EDU 401 Educational Technology

Welcome to

Educational Technology• 1920s: Instructional Technology viewed as Media: ”the enrichment

of education through the 'seeing experience' [involving] the use of all types of visual aids such as the excursion, flat pictures, models, exhibits, charts, maps, graphs, stereographs, stereopticon slides, and motion pictures" (Dorris, 1928, p. 6).

• 1920s - 1940s: from visual instruction to audiovisual instruction

• 1960s -1970s: Instructional Technology viewed as a process

• 1963 definition: “the design and use of messages which control the learning process”. It includes the following steps: planning, production, selection, utilization, and management (known now as instructional design)

Educational Technology• 1970 definitions:

• “In its more familiar sense, it [instructional technology] means the media born of the communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes alongside the teacher, textbook, and blackboard. . . . The pieces that make up instructional technology [include]: television, films, overhead projectors, computers, and other items of "hard- ware" and "software". . . (p. 21)

• The second and less familiar definition of instructional technology goes beyond any particular medium or device. In this sense, instructional technology is more than the sum of its parts. It is a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the whole process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research on human learning and communication, and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction. (p. 21)

Educational Technology• 1977 definition: Educational technology is a complex,

integrated process involving people , procedures, ideas, devices, and organization, for analyzing problems and devising, implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning. (p. 1)

• 1994 (beyond being a process): Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. (p.1).

Educational Technology

• 2008: Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. (p. 1)

Educational Technology• Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2012):

The field of instructional design and technology (also known as instructional technology) encompasses the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design, development, implementation, evaluation and management of instructional and non-instructional processes and resources intended to improve learning and performance in a variety of settings, particularly educational institutions and the workplace. Professionals in the field instructional design and technology often use systematic instructional design procedures and employ instructional media to accomplish their goals. Moreover, in recent years, they have paid increasing attention to non-instructional solutions to some performance problems. Research and theory related to each of the aforementioned areas is also an important part of the field.

Blended Learning• Refers to a mixing of different learning

environments. The phrase has many specific meanings based upon the context in which it is used. Blended learning gives learners and teachers a potential environment to learn and teach more effectively.

• Appeared in 2000: associated with simply supplementing traditional classroom learning with self-study e-learning activities.

Factors essential to achieving an “effective” blend

• Complementarity:

1. identify the learning outcomes

2. identify your students’ needs,

3. identify the different, potential components available to you.

• Pedagogically sound learning materials

• Teachers need to evaluate educational materials such as software programs carefully and use only those materials that are

Factors essential to achieving an “effective” blend

• Support:

• Academic: (forum, online groups)

• Affective: (progress reports, student blogs)

• Technical

Teacher’s role in the blend

Students can’t be “taught” – they can only be helped to learn. In a student-centered classroom, our role is to help and encourage students to develop their skills, but without relinquishing our more traditional role as a source of information, advice, and knowledge. In a student-centered classroom, the teacher and the students are a team working together.

(Jones 2007, 25)

Teacher’s role in the blend

In a blended learning environment, the teacher continues to:

encourage and motivate, guide and monitor progress,

give feedback, boost confidence,

and maintain motivation.

Student-Centered classroom

• In student-centered teaching, we focus our planning, our teaching, and our assessment around the needs and abilities of our students.

• learning is most meaningful when topics are relevant to the students’ lives, needs, and interests and when the students themselves are actively engaged in creating, understanding, and connecting to knowledge.

Student-Centered classroom• In a student-centered classroom, students

1. are involved in the learning process.

2. don’t depend on their teacher all the time.

3. communicate with each other in pairs and small groups.

4. value each other’s contributions.

5. cooperate.

6. learn from each other.

7. help each other.

Student-Centered classroom

• In a student-centered classroom, the teacher

1. helps to guide students.

2. manages their activities.

3. directs their learning.

4. helps students develop their language skills.

Facilitating the Blend

• The teacher, therefore, needs to help students take on the responsibility for their own learning.

