I commented on Zoe's second Educational Foundations posting.
Here is my comment.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Educational gaming
I examined educational gaming, the use of computer and video games in education.
Why all the fuss about educational gaming? Gaming is well established in our culture, it is reported that in 2005 over 154 million Americans were playing video games and the average eighth-grade boy spent 23 hours a week playing games, his female counterpart about 12 hours per week (Klopfer et al, 2009).
Games are often hard, long and complex and yet young people play them for fun (Gee 2007). In contrast, schools have problems getting students to do hard, long and complex work. Games are seen to encourage and develop many skills; key skills include communication and collaboration with other users, problem solving and processing information quickly (Facer 2003). Hence the motivation for educational gaming; if gaming is so pervasive, kids enjoy it and it develops skills valued by education, surely education and gaming should be able to work together?
The obvious approach has been using games in the classroom. Various models have been suggested.
1. Games as rewards
As students enjoy playing games, then games can be provided to students as rewards for finishing their other, 'real', work. Alternatively, games can be used as motivators to retain students at danger of dropping out of school (Royle et al 2010).
2. 'Skill and drill' games
Skill and drill games are simple games, usually focussing one skill with an emphasis on rote learning. For example, maths games that teach addition. Such games are found in schools but lack the complex nature of games that students play for fun (Hommel 2010).
3. Existing games in the classroom
Off-the-shelf games can be used in an education setting. For example, the game Diplomacy has been used to teach students about the political causes of World War I (Klopfer et al 2009).
4. Educational games for the classroom
As off-the-shelf games are designed for entertainment first, another model is to develop games that retain the entertainment but are based on educational objectives. Examples include Lure of the Labyrinth and The Small Business Game.
5. Games as supplementary resources
Even if games are not used in the classroom, there is an argument that games should be one of the resources in a school library (Hommel 2010). The games would then be used by students outside the classroom to consolidate the classroom material.
As well as looking at games in the classroom, research has asked the question "How can we make learning ... more game-like in the sense of using the sorts of learning principles young people see in good games every day" (Gee 2010). Such thinking attempts to see the students as a player (Prensky in Facer 2003) in a learning game. Many of the game playing ideas have parallels in the ideas of Social Constructivism (Klopfer et al 2009).
Despite the apparent link between gaming and education, issues remain in the field of educational gaming:
1. Educational game is a contradiction
"Historically, 'having fun' and 'learning' have been seen to be diametrically opposed" (Facer 2003). Using games in an educational setting is an attempt to bring fun closer to education. But if games are then changed to make them more suitable for education, by reducing or eliminating the violence for example, will they throw out the baby with the bathwater?
'Stealth learning' (Prensky in Facer 2003) is the approach of making an experience educational without the player being aware of the learning. Such an approach ignores the need for a learner to experience some awareness of learning.
Can educational games be fun? More research is needed.
2. Games: the time investment versus the return
Games require a significant investment in time. The nature of complex games being long and hard means that they may take many hours to play (Hommel 2010). A teacher must balance the time spent playing a game and the educational outcomes achieved. It may be true that game playing has many positive educational outcomes (like problem-solving and collaborative work) but if these outcomes are only 5% of the game and the rest of the time is shooting and hand-eye coordination skills, then are games the most effective way to achieve the educational outcomes?
3. Not everyone likes games
Despite the claim that games are motivational, not everyone find learning based on computer games to be motivational (Whitton 2007).
There are also gender issues with games. Games mainly have 'male' world views - 'shoot-em-up' games are an obvious example. As well social cultures come into play when looking at games. Many women just don't get the point of games or have more than enough other activities to stimulate or keep them busy without having to play games.
Research is required to identify how to make games more inclusive.
4. Negative aspects of games
Unfortunately, games often have negative associations (Baek 2008). Violent and aggressive behaviour is often attributed to game playing. There may be correlation but no clear causation (Hommel 2010). There are also concerns with students becoming addicted to games. Further research is required to find out if games do cause negative behaviours and how these negative outcomes can be avoided.
5. Fitting into curriculum and classroom schedule
A Korean study (Baek 2008) found that two major concerns of teachers were how to fit games into the curriculum and into the classroom schedule. Curriculum usually focusses on content, not the more general skills associated with gaming. This challenge is faced by teachers who are asked to produce general problem solvers and creative thinkers but also students who can pass endless literacy and numeracy tests. Similarly, the classroom schedule of 60 minutes classes is often not conducive to games that require time to set up and play.
Some conclusions:
It is clear that some (but certainly not all) games have "educational" value. How to best incorporate games into the classroom remains unclear. The variety of approaches of using games in the classroom gives teachers a range of possibilities.
I think that the current curriculum is so tightly focussed on subject content that "general" learning (such as problem solving) that does not fit into one particular subject remains unloved. We assume students get problem solving skills from school but do not have problem solving as a specific curriculum item of study.
The idea that games give educators ideas about teaching and learning is powerful. Games challenge the idea that students only learn by being given facts from a teacher.
Baek Y.K., (2008). What Hinders Teachers in Using Computer and Video Games in the Classroom? Exploring Factors Inhibiting the Uptake of Computer and Video Games. CyberPsychology & Behaviour, Volume 11, Number 6, 2008.
Facer, K. (2003) Computer games and Learning. FutureLab.
Gee, J. (2007) Good Video Games and Good Learning Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning and Literacy, Lang.
Hommel, M. (2010) Video Games and Learning, School Library Monthly, Volume XXVI, Number 10, June 2010.
