Within the last few years students have encountered a rapidly changing learning environment with a dramatic rise in the e-learning resources available (Fisher, 2000). Fisher (2000) found that all students entering a university regardless of their background and demographic factors have used computers at school and work and as a result are much more at ease with computers than undergraduates entering universities only a short time ago. Frand (2000) emphasises how computer usage has changed over this period: “Most students entering our colleges and universities nowadays are younger than the microcomputer, are more comfortable working on a keyboard than writing in a spiral notebook and are happier reading from computer screen than from paper in hand.”
Bradlow et al. (2002) suggests than this trend can also be attributed to the advance in software and computing power which have made computers more user friendly. One can say that nowadays a lower level of knowledge is now required to make use successfully of computer applications.
References:
Bradlow, E. T., Hoch, S. J. & Hutchinson, J. W. (2002). An assessment of basic computer proficiency among active internet users: Test construction, calibration, antecedents and consequences. Journal of Educational and Behavioural Statistics, 27 (3), 237-254. (Methodology)
Fisher, M. (2000). Computer skills of initial teacher education students. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9 (1), 109-123.
Frand, J. L. (2000). The information age mindset. Educause Reveiew, 35 (5), 14-20.
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After reading this, what comes to my mind is the fact that we must accept the fact that our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.
ReplyDeleteStudents did not simply change their clothes or their slang words from ours but what made them really different is the fact that they were born in an era when there was a widespread dissemination of digital technology. They are the type of students which grew up with this new technology and have spent their lives surrounded by and using computers, digital music players, videogames, video cameras, mobiles etc. So our students will then process information fundamentally different from us (their predecessors).
Our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computer and internet, so we must learn ‘their language’ so as to be able to transmit the message across in a much better way.
It is true that nowadays students feel much more comfortable using computers than we used to back in our times but one has to consider the fact that the first computer I owned was when I was in Sixth Form and eventually I bought my first mobile when I was in University. To be honest besides the fact that they were not so common to own they were also too expensive to afford. Nowadays students are brought up using computers since they are very young. Moreover laptops and mobiles are both much cheaper to buy and in fact I have seen a rise in students bringing laptops to class to use them to write notes. Even though I would have liked to use a laptop back when I was a student since I type faster than I write, I am not really so happy with students brining laptops to class because one is never sure of what the students are doing. If free Wi-fi is available for example they could be simply surfing the net instead of listening to what the teacher is saying. Moreover students seem to prefer reading the notes I send from a computer screen something which personally I don’t like. In order to read something effectively I still feel I need to print it out.
ReplyDeleteI perfectly agree with Chris that our students have been raised to speak the digital language and it is really up to us to learn it too so that we are able to effectively communicate with them. However at the same time we have to be aware that there are students that still don’t own a computer so we have to be able to reach to these students too.
Mildred
Since technology plays such an important role and eith the growth of e-learning, teachers need specific skills to be able to implement a different approach to a course. I think that training is important for a teacher to be able to implement e-learning effectively. This may also be incorporated as part of the teacher development program. Professional development should be kept in line with best practices available.
ReplyDeleteFollowing are some tips which I have found as characteristics for good on-line teachers.
1. Don’t wait for students to come to you with questions. Being proactive in encouraging communication is a good way to make sure students stay on track.
2. Be open to trying new technology tools. Technology changes rapidly, and an important part of your job is being able to explore new tools and decide what does and doesn’t work.
3. Experience online courses from a learner’s perspective by taking a virtual class. Being a student in an online environment is likely to help you pinpoint what works best.
4. Promote responsible online behavior. Just as in a brick-and-mortar classroom, encouraging appropriate behavior is an important part of teaching.
5. Encourage an active online classroom community. Some teachers find it helps to give students a place to socialize, such as in online forums. Giving students opportunities to build relationships with one another can help keep them engaged in learning.
6. Learn to manage your online time well. Virtual teaching requires a lot of advance planning to pull together the resources for each lesson and to have a backup plan if technical problems arise
(Ash, 2009)
‘In a virtual environment, “the verbal cues aren’t there, and the visual cues aren’t there, so you need to use the technology and the tools and good communication strategies to engage your learner and diagnose what’s happening around learning’ - Teresa Scavulli, senior director of the teacher-effectiveness division of K12 Inc., an online-learning company based in Herndon, Va.
