This reflective synopsis aims to consolidate and synthesise a variety of e-learning tools that have been investigated and utilised over the course of this term. In doing this I will analyse tools that particularly lend themselves to consolidating and refining knowledge, transforming information to gain new insights, accessing and gaining information and presenting knowledge to an audience. Each tool will be viewed through the lens of Blooms taxonomy as a way to reflect on how e-learning can promote higher order thinking in classrooms. References to relevant frameworks and theories such as Dimensions of Learning, The Big 6 Model and Engagement theory will also be made as a way to demonstrate how learning can be enhanced and supported through the use of e-learning.
Once upon a time accessing information was a job for the teacher and students would gain insight from this information only through didactic rote teaching. Children today are now the accessors of information and as today’s students grow up in an information era, it is expected that they will know how to access pertinent information quickly and easily and their information gain can sometimes be largely dependent on their ability. As I discovered, the World Wide Web, including the investigation of web logs and wiki’s is one of the most beneficial ways for our students to access information and gain new knowledge. According to Futurelab.org (2010) as teachers we often mistake our students’ confidence in using the web for their ability to access appropriate, useful information. As I have learnt students need to be explicitly taught how to be critically literate and this is especially crucial when they engage with activities that involve accessing and gaining information from web sites. Through applying Eisenberg’s and Berkowitz’s Big 6 framework (2001), teachers can use internet searching and websites themselves as a way to teach their students to be critically literate when accessing information. For instance, the grade four students in my practicum class are required to produce a report on an Australian animal of choice. Step one in the Big 6 model (2001) would require students to define the task and identify the types of information needed to produce a sound report. Second, the students would need to implement information seeking strategies in order to determine the best sources of information. At this point the teacher would be scaffolding students’ critical literacy skills and encouraging higher order thinking by asking the students to evaluate the differences between information found on a wiki and that from an authoritative animal website. Blooms taxonomy suggests the students should assess different websites, justify their reasons for choosing certain sites over another and rank sites in order of usefulness. Through reflecting it has also occurred to me that students can gain pertinent information and knowledge through the act of designing and developing their own websites. I have deeply reflected on the use of websites as a collaborative way of accessing and gaining information in my blog reflections. Viewing and commenting on the blog of my colleague Justin Pembroke, has also extended my knowledge and ideas, as I am now considering different perspectives of how website creation can be used as way for parents and students to access information from home.
The notion of consolidating and refining information sits well with Marzano and Pickering’s Dimensions of Learning framework and in particular dimension two which is to acquire and integrate knowledge. According to Marzano and Pickering (1997) the act of gaining declarative knowledge necessitates the need for students to obtain new information and merge or consolidate this with previously learned knowledge. The authors go on to say that using graphic organisers can assist learners with organising declarative knowledge into patterns that emphasise the different relationships between pieces of information ensuring learners do not see knowledge as unconnected. Ausubel’s learning theory (1962) is also in line with this notion as a central emphasis is placed on consciously and explicitly linking new knowledge to what the learner already knows in order to make meaningful connections. A pertinent online tool to help students consolidate and refine information through consciously and purposefully identifying links in information is mind or concept mapping. I investigated a program from www.bubble.us and admittedly it took much reflecting with both colleagues and university lecturers for me as an audio learner to come to appreciate this tool. What I now understand is that regardless of my own learning style, increasingly the students entering our classrooms are more often than not, visual learners (Aziz Bin Mohamed Amin, 2005). According to Gerlic & Jausovec (1999) asking students to explicitly construct non-linguistic representations can stimulate and develop thinking. Personally I now feel that the use of an online graphic organiser such as that found on bubble.us is a better way for students to engage in mind mapping as they can concentrate on making meaningful connections between information rather than getting caught up in trying to draw accurate circles, write neatly or fit sentences into an organiser they have drawn too small. Online concept maps encourage students to focus on the content while the minor details such as layout and colours can be quickly and easily amended with the click of a button. According to Bloom's Taxonomy (Frangenheim, 2006), simple online concept mapping is a great way to lay the foundation thinking skills such as understanding, before higher order thinking skills such as analysing using double bubble maps can be explored. A further in depth discussion with my colleague Pauline White has enhanced and altered my understanding of the importance of online graphic organisers.