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Graff, J. and Haas, J. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games Social Networking Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them. The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Royle, K. and Colfer S. (2010) The breadth and scope of computer games in learning: Applications to 14 to 19 learners with a specific focus on applicability to those who are classified as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). CeDARE. September 2010.
Whitton, N. (2007) Motivation and computer game based learning. In ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007
Why all the fuss about educational gaming? Gaming is well established in our culture, it is reported that in 2005 over 154 million Americans were playing video games and the average eighth-grade boy spent 23 hours a week playing games, his female counterpart about 12 hours per week (Klopfer et al, 2009).
Games are often hard, long and complex and yet young people play them for fun (Gee 2007). In contrast, schools have problems getting students to do hard, long and complex work. Games are seen to encourage and develop many skills; key skills include communication and collaboration with other users, problem solving and processing information quickly (Facer 2003). Hence the motivation for educational gaming; if gaming is so pervasive, kids enjoy it and it develops skills valued by education, surely education and gaming should be able to work together?
The obvious approach has been using games in the classroom. Various models have been suggested.
1. Games as rewards
As students enjoy playing games, then games can be provided to students as rewards for finishing their other, 'real', work. Alternatively, games can be used as motivators to retain students at danger of dropping out of school (Royle et al 2010).
2. 'Skill and drill' games
Skill and drill games are simple games, usually focussing one skill with an emphasis on rote learning. For example, maths games that teach addition. Such games are found in schools but lack the complex nature of games that students play for fun (Hommel 2010).
3. Existing games in the classroom
Off-the-shelf games can be used in an education setting. For example, the game Diplomacy has been used to teach students about the political causes of World War I (Klopfer et al 2009).
4. Educational games for the classroom
As off-the-shelf games are designed for entertainment first, another model is to develop games that retain the entertainment but are based on educational objectives. Examples include Lure of the Labyrinth and The Small Business Game.
5. Games as supplementary resources
Even if games are not used in the classroom, there is an argument that games should be one of the resources in a school library (Hommel 2010). The games would then be used by students outside the classroom to consolidate the classroom material.
As well as looking at games in the classroom, research has asked the question "How can we make learning ... more game-like in the sense of using the sorts of learning principles young people see in good games every day" (Gee 2010). Such thinking attempts to see the students as a player (Prensky in Facer 2003) in a learning game. Many of the game playing ideas have parallels in the ideas of Social Constructivism (Klopfer et al 2009).
Despite the apparent link between gaming and education, issues remain in the field of educational gaming:
1. Educational game is a contradiction
"Historically, 'having fun' and 'learning' have been seen to be diametrically opposed" (Facer 2003). Using games in an educational setting is an attempt to bring fun closer to education. But if games are then changed to make them more suitable for education, by reducing or eliminating the violence for example, will they throw out the baby with the bathwater?
'Stealth learning' (Prensky in Facer 2003) is the approach of making an experience educational without the player being aware of the learning. Such an approach ignores the need for a learner to experience some awareness of learning.
Can educational games be fun? More research is needed.
2. Games: the time investment versus the return
Games require a significant investment in time. The nature of complex games being long and hard means that they may take many hours to play (Hommel 2010). A teacher must balance the time spent playing a game and the educational outcomes achieved. It may be true that game playing has many positive educational outcomes (like problem-solving and collaborative work) but if these outcomes are only 5% of the game and the rest of the time is shooting and hand-eye coordination skills, then are games the most effective way to achieve the educational outcomes?
3. Not everyone likes games
Despite the claim that games are motivational, not everyone find learning based on computer games to be motivational (Whitton 2007).
There are also gender issues with games. Games mainly have 'male' world views - 'shoot-em-up' games are an obvious example. As well social cultures come into play when looking at games. Many women just don't get the point of games or have more than enough other activities to stimulate or keep them busy without having to play games.
Research is required to identify how to make games more inclusive.
4. Negative aspects of games
Unfortunately, games often have negative associations (Baek 2008). Violent and aggressive behaviour is often attributed to game playing. There may be correlation but no clear causation (Hommel 2010). There are also concerns with students becoming addicted to games. Further research is required to find out if games do cause negative behaviours and how these negative outcomes can be avoided.
5. Fitting into curriculum and classroom schedule
A Korean study (Baek 2008) found that two major concerns of teachers were how to fit games into the curriculum and into the classroom schedule. Curriculum usually focusses on content, not the more general skills associated with gaming. This challenge is faced by teachers who are asked to produce general problem solvers and creative thinkers but also students who can pass endless literacy and numeracy tests. Similarly, the classroom schedule of 60 minutes classes is often not conducive to games that require time to set up and play.
Some conclusions:
It is clear that some (but certainly not all) games have "educational" value. How to best incorporate games into the classroom remains unclear. The variety of approaches of using games in the classroom gives teachers a range of possibilities.
I think that the current curriculum is so tightly focussed on subject content that "general" learning (such as problem solving) that does not fit into one particular subject remains unloved. We assume students get problem solving skills from school but do not have problem solving as a specific curriculum item of study.
The idea that games give educators ideas about teaching and learning is powerful. Games challenge the idea that students only learn by being given facts from a teacher.
Baek Y.K., (2008). What Hinders Teachers in Using Computer and Video Games in the Classroom? Exploring Factors Inhibiting the Uptake of Computer and Video Games. CyberPsychology & Behaviour, Volume 11, Number 6, 2008.
Facer, K. (2003) Computer games and Learning. FutureLab.
Gee, J. (2007) Good Video Games and Good Learning Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning and Literacy, Lang.
Hommel, M. (2010) Video Games and Learning, School Library Monthly, Volume XXVI, Number 10, June 2010.
