Lecture 2 ICT in teaching and learning

ICT in teaching and learningDr Megan Poore

[email protected], Floor & Room: 5, B66

Overview

•What about technology?

•What we’re doing online: ICT & contemporary society

•ICT and education

A word to the wise ...

•This lecture is presented in three parts

•Take notes as we go because you’ll be asked to discuss an element of each part with a buddy during proceedings

•Write down things that interest, provoke, intice, challenge, confuse

•Feel free to interrupt with focused questions at any stage

PART I

WHAT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY?

What is technology?

•At its most basic, it is a set of tools or techniques that serve our requirements

Shaw, Debra Benita. 2008. Technoculture. The key concepts. Oxford: Berg. p. 1

What is technology?

•Conceptually speaking, it cannot be separated from its social context

•Technology is inherently social and society is inherently technological

•In other words, technology is not just a tool, it is also a process

Technology and society

•Social conditions are structured by, and structure, technological developments

•Patterns of work and social life influence, and are influenced by, technology

•e.g., travel needs -> combustion engine -> cars -> traffic -> motorways, traffic lights, parking spaces

Shaw, Debra Benita. 2008. Technoculture. The key concepts. Oxford: Berg. pp. 2-3



•Internal combustion engine and telecommunications are central to our work and other activities



•But there are degrees of socio-technical impact ...


Ah, the Segway

“If enough people see the machine, you won’t have to convince them to architect cities around it. It will just happen.”

... or not.Steve Jobs, quoted in Wired, UK edition, 11.09

| [t]he uses to which [appliances] are put are civilization, and without the things the uses would be impossible

— John Dewey, Democracy and Education, III, 4

Technology is usage

1.Hardware or artefacts

2.Socio-technical systems of manufacture

3.Knowledge, techniques, know-how, methods

4.Socio-technical systems of use

Source: López, Mónica, Diego Valdez, Veronica Olea, Andrea Mosqueda, Mónica Gutierrez. What is technology? Slideshow presentation. Available at http://www.slideshare.net/diegovaldez/what-is-technology-2937682. Accessed 1 February 2010.

Usage1. Hardware or artefacts

•Objects used or made by humans


Usage 2. Systems of manufacture

Equipment, people, law, economics, politics


Usage 3. Knowledge, techniques

•Skills, information, processes and procedures


Usage 4. Systems of use

•What we do with things; hardware + people + purpose

•Technology is not neutral


Technological revolutions

•We are undergoing a digital revolution.

•But this is not the first technological revolution that humanity has faced.

•There have been technological revolutions in the past.

Agricultural revolution

•sedentarism

•boundedness

•cultivation

•domestication

Industrial revolution

•manufacturing

•processes of mass production

•machinery

•economic rationalism

•markets, labour, commodities

Digital revolution

•internet

•computing

•communications

•data

•information

Digital revolution

•Revolutions typically lead to a shift in consciousness, that is, shifts in

‣How we understand the world

‣How we understand ourselves

‣How we understand others

•In other words, how we think and what we think about is changing

ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR?

BECAUSE SHORTLY WE’RE GOING TO DO SOME REFLECTING ...

Expand your consciousness!

•Buddy up. Think about the current shifts we are seeing in technology. How this is impacting upon

‣How you understand the world

‣How you understand yourself

‣How you understand others

•You might want to think quietly about these topics before discussing with your buddy.

Anyone want to share or comment?

PART II

WHAT WE’RE DOING DIGITALLY

Online participation

Types of online participation

•Creators

•Critics

•Collectors

•Joiners

•Spectators

•Inactives

Noble, Steven. 2008. Australian adult technographics revealed. Report. Forrester Research. p. 6



Contemporary issues

•‘Digital Natives’

•Digital divide

•Age

•Gender

•Education

•Income

ACMA. 2009. Use of electronic media and communications: Early childhood to teenage years. Report. p. 1. Available at http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311819. Accessed 1 February 2010.

ACMA. 2009.Click and connect: Young Australians’ use of online social media02: Quantitative research report Report. p. 24. Available at http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/1001/pc=PC_311797. Accessed 1 February 2010.



Implications

Implications

•Young people are connected.

•That means they have certain expectations

•It also means they have certain needs

Implications

•They expect access to technology and the web.

•And despite being ‘teched up,’ young people often have under-developed media literacy skills.

•You will need to be digitally literate yourself.

| I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original.

— Reyner Banham, Architecture of Four Ecologies

ANY QUESTIONS?

Reflection

•Think about your own online habits. Are you a creator? critic? collector? joiner? spectator? inactive? Does it depend?

•What impact have digital technolgies had on you personally?

