This past week I have been investigating educational technologies (applications and multimedia resources). I discovered many interesting available and upcoming technologies that I believe will have an impact on the way we provide adult education. My investigation led me to a very interesting website provided by Envisioning Technology Research Foundation (n.d.): http://envisioning.io/education/images/envisioning_the_future_of_education.png. The foundation is predicting that education will be moving from the classroom to a studio environment and then to a virtual environment. I believe that we have already seen the move from the traditional classroom to a more virtual classroom.
The studio environment is a peer to peer learning environment where groups come together to discuss, learn and solve problems with each other and the teacher serves as a facilitator. The studio environment includes gamification, student-developed applications, and self-paced learning. There is a push to change the way information is given to the students using more technology and peer-to-peer interaction (collaboration) and moving away from the “sage on the stage” or instructor lecture based delivery. The studio environment is happening now in many educational environments. From the studio environment the move will be to the virtual environment where learning, discussion, and assessment happen regardless of physicality or geography. We see this today in our online educational opportunities, video lessons, open courseware, digitization of books.
The next move is to a disintermediation environment where AI handles personalization while the teachers focus on teaching. This environment includes assessment algorithms, S2S teaching platforms, task-assignment algorithms, algo-generated lessons, telepresence, and mobile learning platforms. The instruction becomes project, performance, and portfolio based instead of traditional assessments. The foundation has projected that this, disintermediation environment will happen around 2020.
As I look at the virtual classroom, I see technology and multi-media becoming a driving force and a greater use of tablet computing. Tablet computing is one of the technologies that I have incorporated into my classroom teaching. Material is being downloaded on the tablets along with digitized books and articles, and the students are down taking their exams online. This reduces the cost of copies (handouts, exams, etc.). My experience has been that the younger generations love this technology and way of receiving information; however, the veteran generations and the baby boomers have mixed opinion and many of them ask for the printed material. The current push, due to cut budgets, is to provide more online training and fewer classroom training. The barrier to overcome is to make sure that the students receive the same value of training online as they do in the classroom. To ensure that this happens we must build virtual learning communities where the students can meet and discuss in the virtual world.
The second application that I have chosen is gamification. The use of simulation has been used for years in law enforcement; however, I have found that we can make them more interactive and current. I have also found that creating games or critical thinking exercises that include problem solving and critical thinking creates a more interactive learning environment. I use the software (GameshowPro4) to create my games. Student response to the simulations and educational games has been very positive.
The U.S. Department of Education (2010) stated that leveraging technology can help us improve learning and assessments. Using technology enables us to provide access to more effective teaching and learning resources where they might not otherwise be available. It offers adult educators more options. It is up to the adult educators to make the necessary changes in order to improve our delivery of material. Change is an opportunity and should not be feared.
References:
Envisioning Technology Research Foundation (n.d.). Envisioning the future of education technology. Retrieved from: http://envisioning.io/education/images/envisioning_the_future_of_education.png
U.S. Department of Education (2010). Transforming American education: Learning powered by technology (National education technology plan 2010). Retrieved from: http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf
Hello Karen,
ReplyDeleteI am also very interested in using gamification in an English Language Teaching context. These days, it is not uncommon for gamers to "record" what they do in a game and upload the video to the internet. Some gamers do this to show off, while others do this to provide walkthroughs for other gamers who are stuck in a particular part of the game. I've been stuck in some games several times and these video walkthroughs are a godsend.
In a teaching context, I would use gamification with intermediate students. The student can be asked to save their actions during a game, and share the video with the class while providing a vocal description of what is happening "in this part of the game I am looking for the aliens / enemy"). The vocal descriptions can be recorded with the video, or spoken out during a class presentation.
Thanks,
Kemal
Hi Karen, You bring up the virtual learning environment and I agree that this is a huge opportunity area. In my organization, virtual is seen as a negative and I believe this relates back to the learning preferences of my audience. It can be said that perhaps it is the quality of the interaction or the design of the program. I think it is a compilation of all of these reasons. I would incorporate virtual learning with a blended approach that includes a case study/problem, a short interactive e-learning module, a cohort to work through the problem and a virtual instructor led session using video or web cams to ensure understanding. This will enable learners to work in a collaborative way while still learning the fundamentals on their own. Through discussion they can solidify their new assumptions and try out others as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elena