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Graff, J. and Haas, J. (2009) The Instructional Power of Digital Games Social Networking Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them. The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Royle, K. and Colfer S. (2010) The breadth and scope of computer games in learning: Applications to 14 to 19 learners with a specific focus on applicability to those who are classified as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). CeDARE. September 2010.
Whitton, N. (2007) Motivation and computer game based learning. In ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007
Thursday, April 14, 2011
PPLE - Reflection on Oral Presentation
How will I control my students?
Before Lara and I interviewed my nephew, William, the main provocation that I had been thinking about was “How will I control my students?”. My reading had focussed on the interventionist approach, as I predicted that William would discuss a class with poor behaviour control. I also wanted some balance to my more natural approach which would be non-interventionist. I had read various articles on assertive discipline (eg Charles 2005 and Babkie 2006).
After the interview with William, I was intrigued that the classroom he described had learning issues, not behaviour issues. It reminded me that a positive learning environment is not just about discipline and conduct, but also about learning.
What will students want and need from me?
William’s need for structure in learning made me think about the provocation “What will students want and need from me?”. The interventionist approach provides structure for discipline and rules. But structure is also required for learning. For example, in the PPLE lectures, Steve has argued that boys need structure in their learning.
William found the discussions in his class pointless. Advice from experienced teachers indicated that any class discussion should be framed both on commencing and concluding the discussion. There should also be an outcome from the discussion – reporting back to the main group is one possible outcome – but other outcomes such as a PowerPoint presentation or a cartoon are other candidates.
Uncertainty about assessment was a major concern for William. Understanding by Design (in Churchill 2011) is a form of curriculum planning where the assessment outcomes are designed before the learning experiences. Such a style of planning makes the assessment more explicit and gives a structure that will assist students. During my first observation day I was reminded how students focus on assessment; “will this be on the exam” was asked by a keen student, not to get out of work, but so he could understand the level of competency and skill that was expected in the class.
A teacher needs to be organised and have a clear road map that gives students the structure they need in a class. A road map does not stop detours, but instead lets students know what is coming up and what to expect. In lecture E, Steve suggested one technique that seems appropriate : provide overarching structure with lots of freedom within boundaries.
A teacher needs to be a lead manager (Glasser in Charles 2005), leading and facilitating. To do this I will need to be more assertive than I normally am. I like to listen and see where a discussion goes. To be a lead manager I need to channel the discussion (without taking over the discussion).
What kind of teacher do I want to be?
William’s experiences have made me think about the kind of teacher I want to be. I tend to be pretty easy going, patient and laid back. I try to get along and encourage. I’ve seen this in how I was a team leader at work and how I coach my son’s basketball team. Because of this I had sympathy for William’s teacher. She was trying to befriend students (as suggested by Glasser (Charles 2005)) and provide variety through some fun activities like Singstar karaoke. Instead William felt excluded from the group of favourites and called Singstar “dumb”.
My immediate reaction was that it shows that you can’t keep everyone happy all the time. William survived the class, and is doing related subjects in Year 11 which indicates he wasn’t turned off the subject by the Year 10 class. Maybe the teacher did a good job but William just doesn’t appreciate her efforts and teaching.
On deeper reflection, I think a teacher must be aware what is happening in the classroom. The problem was not being friendly, but rather that some students (like William) felt excluded. It may be better for the student to help the class develop into a community as suggested by Kohn (Charles 2005) rather than for the teacher to unintentionally create a perceived community of favourites.
Similarly, Singstar was not a bad idea in itself, but rather the teacher should have seen that some students did not like it, or the teacher should have asked for feedback to check if Singstar was appreciated by the class. It may have been that the teacher was aware that William did not like Singstar but wanted to use it in class either for other students or to try to bring William out of his shell. In either case, the teacher should have explained the role of Singstar in the class. The students in a class must be involved in the learning journey.
One of the teachers we consulted said that she believes teaching is about relationships. A teacher must build trust and then a positive relationship and learning can occur. I think the teacher in William’s class was trying to build relationships but had not earned the students’ trust first.
I think I can be an easy going, patient and laid back teacher, but have to remember to establish trust and then build relationships. Remembering student names and using them is one practical technique that I can work on.
I would also like to be a teacher that tries new ideas (like Singstar) but have to remember that not all new ideas will work. New ideas must be integrated into the curriculum if they are to have any chance of succeeding.
Should we teach students or subjects?
I have always thought that teachers should teach subjects. Students are people and people are inherently complex and impossible to work out. And so I’ve always thought that teachers should focus on what they know - the content of the subject.
William’s experiences have challenged my thoughts.
First, he was being taught Australian history for third time in four years. A teacher needs to be aware of what students know about the subject and have experienced in the subject so that the subject can be taught in a meaningful way.
Second, in order to stay in the gifted and talented level of the subject, William had a particular motivation for maintaining a grade in the class. In a streamed class it was probably a concern shared by other students in the class. Knowing something about students is then necessary in order to teach effectively.
In Educational Foundations, Phil has suggested the provocation should be answered as “we should teach students our subjects”. I like this response, it fits my initial thoughts about teaching a subject but it allows for the fact that teachers must be aware of their students.
Babkie A. (2006). Be Proactive in Managing Classroom Behaviour. Intervention in School and Clinic. Vol 41, 3. pp 184-187.
Charles, C.M. (2005). Building classroom discipline (8th ed.). Pearson.
Churchill R et al. 2011. Teaching: Making a Difference. John Wiley.
