graduate task

2006-11-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

Reflection of the Article ‘Revolutionizing Learning in the Digital Age’

Last decade the slogan was the converting society from industrial age to information age. New slogan is that computer should not only use for information, but also should use for transmitting and accessing information. The revolutionary potentiality of technology is transforming learning and education. Near future the digital divide will be eliminated, but digital fluency will be the issue. Computer works like children’s finger paint not like the television (Resnick,2001). People develop a creativity attitude by using the computer. They can create their own web page, create their music and create their own simulated world like the second life where the participants in a virtual world are able to create a virtual person and they can personalize to look however they want. Children can create new video game. Therefore our children’s learning, playing and communicating are changing very rapidly.
Computers have been seen as important productivity tools for adults in the workplace. However, for children, productivity is not when children spend hours playing with the computer games. When they develop a skill like designing a web page or drawing a picture, it is productivity. Computer can foster creativity and social skill for children. Technology can provide a rich medium where children can be expressive, to become artists, musicians, writers. With computer tools they can be what they want to be today. Educational researchers recognize that getting to be a scientist, poet or artist is an important component of creative learning.
The future vision of our world includes objects and places which will become infused and augmented with computational power. Children will be freed from their desks to actively engage in play with real world objects merged with technologies. We have to go beyond adult center technology and create personal technologies that enable children to be who they want to be.
Therefore, according to Resnick, we need to update curricula for the digital age in order to prepare students with the new skills and ideas needed for living and working in a digital society. We should encourage our students to engage in collaborative projects and simulation software and cognitive tools rather than only memorizing the subject matters.

References

Resnik, M. (2001) Revolutionizing Learning in the Digital Age .Publications from the forum for the future of higher education. Boulder, CO: Educause. www.educause.com/resources.

The Virtual World of Second Life. Retrieved November 19,2006. from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5182759758975402950

..

2006-11-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Reflection on Assessment

Assessment is a powerful and continuous process that helps students to improve their learning as well as help teachers to monitor their performance that how well they can help them progress. Assessment is a measurement and evaluation of students’ learning. Today’s teachers have to face more challenge than before regarding assessment strategy. Today’s students need 21st century skills which creates an urgent demand on learners to acquire and practice the higher order thinking skills from the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating. Standardized test are not the only way of gauging student achievement.(www.edutopia.org) Performance assessments like collaborative projects, portfolios in that compile writing samples offer a richer, more holistic approach to evaluating what students know and can do. However traditional paper pencil test is also necessary to memorize the basic knowledge and apply by recalling the knowledge in the test. I think both are necessary to monitor student’s actual progress effectively. Some students are good in memorizing facts and express their thoughts in writings, but they are not good at performances. On the other hand some are not good in memorizing or writing, but they are good in performance based tests. However, I think, there is not much impact on the real world workplace for a person who has a good academic result, but it is completely depend on the capability of handling practical works.
Another thing always reflects on tests which is students’ socioeconomic background particularly in America. Educators always think about how to narrow the educational inequities. In this perspective language is one the issues for preventing higher achievement score. That’s why educators have to think about alternative assessments in order to ensure equity.

References:
North central Regional Educational laboratory.(1995). Critical Issue: Rethinking assessment and its role in supporting educational reform. http:/www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as700.htm.

North Certral Regional Regional Educational Laboratory.(1995). Critical Issue: Ensuring Equity with Alternative Assessments. http:/www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as800.htm.

Snowman, J. & Beihler, R. (2006). Psychology applied to teaching (11th edition).Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. www.edutopia.org.

2006-11-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Thought of Learning for Mastery

Learning is continuous and complex process. Traditional belief that a child who is born with very low IQ, can not develop mastery in any subjects or area, has been changed. Teacher must completely involve in the student’s learning process. First, he or she has to define a strategy how each and every student of a class can develop mastery in every subject. Mastery in subjects depends on five criteria. Achievement test or aptitude test can judge students’ mastery in subjects. So this test can motivate students to involve in subjects. The more they involve, the more they develop in the mastery in subjects. Teacher can develop students in mastery through presentation, explanation and home task. Teacher need to evaluate how much student understand his or her instruction. If it is not, he or she has to define a new way of instruction. Frequent feedback, reward can increase the students’ perseverance in a learning situation. For example, if one student does not get a good grade in mathematics, sometimes it means that he or she does not like to involve in that subject area, whenever that particular student gets a reward for some task related to that subject, he will be motivated and will push to continue his learning on that area and it will result to mastery. Again student can achieve mastery if they devote the amount of time needed to the learning (Bloom, 1968). When student achieve mastery in subjects, obviously they can develop lifelong interest in learning.
With the advent of instructional technology today’s teachers can meet the individual problem and solve their problem in a scientific way, in order to develop students’ mastery in subjects. Nowadays innumerable computer software is available to help them mastery in different subjects with the guidance of teacher though. Now teacher as a facilitator and computer as an intellectual partner provide students at every level materials and guidance to develop optimization of the learning process.

