What is E-Learning and why is it important?
E-Learning is the implementation of Information Communication Technologies (ICT's) within the classroom of our 21st century learners. For the past 15 years technology has evolved rapidly to the point where children have become digital natives. Digital Natives as described by Prensky (2001) are students who "today are all 'native speakers' of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet".
It is alarming when on average today's society has spent less time reading, approximately 5,000 hours in fact compared to the 10,000 hours playing video games and even more shocking 20,000 hours watching TV (Prensky, 2001). For this reason children of today expect to be engaged because their whole lives they have grown up with something that has engaged them. Children before the technological era didn't know any difference therefore "didn't expect to be engaged by anything they did. There were no CD's, no MP3's - and none of today's special effects" (Prensky, 2005).
More and more children in today's society are becoming "students who 'tune us out'" (Prensky, 2005). These students are totally disengaged from the learning styles in the classroom unless there is some real life relevance or technological engagement. These students need to be accommodated just like the rest of students therefore as Marzano & Pickering (1997) believe we need to "use a variety of ways to engage students in classroom tasks". Students and their diverse learning styles and interests need this accommodation by us to maximise their learning inclusion and outcomes.
Integrating technology within the classroom involves utilising the tools in which we deliver the curriculum content and implement practice in better ways. Integrating these technology tools is not about the types of tools used or how much these tools are used but in fact why and how they are used to best benefit our learners (Earle, 2002). This isn't a choice of whether we do opt to use these tools, it is advised by Education Queensland and they state that "when we give students opportunities to learn in ways that suit them, we are showing an understanding of their needs, interests and strengths (2011).
Students will benefit from such opportunities to engage with ICT's as Education Queensland describe that "successful learners are creative and productive users of technology moving easily between their personal learning environments and networking spaces to improve their knowledge, capabilities and understandings of our world" (2010). On a wider scale we must not forget that we are teaching our future generations who will uphold our societies. So for stability in the future and strong economic growth students must have the capacity to use digital literacy and teachers must teach them to do so by applying ICT pedagogy (Education Queensland, 2008).
My personal experience with learning the E-Learning tools.
This journey has opened my mind to what is actually available on the internet to enhance my teaching style. I was always a bit sceptical and lacked enthusiasm about trying new ICT's and thought I would get around to investigating them one day. I'm happy this experience has motivated me to explore and learn new ICT's and ways of doing certain tasks. What I have learned from so far in the classroom and my days spent learning at university is that Learning Managers need a wide range of technological skills to produce a higher level standard of teaching and engagement.
What are the pros and cons of E-Learning in the classroom?
Firstly there are vast amounts of benefits for using ICT's in the classroom and they range immensely because of each learners' differences and learning styles. Utilising ICT's in the classroom will not only benefit the learners engagement but also their knowledge retention levels, enthusiasm, participation, behaviour management and lastly student-teacher rapport.
For students individually, using ICT's can have great benefits as it allows them to unleash their creative side, perhaps become emotionally involved in doing their work for better results and lastly to give students a head start on their futures in this world of technology. ICT's also allow collaboration of your classroom so if some students physically don't like working with others or emotionally cannot do so then to work online in activities such as blogs or wiki's these students would benefit.
Some cons to using ICT's are that it takes a lot of time to teach students of all age levels how to use such ICT's and this is taking away their learning time of the actual curriculum content. Some students can become frustrated if they cannot get things to work on the computer which can cause an emotional reaction.
From my experience in the classroom there has been lots of time wasting issues with logging in and availability of computer labs. Also the rare days when all learners are logged in and ready to go then the ICT you have planned your lesson around doesn't work or is blocked.
Other cons are that there are a lot of security issues on the internet these days and there has to be high levels of supervision and security measures put in place to protect our learners from explicit imagery, cyber bullying, stranger danger and personal information leaking.
What ICT tools have I researched?
After many weeks of exploring through the content of this journey I have had been introduced to many ICT's. They are shown reflected upon below in order of group tools as categorised on moodle.
Group 1 Tools - Space Tools
ICT Examples - Blogs, Power-Points, Websites.
My chosen ICT
For this first group of tools I was introduced to many tools such as the ones shown above. The purpose of these tools is to allow an individual or group to share their work and collaboratively work on a topic. These tools would allow a group of people to share each of their opinions and views which would help students on their social skills as well as their collaborative skills. Wiki's are designed to allow the user to gather the information easily and allow for any clarification through discussion. My Mobile Phone Wiki Reflection was based on the Wiki that our cohort participated in. The focus was the use of DeBono's six thinking hats and what our thoughts and feelings were on this topic and where they fitted.
