Reflective Synopsis

I've reached the midway point of this course, and it's time to reflect and consolidate. I have posed myself a key question which my reflective synopsis will aim to answer:

What do I now understand about e-learning, and how will this guide my teaching practice?

My synopsis will be sequenced with some simple headings to aid navigation.

Why is e-learning important?

The development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as the internet, computers, smart boards and mobile devices has vastly expanded the ways in which we interact. E-Learning can take learners beyond the boundaries of the physical classroom; the virtual classroom has no walls or ceiling, and the internet allows participation in a global community. This means ready access to a whole range of experts in their fields - whether those fields are things like marine biology, or what it means to be a child in another country with different customs and values. Citizens of the global community are connected in ways that just weren’t possible in the past.

ICT has the potential to facilitate, support and enhance learning in endless ways, but this is not the only reason to embed it in our teaching. We are now living in a knowledge economy in which problem-solving skills, flexibility and inter-personal skills are highly valued (Houghton & Sheehan, 2000). According to Fee & Seemann (n.d., p. 7), technology “has the potential to imbue many of the ‘life skills’ required” for participation in a knowledge economy. It is clear that ICT should not be ignored in Australia’s education system. The Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEECDYA, 2008) recognises the need for young people to become highly skilled in the use of ICT, and the Australian Curriculum endorses this, stating that students must “learn to use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas” (ACARA, 2012).

Today’s learners are developing, and need to develop, complex new literacy skills for making meaning from texts that transcend the traditional (Ewing, Lowrie & Higgs, 2010). Prensky (2001) claims that all of our students are ‘native speakers’ of digital language. Whilst I find this message inaccurate (see my blog post here), I do believe that digital language is an intrinsic part of our daily lives and that it is part of my role to provide my students with carefully scaffolded opportunities to become familiar with it.

Based on the evidence, I believe that digital literacy and the thoughtful use of ICT is a vital component of a thorough, effective education within contemporary Australian society.

How does learning theory apply to e-learning?

The TPACK framework emphasises the relationships between technology, pedagogy and content knowledge (reference). As I have established in this blog post, technology should not be a mere add-on to education. Content knowledge is important, as one must know what to teach; and pedagogy is important, as one must know how to teach, and how to embed technology in meaningful, useful ways.

It has been established throughout the course that no single learning theory can 'cover all bases' when it comes to implementing e-learning in the classroom. Instead, effective e-learning can be seen to link to a variety of prominent theories:

Behaviourism

There is some support for behaviourism’s value in e-learning, but I feel that whilst, as Snowman et al. (2009) explain, ICT can make behaviourist approaches more efficient (for instance in rote learning of basic facts), such approaches do not take advantage of the real power of ICT. Behaviourism is, I think, a limited approach to e-learning.

Cognitive Constructivism

This is one of the areas in which I feel the real power of ICT and e-learning comes alive. The cognitive approach holds that "people do more than simply respond to reinforcement and punishment" (Woolfolk, 2001, p. 240), and emphasises the importance of prior knowledge and scaffolding. Scaffolding aids the process of constructing knowledge (Snowman, et al., 2009). Planning for scafolding is, then, a vital part of the teacher's role. Early in this course, we participated in a Wiki activity using Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats' as a scaffold to support our thinking. As you will see in my blog entry, this activity helped me to recognise the value of appropriate scaffolding.

Social Constructivism & Collaboration

The importance of collaborative learning is emphasised in contemporary theory (Killen, 2003). ICT has obvious strengths in this regard as it supports collaboration in ways that, twenty years ago, could barely have been imagined. Students can work together easily over the internet – discussing issues, commenting on each-other’s creations or ideas, or editing a group document, for example. 

 

Connectivism

Connectivism as a learning theory refers to the storage, seeking and sharing of knowledge that is possible in this highly networked era (Siemens, 2005). The idea seems to be that such networks and connections (which allow us to locate information as we need it) are more important than necessarily having information ‘saved’ in our own minds. This certainly rings true for me when I consider how frequently I use networks – such as Google or even facebook – to find information as I need it. I am a competent ‘searcher’ in this sense, able for instance to insert the terms into Google’s searchbar which are most likely to bring up what I need. I also know how to locate and communicate with people who may be able to help me with particular things. According to connectivist theory, students need such skills if they are to be competent lifelong learners. ICT in the classroom, then, is an important tool for teaching these skills.

