ICT’s have become integral to how we access and process knowledge in every field of learning. Pedagogy has also transformed, providing new ways to learn using electronic support in learning (E Learning). The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authorities (ACARA, 2011a), states the importance of making these changes is because technological change is globalised which places a greater demand on the future careers of young learners.
However, re-engineering education instruction that incorporates the complex relationship between new technology, content and pedagogy can seem overwhelming for the digital immigrants like myself. This does not have to be the case. Salmon (cited in O’Neill & Knight, 2007) suggests that new learning is not any different but it is the way contemporary learners communicate that has changed and learning managers need to incorporate modes of communication technology in their learning design. In addition to incorporating variable modes of communication, it is vital to design learning that engages learners through the use of new technology. Prensky (2005), states that teaching the same way as teaching was delivered thirty years ago, will result in contemporary learners coming to class and ‘powering down’, or switching off, as they are not digitally thinking.
To ensure the safety of learners’, the Australian government is continually bridging the gap between digital immigrants teaching digital learners by providing safe secure networks that consist of recommended research links, professional development options, and regular updates of resources. For example, the Learning Place (Department of Education & Training, DET, 2010), and the Learning Federation (Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, MCEECDYA, 2009) are current online digital resource networks equipped with a variety of key learning area (KLA) exemplars which support learning, and teachers teaching methods, and a variety of pre-checked safe resources for learning. These networks base their research on the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPACK), which has already been discussed in this blog (Appendix A). Mishra and Koehler (2006), state TPACK is teaching with technology that cognitively connects the construction of new learning to prior knowledge through the use of meaningful tasks relevant to the learner. Overall successful teaching, no matter whether you are a digital immigrant, or not, will combine; learning theories with the TPACK framework, and consider Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy in the learning design to achieve a deep understanding in the diverse range of all learners.
As a part of analysing and developing my own learning management skills and design strategies, I created my own web sites from these tools and analysed the use of these tools for teaching purposes. Three different tools are analysed in the following;
1. I have created a blog and then did a swot analysis (Appendix B) on using it for teaching purposes. Overall, I have found blogging as a very useful and user friendly tool. Blogs are maintained by the individual and provide a personal running commentary of the student’s learning journey. The advantages of individual blogging is learning development is valued by the individual as they can see how they are progressing. The learner’s posts are in chronological order which can be easily monitored by the learning manager and any constructive feedback can be applied through the comments link.
2. I have created a wiki and completed a PMI analysis (Appendix C) on using it for teaching purposes. Wiki’s can be accessed by the whole class and are not in chronological order. This type of learning can facilitate communication amongst learners as they can all add comments to the same page. The learning manager will need to ensure students have the skills of using wiki’s before delving into complex tasks because information can be edited and changed by anyone who can access that page. Using DeBono’s hats a strategy fit very well in the wiki for our learning purpose. The next couple of paragraphs also analyse the use of a wiki tool in the classroom.
3. Lastly, I created a website (Appendix D) and completed a PMI analysis (Appendix E) on using this for teaching purposes. Website’s can be very time consuming and distracting during their construction. This would get better as students skills develop if they were frequently exposed to one type of web constructing organisation such as Weebly. Website’s tend to best display the final product of students work. Learning managers can monitor the learning progress but cannot provide direct feedback and as a result students may stray off task. There is very limited communication possibilities.
Using the analysis tools demonstrated in the exploration of these web tools above, are also great for developing a thinking learner. Eric Frangenheim (2010, p.5), suggests that good thinking will not happen automatically, it takes effort, and using these tools are strategies that will assist in successfully achieving the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy (Appendix F). Overall, teachers who can incorporate the use of these thinking tools into their E Learning designs will stimulate the learning environment and enhance thinking practice in learners. Furthermore, these tools in an online context suit all diverse learning styles (Appendix G) and will develop students’ ICTs confidence through investigations, creations, communications, operations and applications which is in line with learning outcomes of the Australian Curriculum: ICTs (ACARA, 2011b).
As a part of this E Learning experience, I have participated in course wiki links that involved a variety of group tasks;
1.We discussed a range of alternative opinions (Appendix H) about using mobile phones in the classroom for educational purposes. Edward DeBono’s hats was the thinking strategy used for this task. Using the hats forces the students to think beyond the narrow prejudice perspectives about this topic. From the students first initial point about the task, the hats require students to consider at least another five different dimensions about the discussion topic. The hats are a great tool to structure thinking. In my blogg (Appendix I), I have further analysed the effective use of DeBono’s hats for teaching purposes. I have also analysed the effectiveness (Appendix Q) of this specific task delivered in the course.