STS 1 - Module I - Creating and Environment for Learning
Due to the guest speaker being unwell, Kerrie's lecture today was her presenting a guest speaker talk. As with any good guest lecture, it lacked structure but contained lots of interesting insights.
The points I found interesting and/or useful included:
1. Be explicit with students. Don't assume that students know what you are thinking and understand what is expected of them.
2. Think about classroom organization. Single desk arrangements are good for some situations. U-shape is most flexible. You need to teach students skills for working in groups - don't assume that they know how to work in groups (see point 1!). Putting difficult students in far back corners can reduce eye contact problems.
3. Develop class rules and do it collaboratively. Have consequences for breaking rules. Have realistic consequences.
4. Take time to build relationships before starting on content. My mentor teach said something related - take time to motivate content before starting on content.
5. Routines are great. We all need structure and routine. We need boundaries that we can work within.
6. Don't wrestle with the pig! Look at your weekly schedule. What are your productive lessons? What are your unproductive ones? Adjust material to suit lesson times. For example, Friday afternoon lessons aren't going to be productive, so don't fight the class trying to make it productive. Instead, find an activity that suits Friday afternoons.
7. Don't try to teach content all the time and every lesson. For starters, it takes too much preparation time. Schedule activities that are low preparation but engaging for kids. Good for kids and good for teacher.
The points I found interesting and/or useful included:
1. Be explicit with students. Don't assume that students know what you are thinking and understand what is expected of them.
2. Think about classroom organization. Single desk arrangements are good for some situations. U-shape is most flexible. You need to teach students skills for working in groups - don't assume that they know how to work in groups (see point 1!). Putting difficult students in far back corners can reduce eye contact problems.
3. Develop class rules and do it collaboratively. Have consequences for breaking rules. Have realistic consequences.
4. Take time to build relationships before starting on content. My mentor teach said something related - take time to motivate content before starting on content.
5. Routines are great. We all need structure and routine. We need boundaries that we can work within.
6. Don't wrestle with the pig! Look at your weekly schedule. What are your productive lessons? What are your unproductive ones? Adjust material to suit lesson times. For example, Friday afternoon lessons aren't going to be productive, so don't fight the class trying to make it productive. Instead, find an activity that suits Friday afternoons.
7. Don't try to teach content all the time and every lesson. For starters, it takes too much preparation time. Schedule activities that are low preparation but engaging for kids. Good for kids and good for teacher.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Some Final Thoughts on Leveraging Off Social Networking
I thought I would end my blogs on teachers leveraging off social networking with a research article on success in the field. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a research article that provided a summary of teacher experiences. Instead here are a few sites and articles on teachers using social networking that I found interesting.
A simple way of using Facebook in the classroom is to create a Facebook page for the class and use the page as a tool for listing homework and for communicating with students (Hart 2010). Students are informed of new posts on the page (such as a reminder that homework is due). Students can send messages asking for assistance or clarification. By not posting any personal information about the teacher or students, the page can be an effective communicator without any of the usual concerns of social networking. Such a Facebook page still keeps the teacher as the central actor and therefore does not encourage peer to peer learning.
An English teacher had his students create Facebook pages for characters from a novel (Featherstone 2009). Each page should have attributes appropriate for the character. Does this mean that there aren't 500 million real people on Facebook?
A Victorian Government report (2009) describes an online science fair and a maths books as projects successfully completed at schools. The report refers to the use of the SuperClubsPlus social networking site. This is a site designed for school children 6 to 14. Enrolment is restricted to children and requires validation from the child's school. There are on-line mediators monitoring the site 24 hours a day. Such a site obviously addresses the security and privacy concerns of sites like Facebook. The report contained positive teacher feedback on social networking in the classroom.
And my final thoughts? I think that social networking has some great advantages but the security and privacy concerns will not go away in a public site. Restricted sites such as Nings and the SuperClubsPlus address these concerns. Eventually the learning management systems (LMS) that schools seem to be using will be extended to have social networking within the LMS. The only problem then for students and teachers will be keeping up with all the different on-line communities to which they belong.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (2009) Teaching and learning with Web 2.0 technologies. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ Accessed 15 April 2011.
Featherstone (2009) Mr Featherstone's Class Blog http://mrfeatherstone.blogspot.com/2009/04/unit-project-facebook-character.html Accessed 15 April 2011.
Hart L. (2010) Using MySpace and Facebook Pages in the Classroom http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/18955.aspx Accessed 15 April 2011.
A simple way of using Facebook in the classroom is to create a Facebook page for the class and use the page as a tool for listing homework and for communicating with students (Hart 2010). Students are informed of new posts on the page (such as a reminder that homework is due). Students can send messages asking for assistance or clarification. By not posting any personal information about the teacher or students, the page can be an effective communicator without any of the usual concerns of social networking. Such a Facebook page still keeps the teacher as the central actor and therefore does not encourage peer to peer learning.
An English teacher had his students create Facebook pages for characters from a novel (Featherstone 2009). Each page should have attributes appropriate for the character. Does this mean that there aren't 500 million real people on Facebook?
A Victorian Government report (2009) describes an online science fair and a maths books as projects successfully completed at schools. The report refers to the use of the SuperClubsPlus social networking site. This is a site designed for school children 6 to 14. Enrolment is restricted to children and requires validation from the child's school. There are on-line mediators monitoring the site 24 hours a day. Such a site obviously addresses the security and privacy concerns of sites like Facebook. The report contained positive teacher feedback on social networking in the classroom.
