Coming into this class I classified myself as technologically savvy, and believed it would be easy enough that I could ‘breeze’ through. According to Prensky (2001), I would be considered a digital native; someone who has grown up surrounded by technology and is familiar with it. Someone who is unfamiliar with technology, like my mother, could be considered a digital immigrant. Hence the reason, I thought I knew it all. I had evidently over-estimated my knowledge. I found there were still new programs, new concepts, and many possible learning abilities behind each and every one of them. This class has enabled me to learn new tools, contributing to my lifelong learning, and scaffold them in a way that I can now manage into learning experiences, theoretically and physically. Throughout this course I have engaged in professional blogging with other teachers to analyse and evaluate the value of ICTs and their position within learning environments. This synopsis is going to discuss ICT, pedagogy, learning theories and ICT frameworks, and how they affect us as impending learning managers.
According to Random House Dictionary (2010), pedagogy is the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods. As an impending learning manager it is important to understand pedagogy for the learning of the students. Without productive pedagogies students are unable to learn to the best of their ability. Pedagogy highlights the interactions between learning managers and students.
When using digital tools in a learning environment we must consider pedagogy and implement it appropriately. Tutor2u (n.d.) advises that ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. So this not only means computers, but tools and products such as television, interactive whiteboards to mp3 players. As 21st century learners and learning managers we now have available to us so many tools that are technologically advanced that it is vital we learn how to use them. So the question is how can we utilise these ICT tools in teaching/learning environments to encourage, motivate and improve the learning of our students?
Three learning theories that can be applied to the use of ICT’s will be considered throughout this synopsis: behaviourism, constructivism and the engagement theory. Behaviourism is a learning theory that only focuses on objectively observable behaviours and discounts any independent activities of the mind. Behaviour theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behaviour based on environmental conditions (On Purpose Associates, n.d.).Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in (On Purpose Associates, n.d.).
The engagement theory by Kearsley and Schneiderman says, that the fundamental underlining idea is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks. The basic principles to this theory are ‘relate’, ‘create’ and ‘donate’. So now we understand some theories, how can we apply them in the pedagogy of ICT to develop higher order thinking and develop learning?
The first tool we used in the course, blogspot.com, will elaborate on the engagement theory’s basic principles. This program enabled us to create a blog online, post our thoughts as well as comment on other people’s blogs. Creating a blog covers all of the basic principles mentioned above. ‘Blogging’ involves communication, planning, management and social skills. The ability to post thoughts and comments on other users profiles exhibits a social network and valuable connectedness. Siemans (2004) describes connectivism as a ‘learning theory for digital age’ defining it as an integration of principles explored by random interconnecting networks and complex self-organisation theories (Smith, Lynch & Knight, 2007, p. 51).
The students have a chance to be creative with access to different colour fonts, borders, layout styles and much more. Also available is the value of making a useful contribution to other’s profiles. Donate productive criticism or simply thoughts and ideas to others who have not considered them. There it is: relate, create and donate. The engagement theory promotes human interaction and therefore I believe creating blogs is a great avenue to do so. So how and where can it be used? Well, for younger students I think a great way to use this resource is simply allowing students to blog about themselves. This way, it helps you profile your learners and understand what their interests and dislikes are. It’s a chance for them to establish friendly relationships with their peers and also gives them a chance to experiment with new tools. For older or secondary students, let them blog about the context learnt in class. They can critique each other’s work and develop higher order thinking by challenging each other. Siemans (2004) suggests that the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing (Smith, Lynch & Knight, 2007, p. 51). Another great thing about this tool is that after a little playing around I realised I had to become a member of other’s profiles to enable me to comment on them. This elicits the opportunity for any unwanted guests or inappropriate behaviour to occur in the e-learning environment. Fantastic don’t you think?
Another proactive learning tool is the memletics website. This learning style inventory can produce a visual representation of your styles and balance. Digital tools such as quizzes and online tutoring systems are based on behaviourist design. Memletics enables the students and learning managers to identify strengths and weaknesses. It is designed for low-level content, process and routine skill development: an ideal resource for younger students.
In the use and learning of ICT, we must also consider Netiquette. Netiquette is the term used to describe the rules for electronic communication. I personally found that practice of chatting online and sending emails fore mostly contributed to my development of netiquette. A perfect tool for this is hotmail.com. It’s free and easy to use enabling anyone to create an account in which they can send and receive emails. Allow students to constantly email each other using emoticons. This will encourage their understanding of netiquette and thus, encourage their involvement on the World Wide Web. Netiquette will also introduce the ethics of the internet, establishing working legally and safely online.
I will also briefly touch on Google, as it is the most popular research engine in the world. Can’t find something? Or want to know more? Google is your answer to all the answers. It is important that we highlight the importance of developing research skills to students for a more productive research session. It is important to identify key search terms to provide the best results and to acknowledge the value and reliability of the information. With this in mind we can consider the use of WIKI’s and Wikipedia.
In my blog Working the Wiki Way a colleague and myself discuss detriments of these resources. We found there were more negative attributes of using these tools rather than positive. On the whole I would not consider using these resources in class and would deter students from using them outside. Another resource similar to WIKI is Weebly. Weebly is a site that is free and allows anyone to create their very own website. The benefit of Weebly is that no one has access to any changes. With both of these tools we can apply the constructivism theory, in the way that students can apply what they already know to a new concept. So, the information supplied on the site/s is directly from the student and from this they can manipulate and develop the information or the site.
After discussion with a colleague I have become in favour of the bubbl.us website rather than another version called Prezi. Concept maps are great for developing higher order thinking among students. This can be done through analysing and comparing, and thus apply Kearsly and Schneiderman’s basic principles of relate, create and donate. It also allows for teachers to assess certain behaviourist characteristics. I believe the engagement theory is an exceptional application for motivating and developing the learning of students in the 21st century. In the past, learning was based on the context of the work, and learning was publicised upon sitting at a desk and memorising information. There are so many theories in regards to pedagogy that it is difficult to choose one and master it. Overall most theories will be used in the classroom even if unintended or unacknowledged.
As the nation becomes technologically advanced and dependent for the 21st century, we as learning managers need to move with this notion for the sake of our future generation. Informations and Communications Technology (ICT) have become highly sophisticated and teachers and knowledge workers often struggle to remain current with the use of these technologies. The role of educators, however, is not in the development of these technologies but rather in the deployment of them to support learning (Smith, Lynch & Knight, 2007, p. 51). Through this reflective synopsis I have traced a variety of ICT tools that would work well in a learning environment as well as the ones that should be avoided. I emphasise that before using any ICT tool within a classroom that you deconstruct what the tool is about and explore the learning possibilities within. That does not mean you have to understand the resource 100%, but to enable you to use the ICT tool in a way that develops and encourages students to learn to the best of their ability.
References
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives digital immigrants. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Random House Dictionary (2010). Pedagogy. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pedagogy
Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Learning Curve Education. (n.d.) What is ICT? Retrieved August 24, 2010, from http://tutor2u.net/business/ict/intro_what_is_ict.htm
Tech terms computer dictionary. (n.d.) Netiquette. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from http://www.techterms.com/definition/netiquette
On Purpose Associates. (n.d.) Behaviorism. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from http://www.funderstanding.com/content/behaviorism
On Purpose Associates. (n.d.) Constructivism. Retrienved August 24, 2010, from http://www.funderstanding.com/content/constructivism
Smith, R., Lynch, D., & Knight, A. (2007). Learning Management: Transitioning teachers for national and international change. NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