Encouraging autonomous and collaborative learning

• Blended learning allows students to decide when and where they want to study.

• This flexibility can present some difficulties to students who have poor time management skills and who are not used to working autonomously.

• It is your role as the teacher to help your students develop the skills they require to work independently, particularly if this is the first time they have learned a language in a blended learning environment.

Creating a supportive online community

• Blended language courses aim to foster autonomous learning, but autonomous learning does not mean students are learning on their own.

• An online community can provide exactly the encouragement needed when students face their computer screen outside of the classroom. You will need to find ways to create a friendly, social online environment, which is essential for successful online learning.

Managing and facilitating online interaction

• Depending on the technology used, blended learning can provide opportunities for genuine interaction online.

• One of the simplest communication tools is a forum, or bulletin board. Your role as the teacher is to monitor this interaction and decide how best to manage it, but remember your role is to facilitate and not direct or lead the interaction.

• How you approach your role as e-moderator will have a significant bearing on the online learning experience of your students.

The Student’s Role in the blend

• The pedagogical rationale behind BLL [blended language learning] is the desire to allow for a higher degree of learner independence in the teaching and learning of second/foreign languages.

(Stracke 2007b, 1)

The Student’s Role in the blend

• Managing and planning independent study time.

• Learning independently

• Working collaboratively online

• Reviewing and self-correcting

Blended Learning

• Traditional instruction – a structured education program that focuses on face- to-face teacher-centered instruction, including teacher-led discussion and teacher knowledge imparted to students.5 Students are matched by age, and possibly also ability. Instructional materials are based on textbooks, lectures, and individual written assignments. All students in the classroom generally receive a single, unified curriculum. Subjects are often individual and independent instead of integrated and interdisciplinary, particularly in secondary school.

• Technology-rich instruction – a structured education program that shares the features of traditional instruction, but also has digital enhancements such as electronic whiteboards, broad access to Internet devices, document cameras, digital textbooks, Internet tools, and online lesson plans. The Internet, however, does not deliver the content and instruction, or if it does, the student still lacks control of time, place, path, and/or pace.

• Informal online learning – any time a student uses technology to learn outside ofa structured education program. For example, students could play educational video games or watch online lectures on their own outside of any recognized school program.

• Full-time online learning – a structured education program in which content and instruction are delivered over the Internet and the students do not attend a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home, except on a very limited basis in some cases, such as for proctored exams, wet labs, or social events.

• Models of Blended Learning:

• Rotation model – a program in which within a given course or subject (e.g., math), students rotate on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion between learning modalities, at least one of which is online learning. Other modalities might include activities such as small-group or full-class instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil-and- paper assignments.

• Flex model – a program in which content and instruction are delivered primarily by the Internet, students move on an individually customized, fluid schedule among learning modalities, and the teacher-of-record is on-site. The teacher-of-record or other adults provide face-to-face support on a flexible and adaptive as-needed basis through activities such as small-group instruction, group pro jec ts , and ind iv idua l tu to r ing . Some implementations have substantial face-to-face support, while others have minimal support.

• Self-Blend model – describes a scenario in which students choose to take one or more courses entirely online to supplement their traditional courses and the teacher-of-record is the online teacher. Students may take the online courses either on the brick-and-mortar campus or off-site. This differs from full-time online learning and the Enriched-Virtual model (see the next definition) because it is not a whole-school experience. Students self-blend some individual online courses and take other courses at a brick-and-mortar campus with face-to-face teachers.

• Enriched-Virtual model–a whole-school experience in which within each course(e.g., math), students divide their time between attending a brick-and-mortar campus and learning remotely using online delivery of content and instruction. Many Enriched- Virtual programs began as full-time online schools and then developed blended programs to provide students with brick-and-mortar school experiences. The Enriched-Virtual model differs from the Flipped Classroom because in Enriched-Virtual programs, students seldom attend the brick-and-mortar campus every weekday. It differs from the Self-Blend model because it is a whole-school experience, not a course-by-course model.