And my final thoughts? I think that social networking has some great advantages but the security and privacy concerns will not go away in a public site. Restricted sites such as Nings and the SuperClubsPlus address these concerns. Eventually the learning management systems (LMS) that schools seem to be using will be extended to have social networking within the LMS. The only problem then for students and teachers will be keeping up with all the different on-line communities to which they belong.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (2009) Teaching and learning with Web 2.0 technologies. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ Accessed 15 April 2011.
Featherstone (2009) Mr Featherstone's Class Blog http://mrfeatherstone.blogspot.com/2009/04/unit-project-facebook-character.html Accessed 15 April 2011.
Hart L. (2010) Using MySpace and Facebook Pages in the Classroom http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/18955.aspx Accessed 15 April 2011.
Social Networking to Help Teachers
Social networking in the classroom is usually the main focus of teachers using social networking, but can teachers also leverage off social networking to help themselves?
Cloudworks (Conole et al, 2009) is a social network "for sharing learning and teaching ideas and designs". Teachers would be able communicate and collaborate on teaching and learning. The Cloudworks project expended considerable effort in the design of the network. Clouds are the "social objects" of the site. A cloud is the basic unit in the network - it could be an idea about teaching, or a particular resource. The site allows connections to be made between clouds. A cloudscape allows users to aggregate clouds around an idea or an event.
Going to the Cloudworks site however, is a little like visiting an empty shopping mall. The mall looks great, has all the facilities but no shops and no people. The Field of Dreams approach "If you build it, he will come" unfortunately did not seem to work for the Cloudworks project. A quick look at the tags shows the focus of the site: virtual worlds, PhD skills, research, etc. The site is a research tool, not a working network.
The Ning in Education site was established as a community of educators discussing how to use Nings in education. Going on the site, however, the first forum that caught my eye was a discussion on why the site was not being used by educators (Shapiro, 2011). The point of the discussion was "People are joining this NING, however there is a very low participation level after people join." Several of the blog entries however noted that teachers want to be able to access material (how can I use a Ning in the classroom?) and get on with teaching. Many teachers are read-only users of Web 2.0 as they don't have time to post resources for others.
Conclusion? Social networking may be a great tool for teachers to collaborate and communicate. However, smaller communities of teachers with common interests, setting up their own Ning, may be more effective than trying to build a "one size fits all" solution like Cloudworks.
Conole G. and Culver J. (2009) Cloudworks: Social networking for learning design. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 24(5) pp 763-782.
Shapiro, R. (2011) What are you looking for from Ning in Education? http://education.ning.com/forum/topics/what-are-you-looking-for-from. Accessed 15 April 2011
Cloudworks (Conole et al, 2009) is a social network "for sharing learning and teaching ideas and designs". Teachers would be able communicate and collaborate on teaching and learning. The Cloudworks project expended considerable effort in the design of the network. Clouds are the "social objects" of the site. A cloud is the basic unit in the network - it could be an idea about teaching, or a particular resource. The site allows connections to be made between clouds. A cloudscape allows users to aggregate clouds around an idea or an event.
Going to the Cloudworks site however, is a little like visiting an empty shopping mall. The mall looks great, has all the facilities but no shops and no people. The Field of Dreams approach "If you build it, he will come" unfortunately did not seem to work for the Cloudworks project. A quick look at the tags shows the focus of the site: virtual worlds, PhD skills, research, etc. The site is a research tool, not a working network.
The Ning in Education site was established as a community of educators discussing how to use Nings in education. Going on the site, however, the first forum that caught my eye was a discussion on why the site was not being used by educators (Shapiro, 2011). The point of the discussion was "People are joining this NING, however there is a very low participation level after people join." Several of the blog entries however noted that teachers want to be able to access material (how can I use a Ning in the classroom?) and get on with teaching. Many teachers are read-only users of Web 2.0 as they don't have time to post resources for others.
Conclusion? Social networking may be a great tool for teachers to collaborate and communicate. However, smaller communities of teachers with common interests, setting up their own Ning, may be more effective than trying to build a "one size fits all" solution like Cloudworks.
Conole G. and Culver J. (2009) Cloudworks: Social networking for learning design. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 24(5) pp 763-782.
Shapiro, R. (2011) What are you looking for from Ning in Education? http://education.ning.com/forum/topics/what-are-you-looking-for-from. Accessed 15 April 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Educational networking
The use of social networking tools for educational purposes faces obstacles with privacy and safety concerns. Can the use of "educational networking" sites address these concerns?
Holcomb et al (2010) studied the use of a Ning in Education SNS (Social Networking Site) for distance education courses at the University of North Carolina. The study wanted to see if the more restricted Ning would address privacy and safety concerns but retain the advantages of educational networking.
The results were positive: The Ning "provided numerous educational values and benefits for learning within a secure environment" (Holcomb et al 2010). As distance educational students, the participants were able to communicate and collaborative more easily with their peers.
The biggest problem was the time commitment required to use the Ning; "the time to keep current was a significant drawback".
I found these results to be consistent with my observations of using a Ning in PPLE. Due to the closed community, I was much more comfortable submitting work, knowing that the community was a small, trusted group. I benefited from reading other students' thoughts and also from thinking about my thoughts in order to write. However, the time taken to write and read the Ning has meant that my participation has dropped off during the semester due to other demands on my time.
As well as the Ning, the article suggests Elgg and Classroom 2.0 as other educational networking tools.
These tool appear to address the concerns about privacy and safety from the outside world. The tool do not directly address problems that could occur within the group. Moayeri (2010) states that the perceived need for teachers to police Nings used in a classroom setting was a major time burden for the teachers. Maybe education and the idea of a closed community will reduce the need for teachers to police such educational networking sites?