References:

Bloom, B. S., (May 1968). Learning for mastery. Evaluation Comment, 1(2), 1-12

Atkinson, R. C., (1967). Computerized instruction and the learning process. Technical Report No.122, Stanford, California. Institute for Mathematical studies in the social sciences.

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.), (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook 1, cognitive domain, New York: David McKay Company.

2006-10-31T12:56:00.000-08:00

Reflection of ‘Computer as Mindtools for Engaging Learners in Critical Thinking’

The more and more integration of Technology in classroom setting and learning affects the more and more increasing responsibility towards teachers and Pedagogy. Today’s teachers need to use technology as a tool to help student read, write, apply critical thinking, synthesize information and put together in a structured way. They have to think about that how technology can be applied to the learning process. Pupils should use computer as a facilitate tool to enhance the effects of learning knowledge and cultivate their mind in thoughtful way.
Jonassen, chad Carr and Hsiu-Ping Yueh describes Mindtools as a ‘way of using a computer application program to engage learners in constructive, higher order, critical thinking, about the subjects they are studying.’ The learner enters an intellectual partnership with the computer and begins to access and interpret information and organize personal knowledge in new ways. Mindtools are computer based tools and learning environments which serve as extensions of the mind. For example, databases, spreadsheets, semantic network (concept map), computer conferencing, Hypermedia construction. As I believe in constructivism, it is the Mindtools that helps knowledge construction, in which learner organize and represent what they know and foster creativity and higher order thinking skill through collaboration. Constructivist learning environment provide a question, problem or project learner attempts to solve. In the perspective of Cognitive process, by using computer as Mindtools, learner becomes more self reliant thinker and problem solver and help learner transcend mental limitations. Actually learner provide intelligence not computer and learner compel to engage in deep thinking. In pedagogy, the semantic organization tool can be used to represent knowledge in different subjects which engages learner in critical thinking and creative thinking about subject.
Therefore, Mindtool represent all effective and efficient way of integrating computer in a school setting. They can be used across the school curricula to engage students in thinking deeply about the subject they are studying and they can act as an intellectual partner that facilitates knowledge construction and reflection by learners. Mindtool softwares are readily available and affordable and they can provide variety of scaffold.
According to “Gardner, individuals are creative in specific domain”. He suggested that providing students with ways to be creative allows them to find and solve problems and communicate ideas in various forms’. Therefore, by providing different Mindtools to the students, teachers let them enhance their creativity through hand eye coordination, mental rotation, mental mapping, spatial visualization.

References

Jonassen, D., Carr, C., & Yueh, H. (1998). Computers as mindtools for engaging learners in critical thinking: Tecktrends, 43(2), 24-32.

Jonassen, D. (2000). Computer as Mindtools for School: Engaging Critical Thinking.2nd edition.(Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall) www.chss.iup.edu/jrmcdono/ED455-methods/mindtools.htm.

Jonassen, D. (2000). Mindtools for Engaging Critical Thinking in Classroom. www.coe.missouri.edu/~jonassen/courses/mindtools/mindtools/html.

2006-10-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Reflection of the article ‘A word of Learning’

Seymour Papert mentioned explicitly about the principles of learning. Usually Schools are encouraged to follow certain rules. Teachers need to focus on how students are able to solve the problems or to find out the correct answer, not to focus on rule or the way. Child can think about how they can solve problem individually. Student can able to solve a problem, when they spend little time to think about that. So, it is the thinking that fosters learning.
Papert suggested that school have to think more carefully about standard approaches to special education. Teacher has to think more profoundly about those disabilities and find the way to solve them. Motivation always does not work. Constructivism is built on the assumption that child will do best by finding for themselves the specific knowledge they need.
Everybody might have some learning difficulty in some area like author’s difficulty to remember the name of the flower or flower dyslexia. Learning explodes when one stay with it. The more connection means the more depth in that area. The new connection supports one another more effectively and those are long lasting and go in many direction. In my view, cultivation of knowledge is the key to someone’s success. The more someone cultivate something, the more he or she gains knowledge. Therefore, even though knowledge passes through a pipeline from teacher to student, interconnectivity of knowledge play a vital role in learning.

References:

Papert, S. (1993), The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer. New York, NY: Basic Books

2006-10-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Reflection of the article “Now more than ever: Will High-Tech Kids Still Think Deeply?”

