Learning and teaching with ICT Expanding opportunities in teacher education

1. Learning and teaching with ICTExpanding opportunities in teacher education Thuridur Johannsdottir Iceland University of Education BERA – 11th-13th September 2003

2. Iceland University of Education • Student population 2002-2003 • Distance learning students: 1339 • Traditional on-campus students: 891 • Distance learning - undergraduate: 822 • Distance; primary school B.Ed on campus: 462 • Distance; primary school B.Ed distance: 401 • The Department of Graduate studies - only distance learners 517

3. Reasearch on distance education • How is the use of ICT affecting the way the institution goes about organizing teaching and learning? • How is the use of ICT affecting the way the teachers perform their teaching activities? • How is the use of ICT affecting the way the students perform their learning activities?

4. Activity Theory applies well • The activity system as a unit of analysis • has been used to research the effectiveness of everyday learning environments • the relationship between the individual participant and the activity system’s purpose • Activity as mediated by tools is central http://ceo.cudenver.edu/~brent_wilson/acttheory.html

5. The Activity Theory model www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/6b0.htm Tools Outcome Subject Object Rules Division of labor Community

6. Teaching and learning as activities • Break teaching and learning down into tasks – (M. Allyson Macdonald 2003) • Identify the tasks as performed on the web in distance learning and teaching • Get a better understanding of how ICT-tools used to mediate teaching and learning are affecting the task • Identify underlying conceptions of learning in activities performed or planned by the teacher – and mediated through ICT-tools

7. Twining’s CPF (computer practice framework) • Developed to evaluate to what extent ICT use is affecting learning activities • How much? In what purpose? In what way? • When used as a learning tool: • Support • Improving efficiency – no change of content • Extend • Content and/or process are different – but ICT not necessary • Transform • Content and/or process are different – not possible without ICT

8. ICT as a tool for teaching and learning in distance education • Possibilities and constraints of the tool? • McLuhan: The medium is the message • David Wood 1998: • computer-based teaching systems have their roots in assumptions about theories of how students learn • any limitations of the theory will be inherited by the system • intelligent users of such systems in education must measure their promise against our general knowledge of how people learn

9. Internet is the main tool in distance education today • Learning to understand the possibilities that lie in the tool • Access to resources • Publish learning products • Communicate and collaborate • Multimodal representations, multimedia and hypertext possibilities • Technical constraints caused by e.g. bandwidth

10. Available tools for teaching tasks • Main categories • E-mail • E-mail list servers • Conference systems • Course management tools or course-ware: WebCT - closed • Web-editors - open or closed webs • Team or project management tools: • Lotus: QuickPlace • Microsoft: SharePoint

11. Sub categories – ICT-tools • The computer • Word • PowerPoint • Excel • The Internet • Discussion webs • Interactive database • blog • Chat – MSN • Management systems • Drop box for assignments in WebCT • Managing assignments – grades, feedback

12. Distance-teaching as activity or task

13. Distance-teaching as activity or task

14. Distance-learning as activity or task

15. Distance-learning as activity or task

16. Underlying learning theories • Behaviourism – transfer of knowlegde model • Linear structure of the learning process • Reading textbooks • Answering questions • Getting the right answers from the teacher • Course webs used to exchange files • Discussion used to ask the teacher to clarify content FAQ

17. Underlying learning theories • Social constructivism • Dialogue as a learning tool • Collaborative assignments • Foster the learning community • Build around meaningful activity • Work with the available tools • Publish the learning products and sharing them with co-students – stressing the social construction of knowledge

18. ICT-tools – inherent learning theories • WebCT built on transfer model • Not easy to present and share documents with co-students • Collaborative groups are supposed to work on closed area • Students are supposed to send the teacher their assignment and get direct/personal feedback and grade • Tool for interactive multiple choice exams

19. Tools for constructive learning • Open web-sites where the teachers provide for resources and tools needed to learn • Use authentic tools available on the Internet • Share Point for team work • Lotus knowledge rooms Weigler • Blog-sites • Digital portfolios

20. Authentic learning on the Internet • Learning as an authentic activity • Using the tools available in the respective culture • Learning from real communities on the web – • how they work – rules • Which tools they are using and in what purpose • How they collaborate – division of labour – and distributed cognition