Holcomb L., Brady K. and Smith B. 2010 The Emergence of "Educational Networking": Can Non-commercial, Education-based Social Networking Sites Really Address the Privacy and Safety Concerns of Educators? MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol 6, No. 2, June 2010, pp 475-481.
Moayeri, M. 2010. Classroom Uses of Social Network Sites: Traditional Practices or New Literacies? Digital Culture & Education, 2:1, 25-43.
Holcomb et al (2010) studied the use of a Ning in Education SNS (Social Networking Site) for distance education courses at the University of North Carolina. The study wanted to see if the more restricted Ning would address privacy and safety concerns but retain the advantages of educational networking.
The results were positive: The Ning "provided numerous educational values and benefits for learning within a secure environment" (Holcomb et al 2010). As distance educational students, the participants were able to communicate and collaborative more easily with their peers.
The biggest problem was the time commitment required to use the Ning; "the time to keep current was a significant drawback".
I found these results to be consistent with my observations of using a Ning in PPLE. Due to the closed community, I was much more comfortable submitting work, knowing that the community was a small, trusted group. I benefited from reading other students' thoughts and also from thinking about my thoughts in order to write. However, the time taken to write and read the Ning has meant that my participation has dropped off during the semester due to other demands on my time.
As well as the Ning, the article suggests Elgg and Classroom 2.0 as other educational networking tools.
These tool appear to address the concerns about privacy and safety from the outside world. The tool do not directly address problems that could occur within the group. Moayeri (2010) states that the perceived need for teachers to police Nings used in a classroom setting was a major time burden for the teachers. Maybe education and the idea of a closed community will reduce the need for teachers to police such educational networking sites?
Holcomb L., Brady K. and Smith B. 2010 The Emergence of "Educational Networking": Can Non-commercial, Education-based Social Networking Sites Really Address the Privacy and Safety Concerns of Educators? MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol 6, No. 2, June 2010, pp 475-481.
Moayeri, M. 2010. Classroom Uses of Social Network Sites: Traditional Practices or New Literacies? Digital Culture & Education, 2:1, 25-43.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Educational Foundations - Posting 2
For my second posting, I will continue to look at the scenario of Wayne who is caught between making learning interesting and relevant, and the pressure of exam preparation. Wayne also continues to struggle with two groups of students: one that is highly motivated but not engaging in deep learning, and another group that is unmotivated. I will be using learning theory and motivation to analyse the scenario.
Behaviourism (Skinner) views motivation as based on rewards and punishment. The motivated group of students see success in exams as a reward, and hence are working towards that goal. The unmotivated students do not see exam success as a reward, they also do not see exam failure as punishment, and hence they are not motivated.
If Wayne wants the motivated students to engage in deep learning, then he needs to provide rewards for doing so. Either he convinces that students that they need deep learning for exam success, or he needs other rewards to encourage deep learning. For example, having prizes for the best performance in a Science competition may encourage students to engage in the deep learning needed in such a competition. Wayne must be able to state what observable characteristics he expects from a student who has done "deep learning" and then find rewards that encourage these observable characteristics.
For the unmotivated students, Wayne must find a reward that will provide extrinsic motivation. Ideally he would be able to find both short-term and long-term rewards. For example, praise and chocolate bars would be short-term rewards but success in school leading to an apprenticeship or work goal would be a long-term reward. Long-term rewards are essential as the motivation generated by short-term rewards is often fleeting.
Social cognitive learning theory (Bandura) explains how students become self-regulated learners through the triadic reciprocal causation of personal characteristics, behaviourial patterns and the environment. Has Wayne been modelling how to be a self-regulated learner to his class?
The two groups of students may reflect the outlook of their family backgrounds. The social environment may be encouraging one set of students to succeed in exams (because that is the behaviour that is looked up to) while another set of students may have no role models for exam success. Can Wayne bring in some role models into the classroom to encourage or inspire the unmotivated students? The role model would have to be someone that the unmotivated students can relate to - bringing in a straight-A student who is succeeding in university may have the opposite effect on the unmotivated students.
Self-efficacy is the strongest influence on students developing into self-regulated learners. Have the unmotivated students lost confidence and entered a spiral of learned helplessness? Wayne may have to find ways to build the self-efficacy of the unmotivated students. One approach is finding their strengths (directly related to Wayne's subject and also other skills unrelated on the subject) and building on them. Is one of the unmotivated students a good football player? Can Wayne get the student's confidence and ability in sport and show how it can be applied in other areas? This student could then become a role model for his unmotivated peers. Another approach to building self-efficacy is to find the point where the students lost confidence and build from that knowledge base.
The number of students that are anxious and fearful about getting into University will need assistance. The emotional state of an individual has a major influence on their ability to learn. Wayne needs to help the students to focus on being positive and trying their best, which will allow them to achieve more than stressing out.
Constructivism argues that learning does not occur due to instruction from above but due to students constructing their own meaning. Constructivism would argue that the behaviourist notion of exams as rewards is precisely the reason that shallow learning is occurring. Until students are motivated by situated learning with authentic assessment, they will either not be motivated or only display shallow learning. Wayne needs to find a connection between the curriculum and his students, and then present the students with challenging material.
Cognitive constructivism (Piaget) sees the construction of meaning as an internal cognitive activity. Wayne must introduce events that cause "disequilibrium" in the learners who then must accommodate the new information.