The authors consider the advantages and disadvantages of information technology on children. Before flooding school with technology, critical thinking skills should be used to consider how technology will be affecting the way people think and the modes people need for learning. Now with modern technology, two dimensional quality of linear thinking is being replaced by multidimensional thinking. If we use technological tools well, we will be enhancing our modes of thinking and our capacity for critical thinking. So, it is necessary to developing a new literacy that will incorporate all the types of literacy, circular, linear and multidimensional. Today’s children are not learning with books. It could be disastrous for higher education and research. In my view, as a teacher, I should include oral tradition through plenty of physical activity, singing, making things with hands, listening to and reading literature, drawing pictures with crayons and paints, sending and receiving letters and pretending, as part of our literacy program. Otherwise, they will never develop reading and writing skills. I think, in accordance with traditional literacy, digital literacy has to be developed in children. It is a special kind of mindset, a special kind of thinking. It also involves retrieving data from the web, which requires the user’s knowledge. In the past, we have used manipulative to visually represent mathematical ideas. The possibilities provided by new technologies to represent ideas continue to expand; some include graphing calculators, spreadsheets and interactive geometry programs. In this way, today’s children will develop a new literacy which incorporate all types of literacy, circular, linear and multidimensional.

References

Tarlow, Mary-Claire & Spangler, Katherine L. (Nov 2001). Now more than ever: Will High-Tech Kids still thinks deeply? The Education Digest, PA Research II Periodicals. 67(3), 23-27
Pearson Greg and Yong Thomas (2002). Technically speaking: Why all American need to know more about Technology. Washington, D.C. National Academy Press.

2006-10-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

Reflection on the article ‘An Evaluator Looks at Cultural Diversity’

The author of this article, Thomas C. Reeves considers cultural diversity as a serious issue in the evaluation of Instructional programs and products in the national and international level. Cultural sensitivity is the essential elements in the evaluation of education and training. He also suggests strategies for culturally sensitive evaluation and gives examples of cultural sensitivity and cultural bias and provides a rating scale for multicultural sensitivity in instructional products. In my view, cultural sensitivity is a delicate issue. Therefore, it is necessary to identify less obvious sources of cultural bias. Evaluators need to be familiar with different cultural knowledge, cultural characteristics, history, values, belief systems and behaviors of the members of ethnic group. Evaluator need to be able to adopt to cultural differences and to adopt approaches that lend themselves to cultural sensitivity. Evaluators should involve groups of evaluation that are important in policy and programming, particularly when evaluating issues of social responsibility. I think that through intensive study focusing on cultural sensitivity, Evaluator can overcome the shortcomings of instructional programs and products. As a result, the products could be acceptable to everybody irrespective of color, religion, race gender and disable through out the world.
According to Author, the ultimate goal should not design culturally neutral instructional materials, but should create learning environments that are enriched by the unique values that are inherent in different cultures. New millennium’ new challenge to the Evaluator is a new concept of ‘emancipatory evaluation’. Last of all, I think that Evaluators working in a different country or in a different cultural setting will find that their first important task is to learn about their culture and its implications for the program evaluation.

References:
Reeves, T. C. (1997, March-April). Educational Technology. An Evaluator Looks of Cultural Diversity, p. 27-31
EDD Publication, Canada. (2000, March). Evaluation Forum Newsletter.

2006-09-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

In reaction to the Marshall Mcluhan tetrad task

‘The truth shall you make free.’
Marshall Mcluhan’s life was dedicated to showing men the truth above the world they live in and the hidden consequences of the technologies he develops. He famously coined the expression, ‘medium is the message’.
A tetrad is a means of examining the effect of a medium on society by dividing its effects into four categories and displaying them simultaneously.
The latest technological advancement like social computing is the extension of human communication and collaboration regardless of time frame in business world, educational world like Wiki. Personal broadcasting is the extension of speech, sight and auditory senses. Cellular phone is the extension of communication. Educational gaming also is the extension of activity and imagination. Augmented reality and Enhanced Visualization is the extension of view of inward and outward. Context aware environments and devices are the extensions of instantly accommodated needs.
After reading all tetrad task and class discussion, I realize that there are four stages of revolution process of technological developments- At First, Extension or enhancement of human need or desire. It is called figure qualities, the amplification of practical solutions to known problem. Second stage is Obsolete, unexpected and new problems arise when a medium is amplified too much. It is called ground qualities. Third stage is retrieval-the recovery of old values, transition of ground to figure. How technology brings back enjoyment or experience in different ways. Fourth is the too much of extension of technology ultimately fail to give us the optimum human needs- the erosion of contemporary values and transition to figure to ground. Therefore, eventually, all latest technological advancement from social computing to Context Aware environments will have to go through these four processes or evaluation.
References:

The Horizon Report. (2006). The New Media Consortium & the Educase Learning Initiative. California, USA

Mcluhan (1964) Understanding media. New York, N.Y. McGraw-Hill

Mcluhan (1967) The Medium is the message.
Understanding Media : The Extensions of Man (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994