When students are transforming information to develop new understandings they are essentially following dimensions three and four of the Dimension of Learning Framework as they extend and refine their knowledge in order to use it in new and meaningful ways (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Many e-learning tools can support and enhance the transformation of knowledge such as the development of a Class or group Wiki or through engaging with a learning object. One idea could be to have students create a Wiki that allows the students to collaboratively address environmental issues facing the local community. This would be scaffolded by the learning manager in order to transform learned Science, English and SOSE skills and knowledge into meaningful, real life contexts that is then accounted for in the Wiki. Students, parents and invited community members could then make comments and suggestions which the students would act and report on via the Wiki. Students could also select appropriate digital images to upload onto the Wiki as a further way of demonstrating their deeper understanding of the topic. The task of collaboratively designing and developing a Wiki then becomes as much about the transformation of knowledge as it is about teamwork, problem solving, communication and analysing perspectives. Not only are students transforming knowledge as they engage in updating their Wiki and online collaboration but they are appreciating how that knowledge can be transferred into lifelong learning skills.
Gone are the days of students being limited to writing copious amounts of information in their workbooks or presenting knowledge through disengaging handwritten work. The use of e-learning tools in the classroom has opened up new insights into how knowledge can be presented. Whether it is the learning manager presenting new knowledge to the class using a Voki Avatar, or the students demonstrating knowledge learnt, from demonstrating understanding through to designing a piece indicative of learning, there is an e-learning tool to fit. I found Kearsley and Shneiderman’s engagement theory (1998) a great lens through which tools for presenting knowledge can be viewed as the focus is on collaboration, authenticity and meaningful project- based tasks. For instance primary students using Skype as a way to engage with students overseas in order to master the skill of speaking another language while presenting their learning to a native speaker is much more authentic and purposeful than listening to the Australian born second-language teacher repeat the same words over and over again. Similarly, students could make use of multi-modal tools such as Windows Movie Maker as a way to record, detail and present their collaborative learning journey for a specific task. This tool is also beneficial as an engaging hook that could utilise images and visuals that the students or learning manager has captured in order to make the learning more authentic. It is also important not to overlook the power of PowerPoint as a tool to present and transform knowledge. Although this tool has been around since the eighties, it is forever being updated and improved. PowerPoint presentations work in the classroom context as they combine linguistic and non-linguistic representations which mean they cater for a diversity of learning styles and needs as they enhance and support learning.
Futurelab.org (2010) believes that technology is becoming increasingly significant in not only our cultures but in the lives of children in general, making the use of it in the classroom a necessity. The ability to use and engage with digital tools will be an essential life skill and one that will increase employability in future generations. Our students will be expected to know how to use and engage with a myriad of e-learning tools if they are to be critically literate, employable members of a digital society. Therefore as future learning managers it should not be a matter of if we teach e-learning knowledge and skills but how and how often we embed it into our daily teaching to facilitate, enhance, support and transform our students learning. Personally, I entered this e-learning journey as a digital immigrant (Prensky, 2001) and while it is not possible for me to become a digital native, I do think I have earned my right to be considered a digital citizen.
Reference List
Amin,A.B.M. (2005). Using Graphic Organisers to Promote Active e-learning. World Conference In Multimedia, Hypermedia And Telecommunication. Montreal, Canada. Retrieved from http://edt.ite.edu.sg/ite_conf/int_conf/pdf/et07.pdf
Ausubel, D.P. (1962). A subsumptive theory of meaningful verbal learning and retention. Journal of General Psychology, 66, 213-224.
Eisenberg, M., & Berkowitz, B. (2001). Big6 Skills overview. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from http://www.big6.com/
Frangenheim, E. (2006). Reflections on classroom thinking strategies. Loganholme, QLD: Rodin Educational Publishing.
Gerlic, I., & Jausovec, N. (1999). Multimedia: Differences in cognitive processes observed with EEG. Eductional Technology Research and Development, 47(3), 5014.
