This excellent report outlines how new and emerging technologies are impacting teaching and learning.
The Horizon Report 2007 highlights six technologies that the underlying research suggests will become very important to higher education over the next one to five years.
**Near Horizon (<1 Year)**
1. User-Created Content
2. Social Networking
** Mid Horizon (2-3 Years)**
3. Mobile Phones
4. Virtual Worlds
**Far Horizon (4-5 Years)**
5. The New Scholarship
6. Massively Multiplayer Educational Gaming
An excellent summary of the report can be found here:
http://www.nmc.org/book/export/html/5068
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Learning Software of the Future
Educating the Net Generation
I found the idea of Action and Symbolic Immersion as discussed in the article ‘Educating the Net Generation' quite interesting - creating virtual environments in learning software.
I immediately see the potential for this type of technology in all areas of education. Imagine teaching our students about early life in Australia during British Colonisation and letting them take a virtual tour of an environment where they can see, hear and possibly feel everything around them. It sounds more engaging than video or pictures from text books. Educationally, this type of immersion ‘triggers powerful semantic associations via the content of experience’ (Dede, C 2005).
I found the idea of Action and Symbolic Immersion as discussed in the article ‘Educating the Net Generation' quite interesting - creating virtual environments in learning software.
I immediately see the potential for this type of technology in all areas of education. Imagine teaching our students about early life in Australia during British Colonisation and letting them take a virtual tour of an environment where they can see, hear and possibly feel everything around them. It sounds more engaging than video or pictures from text books. Educationally, this type of immersion ‘triggers powerful semantic associations via the content of experience’ (Dede, C 2005).
Clark and Kozma’s Debate – Instruction vs Media
The articles by Robert Kozma (Will Media Influence Learning: Refraining the Debate) and Richard Clark (Media Will Never Influence Learning) illustrate the debate among academics in educational technology on the importance of media vs. the importance of the underlying instructional method.
It is Kozma’s belief that the media by which instruction is presented can influence learning.
Clark on the other hand argues very persuasively that it is not the medium but the underlying instructional methods that shape the learning process and that similar learning outcomes can be achieved through the use of difference media; learning is not exclusive to one type of media presentation.
I find myself agreeing with both of them although I find Kozma’s defense of the importance of media in instruction to be weak.
To conclude, Clark puts forth a valuable point in that the design of instruction and its relationship to solid pedagogy and epistemological theory is very important in defining learning, however, to state that media has no influence over learning reduces the overall debate to a black and white argument. If learning is in fact multi-modal it goes to follow that certain types of media would be better suited for learning in different contexts with different learners (Lexmilton, 2007).
Clark on the other hand argues very persuasively that it is not the medium but the underlying instructional methods that shape the learning process and that similar learning outcomes can be achieved through the use of difference media; learning is not exclusive to one type of media presentation.
I find myself agreeing with both of them although I find Kozma’s defense of the importance of media in instruction to be weak.
To conclude, Clark puts forth a valuable point in that the design of instruction and its relationship to solid pedagogy and epistemological theory is very important in defining learning, however, to state that media has no influence over learning reduces the overall debate to a black and white argument. If learning is in fact multi-modal it goes to follow that certain types of media would be better suited for learning in different contexts with different learners (Lexmilton, 2007).
Saturday, November 3, 2007
ICT Vision for State Schools
I have had a couple of exciting meetings this week (30 October 2007) with IT consultants from the Department of Education regarding the vision for ICT and it’s integration into the state schools. This is supposedly what’s happening and where it’s all heading.
* Depending on the technical ability and the technical enthusiasm shown from schools, every classroom will be provided with an interactive whiteboard (IWB) and video conferencing units (VC units) within the next 6 – 8 months (sometime in 2008).
* The current student email portal will change to make it more student focused and student friendly. It will be more simple than what it currently is. It will reflect the social aspect of current popular webmail providers, similar to a Hotmail setup, allowing real time chat etc. It will replicate what is currently happening in the real world.
* Connected Classrooms are going to increase every child’s current 2MB storage to 10MB with a student ‘Backpack’ storage allocation. This will allow students and teachers to access their 'space' anywhere.
* The Department is going to set up a similar program to YouTube. It will most probably be known as DetTube, where students can upload school (educational) based images and video. You will only be able to upload using your DET password and login to reduce instances of cyber bullying and the uploading of inappropriate images.
* Students around the state will be surveyed to find out what they like in ICT to help guide the Department in establishing what learning tools to implement into the school e.g., wikis, chat, social pages (web 2 tools). These tools will be made available to students and be driven by the students (user).
* The current staff portal has an ‘In Principal’ page which will be updated regularly with new software, learning tools, lessons and ideas to keep teachers informed of what’s happening. One idea is for schools to have several ICT Coordinators (1 per 5 staff) to share the responsibilty of keeping updated on changes and then in-service other staff members.
* The staff portal will have online Microsoft courses for the training and development of teachers.
It was also mentioned numerous times that every school will need to begin educating students and staff on the Acceptable User Policy (AUP) for mobile phone use, as mobile phones are being seen as a major learning tool that will most likely be used by every student in the classroom by 2010 (within 3 years).
* Depending on the technical ability and the technical enthusiasm shown from schools, every classroom will be provided with an interactive whiteboard (IWB) and video conferencing units (VC units) within the next 6 – 8 months (sometime in 2008).
* The current student email portal will change to make it more student focused and student friendly. It will be more simple than what it currently is. It will reflect the social aspect of current popular webmail providers, similar to a Hotmail setup, allowing real time chat etc. It will replicate what is currently happening in the real world.
* Connected Classrooms are going to increase every child’s current 2MB storage to 10MB with a student ‘Backpack’ storage allocation. This will allow students and teachers to access their 'space' anywhere.
* The Department is going to set up a similar program to YouTube. It will most probably be known as DetTube, where students can upload school (educational) based images and video. You will only be able to upload using your DET password and login to reduce instances of cyber bullying and the uploading of inappropriate images.
* Students around the state will be surveyed to find out what they like in ICT to help guide the Department in establishing what learning tools to implement into the school e.g., wikis, chat, social pages (web 2 tools). These tools will be made available to students and be driven by the students (user).
* The current staff portal has an ‘In Principal’ page which will be updated regularly with new software, learning tools, lessons and ideas to keep teachers informed of what’s happening. One idea is for schools to have several ICT Coordinators (1 per 5 staff) to share the responsibilty of keeping updated on changes and then in-service other staff members.
* The staff portal will have online Microsoft courses for the training and development of teachers.
It was also mentioned numerous times that every school will need to begin educating students and staff on the Acceptable User Policy (AUP) for mobile phone use, as mobile phones are being seen as a major learning tool that will most likely be used by every student in the classroom by 2010 (within 3 years).
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