“e-Learning is so broad and encompassing that it’s hard to articulate a brief definition that actually does the term justice…the use of any electronic technology to aid in the acquisition and development of knowledge and understanding in order to demonstrable and positively influence behaviours.” – aadm
e-Learning is the
implementation of ICT’s (Information and Communication Technologies) in
pedagogical methods. Today’s “‘digital natives’…absorb information quickly, in
images and video as well as text…they operate at ‘twitch speed’” (elearnmag).
Through the integration of these technologies in the classroom, learning
managers are able to offer more individualized instruction. Students are able
to learn when, how, where they want and with an enhanced level of creativity.
“…more than just adapting for different learning styles or allowing the user to change the font size and background colour; IT IS THE PLACING OF THE CONTROL OF LEARNING ITSELF INTO THE HANDS OF THE LEARNER.” – elearnmag
The web itself has been
revolutionised. The ‘new’ Web 2.0 sees the change from the ‘read web’ to a more
constructivism form; the ‘read-write web’, with strong encouragement of
participation from it’s users.
“…a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed and passed along…with a vocabulary consisting not just of words but of images, video, multimedia.” - elearnmag
A quote I have
referred to previously reads;
“There are arguments that classrooms are in danger of becoming redundant unless significant changes are made to curriculum and assessment practices.”
The Melbourne
Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians has the ICT
capability requirements listed as;
“…recognises that in a digital age…young people need to be highly skilled in its use…empowered within a technologically sophisticated society now and into the future, students need the knowledge, skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home and in their communities.” – MCEETYA 2008
Through the past six
week blog posts, a reoccurring theme presented. As teachers, our role is to
empower our learners. Through the engagement of challenging, invoking content;
strong pedagogy, which enables higher order thinking; assisted by solid
teaching strategies and supporting the three learning theories, whilst working
legally and ethically. Embedding ICT within this framework plays a powerful
role. This leads to exploring how educators can successfully implement these
strategies within pedagogical practices.
Underpinning
e-Learning design is the TPACK framework. It’s basis combines the appropriate
technical skills, strong content knowledge with the combination of relevant
pedagogy. Pedagogy, “the art and
science of teaching”, is naturally critical for educators. As previously referenced
in my blog;
“…authentic context, problem-based learning, deep understanding and higher order thinking, collaboration for learning, and the creative and inventive solution to the problem that addresses the real-world problem posed.”
However, in order to
plan engaging and provoking learning experiences, Education Queensland has
clear outlines of the incorporation of ICT to facilitate quality lessons. They
outline that digital pedagogy ‘transforms learning…supports thinking…allows
learners to build solutions and products through highly creative, expressive
and reflective processes.’
Digital pedagogy
supports and enhances HOW learners learn. As learning materials suggest, within
the cognitive theory, learning is ‘best designed…if it is presented in small
chunks.’
“Enter Web 2.0, a vision of the Web in which information is broken up into ‘microcontent’ units that can be distributed over dozens of domains.” – elearnmag
The development of ICT
within education clearly enhances the social constructivism theory also. When
reflecting upon the ‘mobile phone Wiki activity’, a favourable outcome was
achieved through the platform of Wiki and using the de Bono’s Hat framework.
Collaborative, higher order thinking was achieved, supporting the
constructivism theory. This setting stimulated creations of new thinking as
problem-solving was enhanced.
“…what is important to recognize is that the emergence of the Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution…Web 2.0 is an attitude not a technology. It’s about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services.” – elearnmag
Finally, the
behaviourism theory is also stimulated. Through positive reinforcement
utilising online tools with ‘pre-defined’ results. As it proposes in course
materials;
“The biggest impact of ICT on learning outcomes is where you are working towards complex outcomes, such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation.”
These technologies
allow learners to tap into their higher order thinking, as referred to by
Bloom’s Taxonomy, whilst learning in their preferred method. While researching
and analysing each technology, copyright of images and materials existed in
each platform. Within course materials a principle, which highlighted awareness
on the web proposes;
“…normal copyright guidelines for education apply in an online environment.”
Obviously there is a
standard. Users must work legally, safely and ethically. As an example, each of
my blog posts has references.
Upon completion of
schooling, students need to be equipped with fundamental skills to be life long
learners and valuable within their chosen field. I appreciate the role ICT
performs in this development. Reflecting on the skills I have now acquired
whilst exploring these technologies, I acknowledge that ICT will play a
significant role in my classroom, which will give my learners an enhanced, rich
learning experience.
“There is also an increasing recognition that learning is becoming a creative activity and that the appropriate venue is a platform rather than an application. In the future it will be more widely recognized that the learning comes not from the design of learning content but in how it is used. Most e-Learning theorists are already there.” - elearnmagTo fully appreciate the evaluation of e-Learning, I have prepared a SWOT Analysis.
http://www.aadm.com
http://elearnmag.acm.org
http://www.elearnagedcare.com.au
http://groupx.edu.au/event/young-ict-explorers-2013 http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf
'course materials'
Chapter III Pedagogical Potentials of Multimodal Literacy
http://www.creately.com
http://www.wordle.net
