“Good teaching is good teaching, no matter how it’s done” (World Wide Learn, 2011). eLearning is no exception. eLearning is the delivery of teaching and learning by electronic means. eLearning greatly improves student learning opportunities and plays an important role in developing students’ digital literacy. It is learner centered by providing a variety of delivery methods of information and the opportunity for students to learn what they want and at their own pace in order to suit their differing needs. It is also accessible 24/7 and eliminates all geographical barriers allowing for learning to occur on demand, wherever and whenever a student wishes. Student interaction, collaboration and relationships with teachers are also fostered through e Learning whilst the global learning community is only a touch away. Most importantly e Learning prepares students for the future and lifelong learning.
There are a variety of digital technologies that can be employed in eLearning. I have investigated some of these tools and analysed them in my blog postings. This post will therefore reflect and summarise on four digital technologies and indicate how I they can be used to enhance support and transform student learning in my teaching specialisations of business education and mathematics.
However before I start on the technology tools it is important to understand the safety, legal and ethical issues that can arise from using these tools and learning online. Like everything else copyright regulations apply for online use therefore teachers must adhere to state and federal legislation which enforces this to model and teach students to do the same. It is also the teachers and schools duty of care to ensure the safety of the students. Students can be exposed to inappropriate material, physical danger, harassment, bullying and spam on the internet. Therefore students’ privacy must be a primary concern for teachers when using the internet.
Group 1 Technologies include the Web 2.0 online spaces such as wikis, blogs and websites. There are many purposes and advantages of implementing wikis into the teaching and learning of a class, some are these are provided in Appendix A. It is important to note that a wiki is only a space and must be scaffolded in accordance to the learning that is required. Wikis cater for multiple learning styles through the inclusion of text, images, video and audio files and providing the flexibility for students to reflect, follow a sequence of steps of jump straight into activities. Wikis practice constructivism. They are learner centered, must be scaffolded to ensure learning and provide an area where social interaction and group collaboration can occur. They also facilitate all aspects of the engagement theory framework. Wikis allow for students to learn through interaction in problem based experiences where problems are authentic and the students relate to content, create their own thoughts and knowledge and donate through the wiki. (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Furthermore wikis above components, create, and all three together to form analysis, encourages higher order thinking in students and strengthens their skills.
Group 2 Technologies include the media tools of audio, images and video. Multimedia, otherwise known as video, is considered to be a powerful technology for learning.It can be applied in different ways to assist the many styles of learning which incorporate active, reflective, sensor, intuitive, visual, verbal, sequential and global Please refer to Appendix B to find out the use of video in the classroom and the various ways it can be applied to support the learning styles. It is evident that the video helps learning through student construction and student observation of videos. Video engages the learning theories behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. Video construction requires a series of steps to be followed with programmed instruction whilst developing metacognitive skills. It also needs scaffolding to ensure effective learning (and already made videos can be used within scaffolding of an activity) and involves interaction between students. Furthermore, video construction employs creative thinking to develop higher order thinking. Similarly, it supports the engagement theory where groups of students must create videos relevant to a subject’s content to share with others. If scaffolded correctly, student video construction also provides the possibility for students to practice Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy in their own videos which usually relate to the content of a subject, in my instance, business education or mathematics.
Group 3 Technologies are all about presenting learning and information. They include PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster. Although all three technologies provide the opportunities for students to be creative Glogster takes creativity to the next level. To find out how Glogster can be used in the classroom and its features please view Appendix C. Glogster practices the ICT theory of engagement where students are meaningfully engaged in learning activities though interaction, e.g. class or group projects and worthwhile tasks where they must relate, create and donate e.g. creating posters about a unit of work to use as a presentation aid (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). It also fosters higher order thinking through creating and if the activity is scaffolded so, can follow the remaining types of thinking in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. The scrapbooking tool does not include any scaffolding so teachers must scaffold activities and tasks that involve the tool to ensure that learning occurs. Along with scaffolding Glogster also employs constructivist features of social interaction and collaboration to create the posters. Lastly, it caters for the visual, verbal and active learning styles of students.
The fourth digital technology that I chose was online concept mapping. Fasso (2011) noted that online concept mapping tools are valuable for information organisation, chunking and linking for transfer to long-term memory. In other words they can be employed to help facilitate aspects of cognitivism. Appendix D. Students become engaged by online concept mapping because they must develop a concept around the content provided in a subject and donate by sharing online, with their groups or class. They also allow students to practice higher order thinking and Blooms Revised Taxonomy where there the map is created and can show the students thinking in regards to evaluation, analysis, application, understanding and remembering of a topic.
Overall, eLearning occurs when technology is used in pedagogical sound ways for the learning of specific content. (Fasso, 2011) The technology tools, wikis, digital video, Glogster and online concept mapping help teachers teach and students learn to:
- Act ethically, legally and responsibility
- Discover, collect, organize and share data
- Investigate, research and problem solve
- Innovate, create and publish
- Collaborate and interact with real world project.
(Queensland Government Department of Education, Training and the Arts, 2008)
In other words technology tools help students become 21st century learners and teachers to engage in ICT learning design frameworks to ensure effective e Learning.
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
References
Fasso, W. (2011, February 28). Active Learning, Learning Diversity and the Theory.
Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICT’s for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=163840
Fasso, W. (2011, March 7). Effective eLearning Design. Retrieved from CQUniveristy e
courses, EDED20491 ICT’s for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=163843
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999) Engagement Theory: A framework for
technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.html
Queensland Government Department of Education, Training and the Arts. (2008). Smart Classroom Bytes. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf
World Wide Learn. (2011). E-Learning Essentials. Retrieved from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-essentials/elearning-benefits.htm