On the other hand, social constructivism (Vygotsky) sees the construction of meaning as a product of learning via socially-driven conversations or problem-solving activities. The social constructivist approach would then ask Wayne if the unmotivated students have the language or cultural tools able to engage in problem-solving that would lead to learning. Or is Wayne not using the tools that the unmotivated group possess - for example, the unmotivated group may be using social networking, texting etc but coming to school to listen to long lectures with rote learning. Can Wayne find ways to use the tools that the students have (like social networking) to enable them to learn?
Humanist views on motivation (Maslow) consider the student welfare and well-being. Some students in class are tired and distracted. The students may be tired due to lack of sleep due to being in paid employment or out partying. Until students have their basic human needs (such as food and sleep) met, Wayne is going to struggle to engage them in learning. For these students, Wayne needs to stop concentrating on the content (as these students are not going to be learning anyway) and provide assistance so that the students are able to meet their basic human needs. Wayne may need to look at his timetable to find the periods when students are most able to focus on study and use these periods for the "hard" learning. Periods where students are often distracted or tired (Monday mornings, Friday afternoons) could then be used for activities that require less concentration and application.
I found the provocation "Should we teach students or subjects" to be especially relevant as I thought of Wayne's situation and the various learning theories. A teacher cannot just teach subject content without considering the students. The various learning theories offer many approaches to understanding how students learn. A teacher must use that knowledge to motivate and engage students while teaching subject content.
Behaviourism (Skinner) views motivation as based on rewards and punishment. The motivated group of students see success in exams as a reward, and hence are working towards that goal. The unmotivated students do not see exam success as a reward, they also do not see exam failure as punishment, and hence they are not motivated.
If Wayne wants the motivated students to engage in deep learning, then he needs to provide rewards for doing so. Either he convinces that students that they need deep learning for exam success, or he needs other rewards to encourage deep learning. For example, having prizes for the best performance in a Science competition may encourage students to engage in the deep learning needed in such a competition. Wayne must be able to state what observable characteristics he expects from a student who has done "deep learning" and then find rewards that encourage these observable characteristics.
For the unmotivated students, Wayne must find a reward that will provide extrinsic motivation. Ideally he would be able to find both short-term and long-term rewards. For example, praise and chocolate bars would be short-term rewards but success in school leading to an apprenticeship or work goal would be a long-term reward. Long-term rewards are essential as the motivation generated by short-term rewards is often fleeting.
Social cognitive learning theory (Bandura) explains how students become self-regulated learners through the triadic reciprocal causation of personal characteristics, behaviourial patterns and the environment. Has Wayne been modelling how to be a self-regulated learner to his class?
The two groups of students may reflect the outlook of their family backgrounds. The social environment may be encouraging one set of students to succeed in exams (because that is the behaviour that is looked up to) while another set of students may have no role models for exam success. Can Wayne bring in some role models into the classroom to encourage or inspire the unmotivated students? The role model would have to be someone that the unmotivated students can relate to - bringing in a straight-A student who is succeeding in university may have the opposite effect on the unmotivated students.
Self-efficacy is the strongest influence on students developing into self-regulated learners. Have the unmotivated students lost confidence and entered a spiral of learned helplessness? Wayne may have to find ways to build the self-efficacy of the unmotivated students. One approach is finding their strengths (directly related to Wayne's subject and also other skills unrelated on the subject) and building on them. Is one of the unmotivated students a good football player? Can Wayne get the student's confidence and ability in sport and show how it can be applied in other areas? This student could then become a role model for his unmotivated peers. Another approach to building self-efficacy is to find the point where the students lost confidence and build from that knowledge base.
The number of students that are anxious and fearful about getting into University will need assistance. The emotional state of an individual has a major influence on their ability to learn. Wayne needs to help the students to focus on being positive and trying their best, which will allow them to achieve more than stressing out.
Constructivism argues that learning does not occur due to instruction from above but due to students constructing their own meaning. Constructivism would argue that the behaviourist notion of exams as rewards is precisely the reason that shallow learning is occurring. Until students are motivated by situated learning with authentic assessment, they will either not be motivated or only display shallow learning. Wayne needs to find a connection between the curriculum and his students, and then present the students with challenging material.
Cognitive constructivism (Piaget) sees the construction of meaning as an internal cognitive activity. Wayne must introduce events that cause "disequilibrium" in the learners who then must accommodate the new information.
On the other hand, social constructivism (Vygotsky) sees the construction of meaning as a product of learning via socially-driven conversations or problem-solving activities. The social constructivist approach would then ask Wayne if the unmotivated students have the language or cultural tools able to engage in problem-solving that would lead to learning. Or is Wayne not using the tools that the unmotivated group possess - for example, the unmotivated group may be using social networking, texting etc but coming to school to listen to long lectures with rote learning. Can Wayne find ways to use the tools that the students have (like social networking) to enable them to learn?
Humanist views on motivation (Maslow) consider the student welfare and well-being. Some students in class are tired and distracted. The students may be tired due to lack of sleep due to being in paid employment or out partying. Until students have their basic human needs (such as food and sleep) met, Wayne is going to struggle to engage them in learning. For these students, Wayne needs to stop concentrating on the content (as these students are not going to be learning anyway) and provide assistance so that the students are able to meet their basic human needs. Wayne may need to look at his timetable to find the periods when students are most able to focus on study and use these periods for the "hard" learning. Periods where students are often distracted or tired (Monday mornings, Friday afternoons) could then be used for activities that require less concentration and application.
I found the provocation "Should we teach students or subjects" to be especially relevant as I thought of Wayne's situation and the various learning theories. A teacher cannot just teach subject content without considering the students. The various learning theories offer many approaches to understanding how students learn. A teacher must use that knowledge to motivate and engage students while teaching subject content.
