The term e-learning can be
used to define the acquisition of new knowledge and skills through the
engagement in online or digital technology. It facilitates learning in a real
world context for the digitally native students of the 21st century.
Learning is a process that involves conscious knowledge gained through
teaching. This teaching involves explanation and analysis, breaking down the
thing that is to be learned into its analytic parts. It involves attaining some
degree of meta-knowledge about the matter. Learning also involves the
acquisition of new skills through immersion in these skills. (Gee, 1991). We are better at skills that we
acquire but we know more about what we learn, therefore e-learning is a unique
opportunity to combine both of these sources of education to provide the best
possible outcomes for students.
Some of the positives of e-learning
include a vast array of learning styles, needs
and preferences being catered for as well as real life, contextual learning
being provided for students that they see as personally useful and meaningful. However, no learning tool is free from problems or limitations and this
can be clearly seen when exploring the topic of e-learning. When exploring some
of the technologies through the engagement in this course I discovered that one
of the main challenges was simply, unreliable technology. Learning managers have
to be prepared to face the fact that technology is not always going to work
perfectly and therefore it cannot be relied on 100%. Learning managers should
also be striving to keep up with their students in maintaining their ICT skills
at a high standard to match those of today’s digital natives. Some of the other
issues include working in a safe, legal and ethical manner while online which
comprises of maintaining a professional online presence. Internet and cyber
bullying, inappropriate use of technology, copyright laws should be considered
and planned for when engaging in the use of technology. There are some fun images that relate to this topic in my week 2 blog post. They certainly gave me
some food for thought as I explored digital technologies such as mobile phones,
Weebly, Wiki's Prezi, PowerPoint and even the use of iCloud.
According to ACARA (2012), “ICT’s are fast and
automated, interactive and multimodal, and they support the rapid communication
and representation of knowledge to many audiences and its adaptation in
different contexts. They transform the ways that students think and learn and
give them greater control over how, where and when they learn”. Optimal
outcomes can be achieved in the classroom with the use of a combination of
frameworks, technologies and teaching and learning styles.
The framework that I will focus on and
which best suits digital pedagogy is the TPACK framework. The TPACK framework
can be broken down into three parts or knowledge that a good learning manager
should have, which are technological knowledge, which is the knowledge of how
to use the technology that they will be implementing in their classroom,
pedagogical knowledge which is the knowledge of how to teach a concept, and
content knowledge, which is the actual knowledge about what they are going to
teach.
(Mishra & Koehler,2006) You might wish to view a video from my
week 2 blog post that demonstrates the TPACK framework unpacked.
The digital age has made it much
simpler for teachers to plan and cater for a wide range of differing learning
styles because of the multitude of digital tools and resources available
although it still requires educators to consider learning styles and theorists
in regards to digital technology. Theories that I became familiar with included
Behaviourism, Connectivism and Social Constructivism. The one that seemed to
connect more with e-learning was the Connectivist theory which states that it
is no longer possible for students to know everything, and it is far more
valuable to identify how to find information through creating an information pipeline,
than to waste time trying to know everything. By having ICT’s in the classroom,
a student-centric environment is born which enables students to start creating
connections in their information pipelines. (Education QLD, 2012)
In recent years a good learning
manager has come to be recognised as having the skills and knowledge about the
process of teaching rather than just content knowledge. (Turner-Bisset, 2001)
This links back to the TPACK framework as three kinds of knowledge are combined
to achieve optimal learning outcomes for every student. As technology is
constantly evolving, so must the digital skills of learning managers in order
to keep up with the digital natives of the 21st century as well as
the many others to come.
References
ACARA (2012). Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction
Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development Victoria,. (2013). E-Learning Support
and Services. Retrieved fromhttp://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/curriculum/pages/elearning.aspxTurner-Bisset, R. (2001) Expert Teaching : knowledge and pedagogy to lead the profession (p 1-19) London: Fulton Publishers
thanks Tegan
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