  

This is not an exhaustive list of learning theories relevant to e-learning! It does, however, provide an overview of a few aspects that I believe are important to consider. Teachers need to keep learning theory in mind as they make informed choices about using ICT to support teaching and learning.

Practical Application - some specific tools

Throughout this course I explored a variety of online tools, considered their advantages and disadvantages, and evaluated their potential for use in my future classrooms. I wrote detailed blog posts on tools which I found particularly interesting. These tools reflect changes in digital technology which some refer to as the advent of Web 2.0 (which you can read more about in this blog entry).

The tools can be broadly categorised as follows:

Online spaces

Online spaces are a bit like blank canvases which users fill with their own content. Wikis are a prime example of online spaces which promote collaborative construction of knowledge. Read more about them in my blog entry here.

Multimedia
 

On the internet, a multimodal text can contain images (including animated images), audio (such as podcasts, Vokis and other recordings) and video (an embedded Youtube clip, for instance). These tools can be combined in any number of ways to create original, engaging, effective products; Blabberize, for example, allows the user to combine a selected image and audio file to create a talking image. I explored the use of multimedia in this blog entry.

Presentation tools

Tools like Powerpoint and Prezi allow teachers and students to present content in engaging ways, and are not just limited to visual components. Audio and video components, as well as links, can be embedded. As becomes clear in my review of Glogster, the flexibility of a good presentation tool allows use for a variety of different purposes.

Animations and Simulations

Animations and simulations open doors to realms that may not be available otherwise. Some are playful (like Zooburst), others are very practical (like Google Maps). I have often referred to simulations for scientific investigations when I was unable to complete an experiment myself (for example, for safety reasons). For this task, I chose to investigate Google Earth closely, and you can view my analysis here.

A few final considerations

The 'virtual' classroom has no walls, but it does have limitations. Equipment and programs, for instance, do not always work as expected. In the ICT world, problems are pervasive – and solving them is all part of the learning curve.

Copyright, ‘fair use’ and content protection exists on the internet as much as anywhere else. Teachers should talk to students explicitly about legal and ethical issues when it comes to copying or sharing another person’s work – and always model appropriate behaviour. I had difficulty finding permissions for an image I wished to use in my blog, and ultimately (though disappointed) chose to replace it with another, as it is better to be sure. Additionally, teachers should respect students’ own rights by always seeking permission before sharing any of their work with others.

Not everything found online is accurate information. Students must learn to identify reliable sources. Teachers can help by modelling the process and providing students with safe opportunities to exercise their own ability to make judgements. As I stated in my post about Wikis (linked previously), Wikipedia provides an excellent opportunity for teaching about this.

Finally, safety is of utmost concern. The internet is a public domain by nature, and when information or content (such as photographs) is shared over it, there is no guarantee of privacy. Children must be made aware of such issues – including the fact that when something is shared publicly online it is practically irretrievable. Some online spaces are protected in certain ways, but even then there is potential for private information to be stored or accessed by unauthorised people. Again, teachers must model and discuss safe internet practices. I mentioned one example in my review of Glogster (linked previously), regarding privacy policies and Terms of Use articles.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2012). Information and communication technology (ICT) capability. Retrieved from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability

Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., & Higgs, J. (Eds.). (2010). Teaching and communicating: Rethinking professional experiences. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Fee, T., & Seemann, K. (n.d.). The knowledge economy: What it is, where it comes from and what it means to technology education in Australian schools. Retrieved from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/technology/prolearn/reading/index.htm

Houghton, J., & Sheehan, P. (2000). A primer on the knowledge economy. Retrieved from http://www.cfses.com/documents/knowledgeeconprimer.pdf

Killen, R. (2007). Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Thomson.

Melbourne Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). (2008). Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians. Retrieved from http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/mceecdya/melbourne_declaration,25979.html

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Snowman, J., Dobozy, E., Scevak, J., Bryer, F., Bartlett, B., & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology Applied to Teaching (1st ed.). Milton, Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia Limited.

Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational psychology (8th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.