•What might it mean to ‘read digital in the original?’ What have you done in this direction so far?

•Discuss with your buddy

Anyone want to share or comment?

PART III

EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS

Rationales for ICT in education

•Type A: Encouraging the acquisition of ICT skills as an end in themselves

•Type B: Using ICTs to enhance students’ abilities within the existing curriculum

Downes, Toni, et al. 2001. Making better connections. Available at http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/making_better_connections.htm. Accessed 1 Febraury 2010.

Rationales for ICT in education

•Type C: Using ICTs to enhance students’ abilities as an integral component of broader curriculum reforms that are changing not only how learning occurs but what is learned

•Type D: Using ICTs as an integral component of the reforms that alter the organisational structure of schooling itself

Downes, Toni, et al. 2001. Making better connections. Available at http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/making_better_connections.htm. Accessed 1 Febraury 2010.

The context of ICT and education

•Technology is central to 21st century culture

•As teachers, we have a moral obligation to respond to the socio-technological context

•We must prepare young people to participate usefully and ethically in a new media world

Underwood, Jean. 2009. The impact of digital technology. A review of the evidence of the impact of digital technologies on formal education. Available at http://publications.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=41343. Accessed 1 February 2010.

Two main impacts on learning

•Changes in behaviour (learner, teacher, shool)

•Changes in academic performance


Changes in behaviour

•Readiness for learning

‣Overcoming behavioural issues, neuro-developmental difficulties

•Integration of learners into the learning process

‣Assisting students with disabilities; personalised learning programs


Changes in academic performance

•Improved performance

•Classes with online learning (either completely online or blended) on average have stronger learning outcomes than face-to-face alone


Benefits and challenges of ICT in education

Benefits of ICT in education

•Classes with online learning (either completely online or blended) on average have stronger learning outcomes than face-to-face alone


Benefits of ICT in education

•Increased learner effectiveness

•Increased learner efficiency

•Greater learner engagement or satisfaction

•More positive student attitude to learning

Underwood, Jean. 2009. The impact of digital technology. A review of the evidence of the impact of digital technologies on formal education. Available at http://publications.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=41343. Accessed 1 February 2010. p. 5.

Challenges

•e-Access

•User e-Maturity

•The right resource

•eSafety

•Academic dishonesty


e-Access

•Access at home or school impacts on the educational experience

•Home access is proving an important part of the learning process

•Disenfranchisement is a serious issue


User e-Maturity

•Level of skill, confidence, knowledge

•Skills gaps exist despite positive attitudes

•Home access also impacts user eMaturity


The right resource

•Matching the technology with the learning experience is critical

•Technology must match pedagogy

•It is risky to move teachers too far outside their comfort zones (slower uptake and higher rejection rates)


e-Safety

•Level of learner knowledge and understanding is variable

•Knowledge is shaped by gender, home access, e-maturity, individual attitudes

•Students see both teachers and parents as important sources of e-safety advice


Academic dishonesty

•Changes to the dynamics of dishonest academic practice

•Schools need to evolve to take advantage of tools for dealing with plagiarism and cheating

Underwood, Jean. 2009. The impact of digital technology. A review of the evidence of the impact of digital technologies on formal education. Available at http://publications.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=41343. Accessed 1 February 2010. p. 5.

Teacher roles and responsibilities

Teacher roles and responsibilities

•To help young people safely and ethically navigate the digital environment

•To prepare young people for meaningful participation in the digital knowledge economy

•To provide more individualised learning experiences for students

Wrapping up ...

•Technology is a given fact of being human

•It’s not just computers: it’s systems, processes, data, and purposes, too.

•This is an important time because we’re in the midst of a technological revolution

Wrapping up ...

•ICT has a part to play in education but there are some critical challenges that we need to meet

•Teachers have a responsibility to help prepare young people for the world of tomorrow

•If you’re feeling a bit freaked by that, then don’t ... we’ll help you get there

Image referencesSegway. http://hastyruminations.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/segway11.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

2001 ape. http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/images-2/2001-a-space-odyssey-ape.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

Global solutions. http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/technology_stockxpertcom_id1218361_size1.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

Information button. http://www.cs.nuim.ie/~amyfg/images/information.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

Iraq war. http://www.slideshare.net/diegovaldez/what-is-technology-2937682. Accessed 1 February 2010

Agriculture. http://www.egyptianagriculture.com/images/egyptian_farming.gif. Accessed 1 February 2010

Industry. http://www.trueroots.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/industrial-revolution-women.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

Teacher roles. http://www.iamthemightyjungulator.com/files/image/file/230/nesta_jungulator_5.jpg. Accessed 1 February 2010

All other images are royalty- and copyright-free. yay!