Lesson 18 "TABLETS FOR TEXTBOOKS IN SCHOOLS"

   Tablet for learning is still futuristic. But today, books are sill the primary of medium of instruction in must schools. These will be replaced by digital technology reading tools, but there are now perceptions that virtual literary may very well ease out textual print literary. Already, the disadvantages of using books for learning are being debated upon. the load of books and work books are backbreaking due to their weight and size. Publishing and printing millions of books are just too expensive. The errors in public school textbooks have also been exposed, errors resulting from information, technical mistakes and editorial lapses. Technology is being viewed as a savior. Learning technology along with other audio-visual aids to teaching-and-learning. 

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Lesson 16 “THE INTERNET AND EDUCATION”

          The internet, also simply called the NET is the largest and far flung-network system-of-all-systems. Surprisingly, the internet is not really a network but a loosely organize collection of about 25,000 networks accessed by computer on the planet. It is astonishing to know that no one owns the internet. It has no central headquarters, no centrally offered services, and no comprehensive online index to tell users what information is available in the system.

 

GETTING AROUND THE NET 

The vast sea of information now and the internet, including news and trivia, is an overwhelming challenge to those who wish to navigate it.

THE VIEW OF EDUCATIONAL USES OF THE INTERNET

Today, even elementary school graders in progressive countries like the United States are corresponding via e-mail with pen pals in all 50 states. This educational activity prodded by their schools are paying dividends from increasing the pupils interest in Geography to a greater understanding of how people live in large cities and other places in the United States or the world.

LESSON 15 “UNDERSTANDING HYPERMEDIA”

          From the educational technology 1 course, the student has already become aware of multimedia or an audio visual package that includes more than one instructional media (means of knowing) such as text, graphics, audio animation and video clip.

 

          The presentation of information-learning activities in hypermedia is said to be sequenced in a non-linear manner, meaning that the learner may follow his path of activities, thus providing an environment of learner autonomy and thinking skills.

        CHARACTESTICS OF HYPERMEDIA APPLICATION

1.     LEARNER CONTROL means the learner makes his own decisions on the path, flow or events of instruction.

a.    LEARNER WIDE RANGE OF NAVIGATION ROUTES. For the most part, the learner control the sequence and  pace of his path depending of his ability and motivation.

 

b.    VARIETY OF MEDIA. Hypermedia includes more than one media (text, graphics, audio, video clip) but does not necessarily use all types of media in one presentation.

LESSON 14 “THE SOFTWARE AS AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE”

          It’s more difficult to realize, however, that the computer hardware can hardly be useful without the program or system that tells what computer machine should do. 

 

          There are two kinds of software:

1.     THE SYSTEM SOFTWARE

2.    THE APPLICATION SOFTWARE                                                                       

                                                                

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE can be visited on the internet or can be bought from software shops or dealers. The teacher through his school should decide on the best computer-based instructional (CBI) materials for the schools resource collection.

Lesson 13 “COOPERATIVE LEARNING WITH THE COMPUTER”

The creativity of the teacher would have to respond with the situation, and so cooperative learning will likely be the answer to the implementation of IT supported learning in our school. But the situation may not be that bad since there are motivational and social benefits to cooperative learning and these can compensate for the lack of hardware that educators face.



Cooperative or collaborative learning is learning by small groups of students who work together in a common learning task. It is often also called group learning but to be truly cooperative learning, 5 elements are needed:
1. common goal
2. interdependence
3. interaction
4. individual accountability
5. social skills

Cooperative Learning and the Computer

Researchers have made studies on the learning interaction between the student and the computer. The studies have great value since it has been a long standing fear that the computer may foster student learning in isolation that hinders the development of the student's social skills.
Now this mythical fear has been contradicted by the studies which show that when students work with computers election

Lesson 12 “INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING”

The idea of student-centered learning is not a recent idea. In fact, as early as the 20th century, educational educators such as John Dewey argued for highly active and individualized pedagogical methods which place the student at the center of the teaching-learning process.



The Traditional Classroom

It may be observed that classrooms are usually arranged with neat columns and rows of student chairs or desks, while the teacher stands in front of the classroom or sits behind his table. This situation is necessitated by the need to maintain classroom discipline, also allows the teacher to control classroom activities through lecture presentation and teacher-led discussions.

Noticeably, however, after spending so many minutes in lesson presentation and class management, students can get restless and fidgety. Often enough, the teacher has to also manage misbehaviour in class as students start to talk among themselves or simply stare away in lack of attention.

The SCL Classroom

 John Dewey has described traditional learning as a process in which the teacher pours information to student learners, much like pouring water from a jug into cups. This is based on the long accepted belief that the teacher must perform his role of teaching so that learning can occur. This learning approach is generally known as direct instruction, and it has worked well for obtaining many kinds of learning outcomes. The problem with it is that the approach in learning, however, is the fact that the world’s societies have began to change. It may not be felt strongly to countries in which on countries who depends mostly their economy to factory workers. Traditional and direct instruction is very useful in these countries.

 In contrast, industrialized societies we find knowledge-based economies in which workers depend on information that can be accessed through information and communication technologies (ICTs). Desiring to gain effectiveness, efficiency and economy in administration, schools in these developed economies have also adopted the support of ICTs. Their students have now become active not passive learners, demonstrating independence and self-awareness in the learning process.

Lesson 11 - “THE COMPUTER AS THE TEACHER’S TOOL”

Constructivism was introduced by Jean Piaget (1981) and Bruner (1990). They gave stress to knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning process. Various strategies have been suggested to foster knowledge discovery, among these, is making students engaged in gathering unorganized information from which they can induce ideas and principles. Students are also asked to apply discovered knowledge to new situations, a process for making their knowledge applicable to real life situations.

While knowledge is constructed by the individual learner in constructivism, knowledge can also be socially constructed. Social Constructivism is the effort to show that the construction of knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts. In effect, this is to say that the learner who interprets knowledge has a predetermined point of view according to the social perspectives of the community or society he lives in.

 

The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social influences. He suggested the interactive process in learning. A more capable adult (teacher or parent) can aid or complement what the learner sees in a given tasks or project. In addition, John Dewey sees language as medium for social coordination and adaptation. For Dewey, human learning is really human languaging that occurs when students socially share, build and agree upon meanings and knowledge.

The Computer’s Capabilities

Informative Tool

The computer can provide vast amounts of information in various forms, such as text, graphics, sound, and video. Even multimedia encyclopedia are today available on the internet.

Communication Tool

The computer has been used in communication as evident by social networking sites as to facebook, twitter and friendster. We can even chat/talk friends and families anywhere in the globe through yahoo messenger or the one in facebook or view them through the webcam. We can send messages and information through the internet in just seconds or minutes.

Constructive Tool

The computer itself can be used for manipulating information, visualizing one’s understanding, and building new knowledge. The Microsoft Word computer program itself is a desktop publishing software that allows users to organize and present their ideas in attractive formats.

Co-constructive Tool

 Students can use constructive tools to work cooperatively and construct a shared understanding of new knowledge. One way of co-construction is the use of the electronic whiteboard where students may post notices to a shared document/whiteboard. Students may also co-edit the same document from their homes.

Situating Tool

 By means of virtual reality (RS) extension systems, the computer can create 3-D images on display to give the user the feeling that are situated in a virtual environment. A flight simulation program is an example of a situating tool which places the user in simulated flying environment.