Living in a world
where technology dwells in the palm of our hands, I believe no longer are
teachers able to empower our students through outmoded approaches to learning.
As a future learning manger, not only is it a professional requirement to incorporate
ICT into your classrooms (according to the Australian Curriculum), but also
coincides nicely with creating quality-learning experiences for today’s
twenty-first century learners (Education Queensland, 2012).
A broad
generalisation for E-Learning in my own understanding is basically, technology-enhanced learning. This
is where the integration and use of many digital tools supports and forms an
educational platform for teaching and learning. It includes several types of
technologies -
- Blogs
- Web spaces
- Images
- Videos
- Audios
- Presentations
- Animations
- Simulations
- Mobile devices
and the list can go on and on.....
So why is e-Learning so important?
Living in a predominantly digital world contributes
to a range of learning objectives because knowledge is now different. It
generates students to strengthen their higher order thinking capabilities,
problem-solve, allows them to become more creative, work collaboratively and
prepares them for living/working in this rapid global evolution. Ultimately it transforms
the way students can learn. For example, after reflecting on the mobile
technology digital tool, it is clearly evident that m-Learning has
transformed how students use, acquire, transmit, interact but most of all access knowledge in their everyday lives. A nice video representation below shows us how with the simple touch of a fingertip these mobile
devices intertwine with accessing knowledge and can transform teaching and learning at all levels.
The world is rapidly evolving and so has the portal of education. Learning still exists from the traditional and foundational basis of behaviourism, connectivism, cognitivism, and constructivism theories. However as time goes on educators have shaped and built upon these fundamentals producing methods more relevant to the learners of our present day.
As upcoming learning managers we need to be thinking into the future, and how we can best support our students learning. After reflecting upon my own blog as well as many others; I have found similar patterns representing this need to incorporate ICT in our classrooms. So having a wide range of knowledgeable resources and digital tools suitable to our learners is a necessity to underpin an engaged learning environment.
We are living in an era where technology surrounds us all. So how do you think our students best learn? Without technology? I definitely don't think so! They live and breathe in this knowledgeable era where they have been exposed to technology from a young age. So why not incorporate their interests and abilities into our teaching methods?
Over the past six weeks I have delved into
managing e-Learning. I have explored and experimented with different digital
tools each week. Reflecting on the technical aspects of that particular tool
and the affordances for learning and teaching within my own teaching context in
my blog. Also viewed my fellow classmates blogs and webpages to gain an alternate perspective on how they would incorporate digital tools into their own context along with their viewpoints on e-Learning. I wasn't quite sure what I was heading straight into with this course though it has definitely made me realise that each and every one of these digital resources I have explored have great implications for my future practice.
I found the overall
theme in my reflections as well as many others blog postings were often built around the phenomena of learning theories. Each tool
drew my experience back to the art and science of teaching – the pedagogy and
how combined with content knowledge and the use of technological knowledge in turn creates a brilliant framework (known as TPACK learning theory).
I noticed that with the integration of software like prezi, teachers
move more towards creating a learner-centric environment. When I looked at web spaces there are so many options available to enhance student interaction and communication. Whether or not it’s about posting a blog and building on students’ literacy skills or targeting their cognitive thinking abilities and how they communicate with others. Overall looking at the diverse range of multimodal tools; most allow for growth in
creativity, intellectual curiosity and provide a flexibility when it comes to learning. All brilliant tools enhancing the ways in which
students learn.
After
reflecting several times upon digital tools I now have a greater understanding
that quality learning occurs with the connection of technology use and your own
pedagogical planning. Regardless of what teaching context you are from, there is a clear relationship identified from learning theories in order for our students to learn effectively. Learning Managers need to know:
- CONTENT of your contextual area
- TECHNICAL SKILLS of digital tools
- PEDAGOGY that supports the best possible learning
When all these three elements are combined, it constructs a balance of knowledge that will transform the ways in which your students can learn. I am definitely looking forward to implementing my digital tools into my classroom and reflect further into what implications will arise.
References:
“Working Digitally is a
reflection of how schools use digital technology as a way of moving from
traditional to transformational ways of learning.” (Education Queensland,
2013)
References:
Education
Queensland, 2012. Student ICT expectations. Retrieved from: http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/enabling-learners/ict-expectations/index.html
Education
Queensland, 2013. Working digitally. Retrieved from: http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/working-digitally/index.html
E-Learning
Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.delni.gov.uk/elearning_strategy_for_fe_sector.pdf
Wikipedia
(2013). E-Learning. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning
Image retrieved from: http://awisegroup.com
Image retrieved from: http://www.edudemic.com/2012/12/a-pedagogical-framework-for-digital-tools/
Image retrieved from: http://www.movingmountains.com.au/index-4.html
Video retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R1QJAXL4s
Image retrieved from: http://humsteach.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/meaningfull-learning-with-technology.html