Is Social Networking a New Literacy?
Social networking is a powerful tool, but are teachers using social networking to do the same old thing using new technology, or are they using social networking to create a new way of doing things? This week I am looking at an article by Moayeri (2010) that explores this question.
Moayeri describes a study of two teachers in the same school using social networking (a Ning) as a part of the classroom work. Although both teachers are "digital pioneers" (Moayeri 2010) they used the Ning in different ways.
The first teacher would post questions on the main blog page and students would be required to respond on their own page's blog. Students were required to comment on other students submissions, but had to move onto the other students' blog pages to read their work.
In contrast, the second teacher used a single discussion forum for students to discuss topic questions. All students could then easily see the whole discussion and other students' thoughts. The forum was soon also used for social announcements. As well, the Ning site used for non-textual material and for students to share work (such as videos made by students).
Moayeri classifies the first classroom as using new technology for traditional practice. The second classroom however used the new technology to create a collaborative multimodal learning environment and was therefore using a "new literacy".
The article is an honest overview and does note problems using the Ning in the classroom. Assessment was difficult, how do you grade collaborative work and how do you make the amount of effort required for Ning activities commensurate with the assessment weighting? The Ning also required more work of both the teachers and the students. And because of the use of the Ning, oral discussions in the classroom were reduced in the class - effectively reducing oral literacy for another literacy that is heavily text based.
There were some strong positives. Most students enjoyed having their work seen and being able to see other students work. Students liked the idea that they could see another student's piece of assessable work before they submitted their own. Students liked the idea of building a product - the final Ning - over a semester.
The second classroom reported that a stronger classroom community was developed by using the Ning as a social tool. The Ning helped break down barriers between student groups: across gender and across popularity. Given the importance of learning communities in developing positive learning environments (Charles 2005) this is a significant advantage.
The experiences in the article are consistent with what I have observed in the Grad Dip. The use of the blog in ELPC (for example) has really replaced a paper submission with an online submission. There are additional advantages, such as students learning how to use blogs and in course administration, but I would not call it a new literacy. In PPLE however, a Ning has been used as a discussion forum and it has been interesting to read other students' thoughts about discussion topics set by the lecturer. The lecturer has made the Ning submissions non-assessable, avoiding the assessment problems described in the article. As well, only about a 25% on the tutorial group posts on the Ning, either due to not wanting their work public or because of the time it takes to contribute. Would I consider it a new literacy? It is certainly different to writing an essay and different to an in-class discussion, but few people on the Ning have actually commented on another student's posting. We submit, the lecturer comments. Maybe it will only become a new literacy when we become brave enough to interact and work as a collaborative community?
Charles, C.M. (2005). Building classroom discipline (8th ed.). Pearson.
Moayeri, M. 2010. Classroom Uses of Social Network Sites: Traditional Practices or New Literacies? Digital Culture & Education, 2:1, 25-43.
Moayeri describes a study of two teachers in the same school using social networking (a Ning) as a part of the classroom work. Although both teachers are "digital pioneers" (Moayeri 2010) they used the Ning in different ways.
The first teacher would post questions on the main blog page and students would be required to respond on their own page's blog. Students were required to comment on other students submissions, but had to move onto the other students' blog pages to read their work.
In contrast, the second teacher used a single discussion forum for students to discuss topic questions. All students could then easily see the whole discussion and other students' thoughts. The forum was soon also used for social announcements. As well, the Ning site used for non-textual material and for students to share work (such as videos made by students).
Moayeri classifies the first classroom as using new technology for traditional practice. The second classroom however used the new technology to create a collaborative multimodal learning environment and was therefore using a "new literacy".
The article is an honest overview and does note problems using the Ning in the classroom. Assessment was difficult, how do you grade collaborative work and how do you make the amount of effort required for Ning activities commensurate with the assessment weighting? The Ning also required more work of both the teachers and the students. And because of the use of the Ning, oral discussions in the classroom were reduced in the class - effectively reducing oral literacy for another literacy that is heavily text based.
There were some strong positives. Most students enjoyed having their work seen and being able to see other students work. Students liked the idea that they could see another student's piece of assessable work before they submitted their own. Students liked the idea of building a product - the final Ning - over a semester.
The second classroom reported that a stronger classroom community was developed by using the Ning as a social tool. The Ning helped break down barriers between student groups: across gender and across popularity. Given the importance of learning communities in developing positive learning environments (Charles 2005) this is a significant advantage.
The experiences in the article are consistent with what I have observed in the Grad Dip. The use of the blog in ELPC (for example) has really replaced a paper submission with an online submission. There are additional advantages, such as students learning how to use blogs and in course administration, but I would not call it a new literacy. In PPLE however, a Ning has been used as a discussion forum and it has been interesting to read other students' thoughts about discussion topics set by the lecturer. The lecturer has made the Ning submissions non-assessable, avoiding the assessment problems described in the article. As well, only about a 25% on the tutorial group posts on the Ning, either due to not wanting their work public or because of the time it takes to contribute. Would I consider it a new literacy? It is certainly different to writing an essay and different to an in-class discussion, but few people on the Ning have actually commented on another student's posting. We submit, the lecturer comments. Maybe it will only become a new literacy when we become brave enough to interact and work as a collaborative community?
Charles, C.M. (2005). Building classroom discipline (8th ed.). Pearson.
Moayeri, M. 2010. Classroom Uses of Social Network Sites: Traditional Practices or New Literacies? Digital Culture & Education, 2:1, 25-43.
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