E-Learning Guidebook Chapter 3 – Learning Technologies and Digital Media
As we begin to look at the technologies and approach to teaching the learners at Fithian, we looked as several different aspects of learning. There were several important ideas and concepts that we want to include in our educational experience. We feel that by including these concepts and ideas we will be better meeting the needs of all of our learners.
We are proposing a multimodal approach to teaching. The educational experience needs to be more than students opening information on the internet or computer, reading it, and answering questions. The learners of today expect more interaction between them and the others students and instructors. They are also expecting more than just reading and writing. They want to be entertained and asked what they think about topics. Learners don’t want to just be lectured anymore.
Before we begin giving specifics about how the courses will be set up, we must first select the appropriate technologies using a simple four step process (Simson, 115). With this process with will first assess the technologies that you will be making available to your students while at the Fithian International School along with what technologies they currently have available to them while at home. This will help determine what is we set up for your students in order for them to be successful. Secondly we will sit down with your administrators and see what are the exact learning outcomes they have in mind for each course. By doing this, we will know in advance exactly what you want to be taught and what the students should be able to successfully do once the course is completed. Once the learning outcomes have been identified, we will make sure that the learning experiences match the appropriate technology that we have available. The last step will be to prepare the learning for the delivery through the digital media we have selected for each experience.
The experiences that we are going to include in the educational experience for your students will be very similar for each course they take but will be changed so that they are specific to each course taken. We want to have TEL – technology enhanced learning – which means that the technology that will be available to the students is meant to take the learning experience to a higher level. That as you look at the cone of experience we will be moving the ideas and concepts from a less abstract or concrete way of thinking to becoming more abstract as you move within the course and training models (Simson, 93).
We are creating a course where the students will have to actually leave their current environment but will still be able to go and see objects and how things are created and made. We will be doing this through virtual field trips, where the students can see what is going on and feel as if they are really there by watching it through an internet connection. Discussion boards will also be used so students can ask questions of other students and the instructors without feeling put on the spot. Other students or the instructor will be able to answer the questions and give feedback to the questions either in real time (synchronously) or later when they are able to log in (asynchronously).
Part of the courses will have parts that are pre-recorded so that the students will be able to open these segments whenever they need to refer back to items discussed or when it is convenient for them. We will begin the courses with two way audio with graphic capabilities so that students are able to talk to each other and present information to the group as whole or the instructor is able to do this without having the students be together in one physical location. As the course progresses and the technology and funding we have progress we can also change this so that it is not only two way audio but also two way video. By doing this everyone will be able to see other no matter where they are located. Instructors will be able to see the students and have them to presentations that are not just audio based, but also video based. Plus, we feel that this may help some students by being able to put a face with a name and voice.
As we look at what kinds of learning technologies and media we currently have available through Fithian we are hoping to start this multimodal approach on a small scale and make sure the students and instructors are comfortable with the basics first. Once we feel all are ready for the next step we will start to integrate more components into the courses.
References
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Dillenbourg, P (2008).Integrating technologies into educational ecosystems. Distance Education. 29, 127-140.
McLoughlin, C., and M. Lee. 2008. Future learning landscapes: Transforming pedagogy through social software. Innovate 4 (5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=539 (accessed September 17, 2008)
Sarsar, Nasreddine. June 22, 2008. Adopting a multimodal approach to address the multiliteracy needs of my students. Online submission – research paper.
Simonson, M, Smaldino, S, Albright, M, & Zvacek, S (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education: Fourth edition. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.