References:
Ash, K. (2009, June 16). Education Week's Digital Direction - Characteristics of 'Highly Qualified' Online Teachers. Retrieved June 11, 2010, from Education Week Digital Directions: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/06/17/04characteristics.h02.html?qs=e-learning
A point that Chris said really struck me. He said 'Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach' and I agree 100%. I have always has this feeling inside that education as we know it is not sustainable. Students today no longer really need our notes because they can find anything they want online. What they need is empowerment. They need tools. They need vision.
ReplyDeleteThey need to be told that they are tomorrow's leaders and given the skills to use technology for their learning. Also, it is crucial that teachers need to be taught, helped and supported to be the ones to promote a new style of learning.
This leads us back to the point that rather than just transmitting knowledge, the teacher has become a source of motivation to the student.
ReplyDeleteHowever I still believe that most of our students need a verbal/visual explanation of the material in order to understand the concept behind the subject being taught. All students are able to find information from the web, but few of them can filter and analyse the required data from the lot found.
So it is up to us to provide training to our students to improve their research skills, even if there is the need to add this to the curriculum.
I agree with Chris and Desiree, as I said in my comment regarding the Ischool, Education can no longer be just a follower of technology and evolution. Education needs to take a proactive role in this. However, this always falls down to Human resources, mainly teachers. I am 28 years old and I still feel that sometimes I am out of date when compared to my students regarding technological trends. I feel sensitive about the fact that such issue could be much more challenging for older teachers that encountered this technological trend at later stages of their life. I feel that it is both the responsibility of the teachers and also that of the Educational system to take action to be abreast with emerging technological trends and prepare our students for a much more developed technological world that awaits them in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mark especially when he says that we need to verbally and visually explain the material students find over the Internet. I also believe that students have to be taught how to look for correct information over the Internet as most of them simply write some words in a search engine, and expect to find all they are looking for in the first search result. Some of my students at ICT manage to find some good sources of information, but most of them still don't know how to apply their findings in context to what they are being taught in class.
ReplyDeleteHaving the proper equipment such as computers is crucial in today's learning environment, but students have to be taught how to make best use of these technologies.
I would like to comment on the last part of this Blog
ReplyDelete“Bradlow et al. (2002) suggests than this trend can also be attributed to the advance in software and …”
This comment may be looked at from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute’s perspective. In practice, engineering problems are difficult to solve. Most often, numerical methods are used as analytical solutions to such problems. This means much time and energy is needed to solve a particular issue.
Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s computer program algorithms were introduced to help engineers lessen these difficulties. These algorithms were programmed with BASIC, FORTRAN or C++. Here again the user was exposed to the problem of developing the computer program. Nowadays a simpler software package is available to our students, the MATLAB. MATLAB is an interactive environment that enables engineers to perform hundreds of computationally intensive tasks faster than the traditional programming languages mentioned above. The advantages of using MATLAB are that it is very easy to learn, easy to use and also very versatile.
You’re right Desiree; our students need empowerment, the right tools and of course they need vision. We should encourage our students to work more in groups so that they would be helping each other with the material. Students will become empowered when they feel some ownership of the material which they are learning; so as teachers we should help them gain a theoretical and working understanding of the material which we’re presenting to them. Of course we should keep in mind the importance of presenting our material in ‘their language’ (the digital language), in this way, students would feel more comfortable to internalize our messages and make them their own.
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ReplyDeleteA Celebration of education, technology, art and craftmanship....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rv_rmJYorE
I agree with the previous posts. Students feel more confident when the teacher includes them in a discussion or assigns them a role.
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways how a teacher can empower students such as:
1. Encourage all students to participate in classroom discussions and appreciate all contributions.
2. If students are struggling in your class, give them additional instruction or help them find someone who can help them.
3. When possible provide individual tutorials.
4. Encourage students to work in groups
Reference:
http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/faqs/motivatingstudents/empoweringstudents.html