In 2003 Garrison and Anderson stated “E Learning will inevitably transform all forms of education and learning in the 21st century. This statement has certainly come true where E Learning has transformed education in ways that extend beyond the efficient delivery or entertainment value of traditional approaches to teaching and learning (Garrison & Anderson (2004). It has opened up new and exciting ways to collaborate and learn through digital tools and pedagogies. E Learning has created an online and digital learning environment that offers the 21st century learners opportunity to engage in deep, rich and collaborative learning. This new way of learning that is being used for many education purposes has not been able to be ignored by those who are seriously committed to enhancing teaching and learning and therefore has become imperative to the 21st century classroom. Garrison and Anderson (2004) state that the "essential feature of E-Learning extends beyond its access to information and builds on its communication and interactive features.
With such learning taking place in education ICT's are being incorporated to transform, support and enhance learning. Such ICT's are being used to create learning environments that are digitally rich and support the many differing learning styles of students. These learning environments are enhancing students’ lifelong learning through equipping them with skills and processes that would not be obtained without interaction with such digital devices.
In the primary classroom digital tools such as websites, wiki's, YouTube, Google Earth, Digital Mind Mapping, Blogs, Videos, Flickr etc. are being incorporated into classroom teaching and learning. These digital devices and tools are allowing students to develop higher order thinking skills, collaborate with not only their peers but with the wider community, research and use information that would not be available without such technologies, and connect with real world, authentic and meaningful tasks.
Although such technologies can be seen as imperative to students learning in the 21st century there are some barriers and limitations to E-Learning in the primary school classroom. Teacher’s knowledge and ability to use some digital technologies are limited therefore they do not feel confident in incorporating such technologies into learning. This is leading to students missing out on the opportunity to engage in some rich learning tasks. Other limitations are the time and resources available are limited. Such limitations affect such learning being implemented as there is insufficient time for learning to be scaffolded enough for students to make learning gains and with limited digital resources available in many classrooms such learning cannot be implemented. A futher limitation for E-Learning in the Primary School Classroom is the level of the digital device. Some digital tool and technologies are either too low or at a too high level for different age groups and therefore cannot be implemented into classroom practice effectively.
Whilst there are some limitations to E Learning in the Primary Classroom there are many more opportunities. Such opportunities are students being engaged in learning experiences that would not be possible without the use of such digital tools and devices. With E-Learning environments students are able to connect with people outside the classroom. Online collaborative technologies such as wiki's and blogs allow students to communicate with their peers and outside community. These ICT's being used are making new learning possible through allowing students to discover and access information in ways that are only possible with these technologies and communicate and share such learning in creative learning environments. E Learning is allowing a change from transmission of knowledge to collaborative generation of information. Kruse (2004), states “the vast movement towards e-learning is clearly motivated by the many benefits it offers”.
It is clearly evident that through the implementation and incorporation for digital tools, technologies and devices through an E-Learning classroom environment student’s are given opportunities to make many valuable learning gains and such a learning environment supports the 21st century learner’s lifelong learning. Thus the following synopsis will give you an overview of my learning journey through a range of educationally sound digital technologies. This synopsis aims to give you an insight into four digital tools that I believe to be imperative to the primary classroom as they allow students to access and gain information, collaborate and share information, and to transform information to develop deeper understandings. I also believe these technologies when implemented into the classroom effectively provide opportunity for students to develop higher order thinking and deep learning as they collaborate with their peers and the community to solve problems and access information for a variety of purposes and tasks. All learning tools provide students with the opportunity to engage in authentic, real life and problem based tasks.
The first digital tool I would like to discuss is Microsoft Power Point. This digital tool is used to present information to an audience for a particular purpose. The Learning Manager and Student can use this tool to present their work in a still or interactive presentation format. The presentation can be created to engage and involve the audience with certain interactive features incorporated in Microsoft Power Point. This tool is able to be used by any age and level learners making it a useful and easy to use digital technology for classroom practice.
There are numerous ways in which Power Point can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance students learning. As cited in my blog, through using such a digital learning tool in different ways in the classroom learners would be able to engage in deep learning supporting higher order thinking (The State of Queensland, 2004). Implementing and using such a digital learning tool as a form of assessment would engage students in deep learning and understanding of a particular topic as well as allow them to develop higher order thinking skills. How you could use such a tool in the classroom would be to have students create an interactive powerpoint for their peers on a particular topic (example animals or climate change). Students would submit this PowerPoint to be marked for assessment purposes showing their level of knowledge on a learnt topic as well as their ICT skills and processes they have obtained. This would engage students in the task creating an authentic and meaningful assessment task.