Hague, C. & Payton, S. (2010).Digital literacy across the curriculum, a Futurelab handbook. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from: www.futurelab.org.uk
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1998). Engagement theory. A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from: http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=91796
Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of learning. Teacher’s manual. Colorado: Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved from http://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Once upon a time accessing information was a job for the teacher and students would gain insight from this information only through didactic rote teaching. Children today are now the accessors of information and as today’s students grow up in an information era, it is expected that they will know how to access pertinent information quickly and easily and their information gain can sometimes be largely dependent on their ability. As I discovered, the World Wide Web, including the investigation of web logs and wiki’s is one of the most beneficial ways for our students to access information and gain new knowledge. According to Futurelab.org (2010) as teachers we often mistake our students’ confidence in using the web for their ability to access appropriate, useful information. As I have learnt students need to be explicitly taught how to be critically literate and this is especially crucial when they engage with activities that involve accessing and gaining information from web sites. Through applying Eisenberg’s and Berkowitz’s Big 6 framework (2001), teachers can use internet searching and websites themselves as a way to teach their students to be critically literate when accessing information. For instance, the grade four students in my practicum class are required to produce a report on an Australian animal of choice. Step one in the Big 6 model (2001) would require students to define the task and identify the types of information needed to produce a sound report. Second, the students would need to implement information seeking strategies in order to determine the best sources of information. At this point the teacher would be scaffolding students’ critical literacy skills and encouraging higher order thinking by asking the students to evaluate the differences between information found on a wiki and that from an authoritative animal website. Blooms taxonomy suggests the students should assess different websites, justify their reasons for choosing certain sites over another and rank sites in order of usefulness. Through reflecting it has also occurred to me that students can gain pertinent information and knowledge through the act of designing and developing their own websites. I have deeply reflected on the use of websites as a collaborative way of accessing and gaining information in my blog reflections. Viewing and commenting on the blog of my colleague Justin Pembroke, has also extended my knowledge and ideas, as I am now considering different perspectives of how website creation can be used as way for parents and students to access information from home.
The notion of consolidating and refining information sits well with Marzano and Pickering’s Dimensions of Learning framework and in particular dimension two which is to acquire and integrate knowledge. According to Marzano and Pickering (1997) the act of gaining declarative knowledge necessitates the need for students to obtain new information and merge or consolidate this with previously learned knowledge. The authors go on to say that using graphic organisers can assist learners with organising declarative knowledge into patterns that emphasise the different relationships between pieces of information ensuring learners do not see knowledge as unconnected. Ausubel’s learning theory (1962) is also in line with this notion as a central emphasis is placed on consciously and explicitly linking new knowledge to what the learner already knows in order to make meaningful connections. A pertinent online tool to help students consolidate and refine information through consciously and purposefully identifying links in information is mind or concept mapping. I investigated a program from www.bubble.us and admittedly it took much reflecting with both colleagues and university lecturers for me as an audio learner to come to appreciate this tool. What I now understand is that regardless of my own learning style, increasingly the students entering our classrooms are more often than not, visual learners (Aziz Bin Mohamed Amin, 2005). According to Gerlic & Jausovec (1999) asking students to explicitly construct non-linguistic representations can stimulate and develop thinking. Personally I now feel that the use of an online graphic organiser such as that found on bubble.us is a better way for students to engage in mind mapping as they can concentrate on making meaningful connections between information rather than getting caught up in trying to draw accurate circles, write neatly or fit sentences into an organiser they have drawn too small. Online concept maps encourage students to focus on the content while the minor details such as layout and colours can be quickly and easily amended with the click of a button. According to Bloom's Taxonomy (Frangenheim, 2006), simple online concept mapping is a great way to lay the foundation thinking skills such as understanding, before higher order thinking skills such as analysing using double bubble maps can be explored. A further in depth discussion with my colleague Pauline White has enhanced and altered my understanding of the importance of online graphic organisers.