2. I joined a smaller group and discussed the best possible answers (Appendix J) from a series of quiz questions provided in the course. Unfortunately, this was my first experience of using a wiki as a negative impact. For instance, the research and hard work that was applied to answering these quiz questions and justifying how these answers had come about, seemed to lead nowhere. As a result, I was not sure if I had followed the right process, or whether I had answered the questions correctly because I was not provided with any feedback from my group. This result had me thinking, for example, how would this be in the classroom situation? Are the students just going to leave it to some of their group members to do all the work and then they just copy it. If this is the case, not all learners are engaged and learning. The next question raised was, will students feel vulnerable putting their responses online for all to see? From my experience, I was beginning to feel this way. Obviously these are considerations the learning manager has to deal with in the classroom. The learning manager will be required to establish a comfortable classroom environment to ensure all learners feel supportive and confident in their own responses (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Also, the learning manager will need to continually motivate learners’ attitudes towards learning and ensure all learners are participating. Providing continual constructive feedback to the learner can also be done online, not just the classroom.
3. We discussed the differences between (Appendix K) learning design frameworks, conceptual frameworks and learning theories. Once again, full class participation had dropped, although in this case, the responses could have become very repetitive. I enjoyed reading they way other students applied their own understanding to these key characteristics of learning. As a result, I had reflected on how it can sometimes be easier to understand your peers perspectives about important facts rather than studying the professionals written theoretical version of those facts. Although, some background knowledge is still required because peers may not identify all the important key concepts in their elaborations which can be nutted out through discussion with others who have researched the topic.
A range of digital tools were also explored throughout this course. As a digital immigrant, who enjoys the discovery of new technologies, I found part of the course engaging but very time consuming and sometimes frustrating due to my lack of skills. However, I have come to the conclusion that each tool I have experimented with provides a useful purpose for the designing of learning. The following links provide an example of my developing digital technology skills and a short evaluation for teaching purposes for each tool; Prezi (appendix L), Glogster (Appendix M), Google Earth (Appendix N), and Google Maps (Appendix P). On the whole, each tool listed (and lot’s more found online) can provide unique specific purposes in drawing on students learning. Some tools have the ability to facilitate independent learning journeys more so than others, known as constructivist learning (Mergel, 1998). But, in some cases the learning journey may be completely knew to the learner and tools that provide sequential guided steps would be better in that circumstance until the learner has the ability to become proactive in their own learning.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority. (ACARA, 2011b). Information and communication technology (ICT) competence. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority. (ACARA, 2011a). The shape of the Australian curriculum [vers:3]. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/
Department of Education & Training. (2010). The learning place. Retrieved from Education Queensland, http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/
Frangenheim, E. (2010). Reflection on classroom thinking strategies: Practical strategies to encourage thinking in your classroom. Loganholme, QLD: Rodin Educational Publishing.
Marzano, R., & Pickering, D. (1997). Dimensions of learning, teachers’ manual (2nd ed.). Denver, Colorado: ASCD.
Mergel, B. (1998). Instructional design & learning theory. Retrieved from University of Saskatchewan, http://www.usask.ca/education/
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA, 2009). The learning federation: Teaching teachers for the future. Retrieved from http://www.mceetya.edu.au/
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Retrieved from CQUniversity course, FAHE11001 ELearning online, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/
O’Neill, P., & Knight, A. (2007). E-Learning: A catalyst for a futures orientation. In Smith, R., Lynch, D., & Knight, B. Learning management: Transitioning teachers for national and international change [pp.44-56]. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
Prensky, M. (2005). Engage me or enrage me: What today’s learners’ demand. Retrieved from CQUniversity course, FAHE11001 ELearning online, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved from CQUniversity course, FAHE11001 ELearning online, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/
Appendices
Appendix A. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/
Appendix B. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/swot-analysis-on-using-blogs-for.html
Appendix C. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/pmi-analysis-on-using-online-wiki-for.html
Appendix D. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.weebly.com/
Appendix E. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/12/pmi-analysis-on-building-individual.html
Appendix F. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/blooms-taxonomy.html
Appendix G. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/catering-for-different-learning-styles.html
Appendix H. Retrieved from http://fahe11001-3-11.wikispaces.com/Group+3+Mobile+Phones
Appendix I. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/analysing-use-of-mobile-phones-as.html
Appendix Q. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/11/reflecting-on-delivery-of-learning.html
Appendix J. Retrieved from http://fahe11001-3-11.wikispaces.com/Quiz+Practice+2
Appendix K. Retrieved from http://fahe11001-3-11.wikispaces.com/Learning+Design+Frameworks+VS.+Conceptual+Frameworks+VS.+Learning+Theory
Appendix L. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/12/prezi-for-learning-purpose.html
Appendix M. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/12/glogster-for-learning-purpose.html
Appendix N. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/12/using-google-earth-in-learning-designs.html
Appendix P. Retrieved from http://mrbenstack.blogspot.com/2011/12/using-google-maps-as-part-of-learning.html