If this tool was used in such a way in the classroom time would need to be taken for effective scaffolding to ensure learning gains were achieved. The Learning Manager would need to provide students with sufficient time to complete the tasks. Using a framework such as the Big 6 would support such learning with an interactive Power Point. It is here where students would engage in a learning experience where information search skills are used with effective technology tools. Students learning would need to be scaffolded in a systematic process to find, use, apply and evaluate information for a specific task. Students will be given opportunity to identify information needed, use information seeking strategies, locate and access sources as well as use, synthesis and evaluate information (Eisenburg and Berkowitz, 2001).
In taking time to scaffold and incorporate such learning experiences in the classroom would allow students to engage in a rich tasks where deep learning would occur. This learning would assist students to obtain the skills and processes that would enhance their lifelong learning.
The second digital tool I would like to present is Google Earth. Google Earth is a fantastic digital tool that allows students to access information about their world. Google earth can be used as a research or creative tool with endless possibilities for use in the classroom learning environment.
Google Earth allows for students to engage in learning experiences where they can discover things that would not be possible without such a fantastic digital learning tool. It allows the outside world to be brought right into the classroom learning environment. When used in the right ways this learning tool has the opportunity to enhance the learning of any age and level learner. There are some examples of what Google Earth can be used for on my blog.
Through using and implementing such a tool into classroom learning students are engaged in authentic, real world and problem based learning in which they can collaborate not only with their peers but the outside community.
This digital tool links with E Learning Frameworks such as productive pedagogies higher order thinking, connectedness, and knowledge integration (State of Queensland, 2004). The engagement theory also supports learning with such an effective digital tool where students engage in collaborative learning tasks that involve real world and authentic contexts and meaning (Keirsley & Schneiderman, 1998). Students would be given opportunity to relate, create and donate their learning using google earth.
The third digital tool is wiki’s. A wiki is an online database where people can view, add and edit information or data as they like. It is a collaborative internet tool that allows for easy and organised communication.
Through the use and implementation of wikis in classroom learning the learning manager is allowing students the opportunity for collaboration with their peers. Social learning is able to be established as well as allowing students to engage in rich tasks where they can complete projects in groups to deepen their understanding as well as learn from their peers. Through the implementation of wikis into the classroom the learning manager is encouraging participation, collaboration and interaction in the classroom. This aligns with the productive pedagogies (State of Queensland, 2004). Through the use of wikis in the classroom the educator is catering for different learning styles. The use of a wiki allows for those quieter students who may not feel confident to express or share their opinions or information, a space to put forward ideas and their own learning in a different way.
In my blog I have provided some classroom examples of uses of wiki’s. The learning that occurs through the use of such classroom learning experiences with wiki’s is supported by the Engagement Theory where there is an emphasis on collaboration among peers as well as a focus on experimental and self directed learning. Keirsley and Schneiderman (1998) support such learning where they state that “students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment”
The last tool I would like to discuss is Movie Maker. Movie Maker is an easy to use digital video program in which you can create video’s using still and moving images and audio. My blog shows a YouTube clip of Movie Maker and its uses in the classroom.
This digital tool has many benefits for classroom learning as it is a simple and easy to use programme that keeps the focus on learning the content not on the tool itself. It allows students to be able to express their knowledge in a subject area in an engaging way. This digital tool can be used by all age learners as well as by the teacher for presentation purposes.
The implementation of this tool links with the engagement theory where students work in groups to solve a problem and create a video with the solution. There would be decision making, problem solving, reasoning and evaluation taking place in this learning experience creating a digitally rich and deep learning environment.
You should now have a sound knowledge of the importance of using digital learning tools to support, enhance and transform students learning. The above tools that have been discussed are essential to the 21st century classroom and should be incorporated into classroom learning where possible.
Thankyou for reading my blog.
References
Eisenberg, M. & Berkowitz, B. (2001). The Big 6. Retrieved 13, August, 2010 from; http://www.big6.com/
Garrison, R & Anderson, T (2003). E Learning in the 21st Century: A framework for research and practice. Routledgefalmer: London.
Kearsley, G. and Shneiderman, B. (1998). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved July 27, 2010, from; http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teacher’s Manual. Colorado, McREL
State of Queensland (Department of Education), (2004). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom Reflection Manual. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies.
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