2006-09-26T15:52:00.001-07:00

2006-09-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

2006-09-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Reflection an argument about ‘Media will influence learning’

After reading the Clark and Kozma’s Debate about the resolution “Media will influence Learning’, I am illuminated by both author’s arguments. Clark’s proposition - The media is mere vehicle that deliver instruction, but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition.” It is true that Learning is influenced more by the content and instructional strategy in a medium than by the type of medium (Wilbur Schramm, 1977). Clark strongly believes that media and their attributes have important influences on the cost or speed of learning, but only the use of adequate instructional methods influence learning. He also indicates that methods as the provision of cognitive processes or strategies that are necessary for learning. He claims that absolutely any necessary teaching method can be delivered to students by many media or a variety of mixtures of media attributes within similar learning results. Regarding this argument, from my experience I agree that, although in the developing countries like India and the underdeveloped countries in Africa where dramatic changes in achievement and ability have followed the introduction of media like television, it was not the media, but rather curricular reform as well as teaching method that accompanied the change. Actually only content of the media can influence achievement. Decades ago, there was no such media was available except charts, photographs or books especially in developing countries like India. It is the Teaching method or strategy that influences learning achievement. I recall my best teacher’s teaching strategy how to involve whole class from low to high cue students and how to impregnate that particular topic in mind for ever. In my view, a teacher is like a painter who only can decide which media is appropriate to paint a particular picture or content depending on the subject and level.
Reading Kozma’s rebuttal that ‘Media does influence learning’, makes me think about present world scenario. In our competitive and fast pace world learning has to be accomplished quicker and better than ever before. It is the computer that is a time saving tool to accomplish 30-50% reduction in time to complete a lesson. In general, information can be displayed, received, stored, retrieved, organized, translated, transferred and evaluated among other processes through media. Thinker tools (White’1993) represent a constructivist model of learning as the environment allows learners to manipulate shapes and see patterns. The adventure of Jasper Woodbury video series facilitates intellectual thinking and problem solving skills. In respect of my personal experience, having media in a science laboratory is definitely beneficial to see the results of their experiments at once and to repeat their experiments and compare results without having to manually construct graphs. In conclusion, media enables labor saving in learning, efficiency for particular students as well as independent learning.

References
Clark, R. E. (1994).Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29
Kozma, R. B. (1994). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 7-19.
Clark, R. E. (1993). Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of Educational Research, 53(4), 445-459
Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research, 61(2), 179-212

2006-09-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

In reaction to the history of technology in education
Jhumur Halder

Educational Technology is the entirety of ideas, methods and devices used in the process of human learning. The term instructional media has been defined as the physical means via which instruction is presented to learners. Technology in education can be divided into three eras, visual, audiovisual and computer. In the United States, the use of media for instructional purposes has been traced back to at least as early as the first decade of the twentieth century. It was at that time that school museums came into existence. Materials like stereographs (3 dimensional photographs), slides, films housed in school museums were viewed as intended to support the teacher or the text book. Besides magic lanterns (lantern slide projector), the motion picture projector was one of the first media devices used in schools. In the United States, however, educational film projected to revolutionize education. It was initially rejected, but once adopted and it was difficult to integrate.

By the early 1930s, educators assumed that radio would revolutionize education. Initially, it creates enthusiasm, but rather expensive to purchase and maintain. The radio lessons were particularly effective in raising the level of knowledge of particularly for the rural students. Language laboratories equipped with audio tape recorders and radios are always successful. After the World War II there was a renewed interest in using audiovisual devices like overhead Projectors, slide Projectors in the school. In 1958, Teaching machines appeared, but the world of education was not ready for them, they also had limitations which probably contributed to their failure. After the appearance of television, it had attracted educators as being an efficient tool for imparting education to primary, secondary and university level students. It was not successful in US schools, because of expensive installation and maintenance as well as broadcast schedules.

After the interest in instructional television faded, the next technological innovation to create a profound and radical change in the educational system was the computer. In 1980-83, computer was used in 40% in elementary, 75% in secondary schools in the US. But, by the mid 1990s, that impact had been rather small. Since 1995, rapid advances in computer and other digital technology, as well as the Internet, have led to a rapidly increasing interest in, and use of, these media for instructional purposes. Although the number of computers in schools has been increasing, most of the computers are quite limited in terms of the software they can run and in terms of internet access available to students. Good news is that the Internet has been viewed as a means of providing instruction and information to widely dispersed learners at a relatively low cost. In 2001, 99% of public schools in the US had access to the internet. In conclusion, computer is the most successful instructional media for the school, but, the rate of change of technology as well as expenses create problem for teacher and students to keep up with the changes.

Reference
Reiser R. A. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology: part I: A history of instructional media: Educational Technology, Research and Development; 49, 1; Research Library, (53-62)

.