When students are transforming information to develop new understandings they are essentially following dimensions three and four of the Dimension of Learning Framework as they extend and refine their knowledge in order to use it in new and meaningful ways (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Many e-learning tools can support and enhance the transformation of knowledge such as the development of a Class or group Wiki or through engaging with a learning object. One idea could be to have students create a Wiki that allows the students to collaboratively address environmental issues facing the local community. This would be scaffolded by the learning manager in order to transform learned Science, English and SOSE skills and knowledge into meaningful, real life contexts that is then accounted for in the Wiki. Students, parents and invited community members could then make comments and suggestions which the students would act and report on via the Wiki. Students could also select appropriate digital images to upload onto the Wiki as a further way of demonstrating their deeper understanding of the topic. The task of collaboratively designing and developing a Wiki then becomes as much about the transformation of knowledge as it is about teamwork, problem solving, communication and analysing perspectives. Not only are students transforming knowledge as they engage in updating their Wiki and online collaboration but they are appreciating how that knowledge can be transferred into lifelong learning skills.
Gone are the days of students being limited to writing copious amounts of information in their workbooks or presenting knowledge through disengaging handwritten work. The use of e-learning tools in the classroom has opened up new insights into how knowledge can be presented. Whether it is the learning manager presenting new knowledge to the class using a Voki Avatar, or the students demonstrating knowledge learnt, from demonstrating understanding through to designing a piece indicative of learning, there is an e-learning tool to fit. I found Kearsley and Shneiderman’s engagement theory (1998) a great lens through which tools for presenting knowledge can be viewed as the focus is on collaboration, authenticity and meaningful project- based tasks. For instance primary students using Skype as a way to engage with students overseas in order to master the skill of speaking another language while presenting their learning to a native speaker is much more authentic and purposeful than listening to the Australian born second-language teacher repeat the same words over and over again. Similarly, students could make use of multi-modal tools such as Windows Movie Maker as a way to record, detail and present their collaborative learning journey for a specific task. This tool is also beneficial as an engaging hook that could utilise images and visuals that the students or learning manager has captured in order to make the learning more authentic. It is also important not to overlook the power of PowerPoint as a tool to present and transform knowledge. Although this tool has been around since the eighties, it is forever being updated and improved. PowerPoint presentations work in the classroom context as they combine linguistic and non-linguistic representations which mean they cater for a diversity of learning styles and needs as they enhance and support learning.
Futurelab.org (2010) believes that technology is becoming increasingly significant in not only our cultures but in the lives of children in general, making the use of it in the classroom a necessity. The ability to use and engage with digital tools will be an essential life skill and one that will increase employability in future generations. Our students will be expected to know how to use and engage with a myriad of e-learning tools if they are to be critically literate, employable members of a digital society. Therefore as future learning managers it should not be a matter of if we teach e-learning knowledge and skills but how and how often we embed it into our daily teaching to facilitate, enhance, support and transform our students learning. Personally, I entered this e-learning journey as a digital immigrant (Prensky, 2001) and while it is not possible for me to become a digital native, I do think I have earned my right to be considered a digital citizen.
Reference List
Amin,A.B.M. (2005). Using Graphic Organisers to Promote Active e-learning. World Conference In Multimedia, Hypermedia And Telecommunication. Montreal, Canada. Retrieved from http://edt.ite.edu.sg/ite_conf/int_conf/pdf/et07.pdf
Ausubel, D.P. (1962). A subsumptive theory of meaningful verbal learning and retention. Journal of General Psychology, 66, 213-224.
Eisenberg, M., & Berkowitz, B. (2001). Big6 Skills overview. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from http://www.big6.com/
Frangenheim, E. (2006). Reflections on classroom thinking strategies. Loganholme, QLD: Rodin Educational Publishing.
Gerlic, I., & Jausovec, N. (1999). Multimedia: Differences in cognitive processes observed with EEG. Eductional Technology Research and Development, 47(3), 5014.
Hague, C. & Payton, S. (2010).Digital literacy across the curriculum, a Futurelab handbook. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from: www.futurelab.org.uk
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1998). Engagement theory. A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from: http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=91796
Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of learning. Teacher’s manual. Colorado: Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved from http://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
