Chapter ThreeTE

They require a source of information, a means of transmitting

infromation, and a receiver.

T.V. Computer

Programming Programming

Web-based courses

2,500 years ago 5th Century B.CDoes technology make people less effective?

• Reading is different from memorizing speech, or learning by doing.• Learning through a computer is not the same as learning from a book or learning from a lecture.

They are all different forms of learning, and each results in a slightly different way knowing something.

Knowing or is not necessarily better or worse than knowing in another.

Using different media and technologies allow us to represent the world in different way.

Learning through technology is not necessarily better or worse than face-to-face education; it is, though, different.

IN WHAT CONTEXTS AND FOR WHAT PURPOSES ARE TECHNOLOGIES BEST USED?

One reason ET fails is that teachers try to carry over the predominant styles of the classroom to the new media, rather than developing new formats that exploit the unique features of the medium or technology.

New technology usually challenges us to do things differently than before.

Technology provides additional tools for accessing, representing, transmitting, and storing knowledge.

It enables students to actively interact with learning materials without the immediate presence of the teacher.

These 5 media basically represent different clusters of These 5 media basically represent different clusters of symbol systems, or ways of mediating and interpreting symbol systems, or ways of mediating and interpreting knowledge.knowledge.

With the exception of face-to-face contact, each of these With the exception of face-to-face contact, each of these media can be transmitted through a variety of technologies.media can be transmitted through a variety of technologies.

Broadcast technologies Broadcast technologies move information from the producer of the information to the receiver but do not provide as part of the core technology a two-way interactive facility between the receiver and the sender.

Communication Communication Technologies Technologies allows for equal communication opportunities among all participants.

Synchronous Tech.Synchronous Tech.Require all participants to participate at the same time

Asynchronous Tech.Asynchronous Tech.Allow participants to access the technology at anytime of their choosing.

Technologies

Broadcast (one way) Applications

Communication (two-way) Applications

Media Synchronous

Asynchronous Synchronous Asynchronous

Face-to-face Lectures Lecture notes Seminars

Text Books Mail

Audio Radio Audio-cassettes Telephone tutoringAudioconferen-cing

Video Broadcast TVCable TVSatellite TV

Video-Cassettes Videoconferen-cing

Digital Multimedia

WebcastingAudio-streamingVideo-streaming

Web sitesCD-ROMsDVDsLearning objectsMultimedia clips

ChatMUDsWeb conferencing

E-mailDiscussion forums

Media products are the result of creative human activity. Therefore, they are subject to great variety in terms of quality, purpose and design.Each media product is a particular way of representing knowledge.

Can we discern any pattern or Can we discern any pattern or relationship among media, relationship among media, technology, and the representation technology, and the representation of knowledge that may help us as of knowledge that may help us as teachers? teachers?

Broadcast television uses programming formats different from cinema, radio and the press.

There can be confusion when format developed for one purpose, such as entertainment, is carried over to another purpose, such as education.

Broadcast TV is ephemeral and requires the viewer to be present at the time of transmission.

Viewers have more control over a videocassette or DVD player than a broadcast. They can watch a recorded program when they want and as many times as they want.

Researchers found that students rated recorded formats better for learning purposes than broadcast formats.

Even if bandwidth improves to allow for synchronous communication over the Internet, asynchronous online learning is likely

From an educational perspective, each medium represents the world in different ways. There are subtle differences related to how we perceive, comprehend, interpret, and analyze information transmitted in different ways.

Table

No single medium is likely to be sufficient for No single medium is likely to be sufficient for any university-level subject. It is the any university-level subject. It is the combination of different media within a single combination of different media within a single technology (multimedia) that gives technology technology (multimedia) that gives technology is strength in teaching learningis strength in teaching learning.

Language allows us to relate the concrete to the abstract and vice versa. For instance, a video documentary, a model constructed in a studio, or an animation are unlikely to be sufficient on their own for “naive” students to develop understanding of the principles or concepts being illustrated.

It is often necessary to use the sound track to make the links between the concrete video or animated model and the principles being illustrated.

Enable learners to come to understandings more quickly than through more conventional verbal or textual media.

Help students develop and practice skills.

Through the use of multimedia, a learner may have an image or a mental construction that is far richer than an abstract verbal understanding.

Enable a learner to move from concrete, specific examples to more general abstractions, and vice versa.

It is essential that learners be able to move confidently between concrete and abstract understanding and not

become locked into one or the other.

One of the least researched or understood elements of educational media and technologies are their impact on the structure or organization of knowledge.

Both speech and text are linear in sequence.

Digital technologies in particular provide teachers and learners with a great deal of choice about how to structure learning materials.

Multimedia provides an opportunity to offer a variety of different ways of structuring knowledge through the use of digital archives.

The World Wide Web is based on hypertext, which links pages together. This means that the home site acts as a study guide with links to many other sources of information.

The tree structure enables the teacher to control the sequence in which learners access materials.

It works if the learner is dealing with a large and complex area of study that needs to be divided into more manageable chunks, and prevents the learner form being overwhelmed by the large amount of detail to be covered.

The material is organized in such a way that students need to search it out and combine it to answer problems.

Expert systems are computer programs that imitate an expert’s decision process.

Expert systems bring together a whole range of data and information and apply rules or principles that define and quantify the relationship between data from various sources of informtion.

A LEARNING OBJECT I is a reusable digital resource to support learning.

Do you know any?

Greater use of learning objects is limited by a number of factors to date. Some are administrative and technological, issues around copyright and ownership, and the development of an economic model.

Other are educational. More open-ended teaching based on students’ interests and their ability to search out suitable materials is not possible with predetermined curriculum or standard, national examination.

Interaction: used to describe and advantage of computer-based learning.

Interaction of the learner with the machine. The interaction enables teachers to raise topics for

discussion and allows students to work collaboratively online, submit assignments, and get feedback from an individual tutor.

Technologies differ in the way they represent, structure, and communicate knowledge.

To what extent do these differences contribute to the

effectiveness of the teaching?

Clark claimed:“Media do not influence learning under any conditions… media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers groceries causes changes in our nutrition”

The method of teaching is critically important in influencing learning, but Clark’s argument assumes independence between methods and media.

What do you What do you think?think?

Develop a concept map that states the relationship among the learning theories, the teaching perspectives and the role of media/techonogy in Education.

Next session: February 8th at CTIC.