When implementing Wiki's to a class the students must be made aware that there can be some emotional risk effects when participating socially. If a student says inappropriate things or goes onto the wiki and edits or deletes others work it can cause a lot of controversy. An adequate and trusting deal must be talked about in terms of all students "maintaining an open mind" and to "respond appropriately to others' feelings and level of knowledge" (Marzano & Pickering, 1997).
Despite the complications of using a Wiki I still indend to use them for scaffolding and developing students' knowledge and social skills.
Group 2 Tools - Multimedia Tools
ICT Examples - Digital Images, Podcasting.
My chosen ICT
I felt at home when it came to using these tools as I have spent years using these types of tools for my own personal benefit. These tools are for creating and customising images, video and audio. When it came to working with these tools there were no new discoveries really as I had worked with most of these tools before and knew their advantages and disadvantages.
For students to use these programs allows them to express themselves creatively and then share their work with others. For a student to include these tools in any of their assessment pieces they would benefit and so would the people visually looking at their work. Visual stimulants are one of the best engaging tools for students to help them learn to the best of their ability. Mazarno & Pickering (1997) suggest that we must "use a variety of ways to engage students in classroom tasks".
I would have no troubles incorporating these tools in my teaching style and also teaching the students how to use these tools so they are able to utilise them in any of their work.
Group 3 Tools - Presentation Tools
ICT Examples - Glogster, Webquest.
My chosen ICT
This week's group of tools were for presenting, such as the tool examples above. I have known about power-point presentations for nearly 10 years now and know every little aspect of it as I still use it regularly so I hold it in high regard. However since I have overused this program greatly I thought it would be great to use and reflect upon a Prezi. Straight away I was impressed when I watched some examples of Prezi's online. I gave it a go as the link shows above and I was happy with the outcome for a quick first attempt. At first it took a few minutes to understand all the steps to creating and navigating the Prezi but once I got the hang of it I could see huge potential.
I believe this is the 21st century version of a power-point presentation. It looks and feels a lot more modern and has so many more options and visual stimulants. In my opinion once a student has mastered how to use power-point I would then be teaching them how to use this great program. As these programs are for presenting students have to create their presentation through the knowledge they gathered, they need to invent their presentation. We must "help students understand the process of invention" when it comes to these tools as described by Marzano & Pickering (1997).
Group 4 Tools - Other Online Tools
My chosen ICT
The last group of ICT tools shown to us was other general tools available online such as the examples shown above. YouTube has become a huge sensation in the past decade where uploading videos is the new way to get your message out to the world. However as much as I respect and admire YouTube it only has one purpose and that is to view videos. I was surprised when I looked into what Google Earth had to offer with all their new upgrades. I remember looking at it when they first launched the program and it was just a basic way of looking at places in the world. These days there is so much more you can do with it such as looking into Astronomy and History with it as well as researching current affairs and current natural earth movements such as volcanoes, earthquakes and other such natural disasters.
Using this in the classroom is very beneficial as the students love to look at places that they've never seen before as its like a virtual excursion. Classroom control, active learning and overall engagement is at high levels when utilising Google Earth on a projector or smart board.
I intend to research and use Google Earth as much as I can when it comes to units of work and will also try to teach the students how to access information from it to allow them to present their findings in their own work.
Opportunities for me as a future Learning Manager
Throughout this learning experience I have been introduced to a number of ICT's that will enhance my teaching opportunities in the classroom for my students. I believe it is important to keep up to date with the progression of technology in today's society. If we don't, we'll become "Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language, are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language" (Prensky, 2001). I as a lifelong learner plan to keep my mind open to new tools and opportunities to help me improve my performance as a Learning Manager.
References
Earle, R.(2002). The Integration of Instructional Technology in Public Education. ET Magazine, 42(1) 5 – 13 Retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic87187.files/Earle02.pdf
Education Queensland. (2008). Smart classrooms bytes: E-learning for smart classrooms. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/pdf/
Education Queensland. (2011). Smart Classrooms BYTES. Retrieved 12th December 2011, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf
Learning Place: What we do. (n.d.). Education Queensland. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/what-we-do.html
Marzano, R.,Pickering, D, (1997). Dimensions of Learning, Teachers Manuel (2nd Ed.) Mid-continent Regoinal Educational Laboratory, Aurora Colorado.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved from CQUniversity course: FAHE11001 ELearning online, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/
Prenksy, M. (2005). “Engage me or enrage me” What today’s learners demand. Education Review 40(5), 60-64
