the technology of teaching & teaching with technology · 12. technology can help teachers...

The Technology of Teaching & Teaching with Technology

“Big Picture” Notes

Greg Sherman, Ph.D. Radford University

2019-2020

Technology of Teaching & Teaching with Technology… Course Notes 1

Goals

These notes are designed to help you learn knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to accomplish the following course goals: Identify technology as both the “technology of teaching” and “teaching with technology”. Use technology* to improve the design, implementation and evaluation of your instruction. Use technology* to support your community-building efforts. Use technology* to help manage the processes and resources you need to teach effectively. Use technology* to support your personal growth as an educator (professional development and learning). *This refers to both the technology of teaching AND teaching with technology.


What IS the technology of

teaching?


In a formal sense, the “technology of teaching” can be regarded as the application of principles defined by the field of Educational Technology, a field of education dedicated to “…the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008). The goal of educational technology as a field of education is to improve the quality of learning environments through the application of appropriate and available technology resources (processes and media) in the design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of learning experiences for both students and teachers. In the field of educational technology, the use of the word technology reflects the application of scientific methodology in the process of solving problems. For educators, problems solved through educational technology represent variations along the line of “What is the most effective way to facilitate learning?” Solutions to these types of educational questions are fundamentally grounded in strategies that are informed by instructional design models, which are informed by instructional design theories, which are ultimately informed by learning theories.


But in the field of education, technology is most commonly used to describe “electronic media.” Computers (desktops, laptops, mobile devices), calculators, video projectors, and other electronic devices reflect media that can be regarded as “technology.”

Most of the projects you will complete for the course involve applying strategies to specific ways you might use various media to help improve your practice as an educator (“teaching with technology”), but it is important to keep in mind that it is not the media itself that defines effective instruction…it is what you choose to DO with the media that matters most. Media are the physical elements that the teacher/instructor arranges or makes available within the learning experience to facilitate learning. Though instructional solutions vary based on the types of skills to be learned, most effective learning environments include the following components in one capacity or another:

Introduction Skill-Specific Activities Practice with Feedback Review

Additionally, elements of effective learning environments may also include a variety of scaffolding measures designed to support or scaffold learners throughout different learning experiences, collaboration strategies designed to support effective learning in groups or teams, communication strategies designed to increase the amount and type of interactions among and between students and teachers, and the structuring of learning contexts designed to provide meaning and purpose to the learning of targeted skills.

These different aspects of the instructional design process (“the technology of teaching”) will be addressed in more detail throughout these notes.

Media (Medium is the singular) represent the physical elements within the environment that communicate messages. Instructional media represent media designed or used to deliver messages that can contribute to learning (change behavior). In a classroom, media represent almost every physical element within the walls of the room, including people. Media are interactive. The degree of interactivity depends on the degree to which user input affects the message presentation. Low interactive media do not enable people many opportunities to change the messages presented, while highly interactive media enable people to change the messages in nearly limitless ways. How would you rank the following types of instructional media in terms of interactivity? Books, wall posters, audio tape, teacher, chalkboard, overhead projector, cable television program, videotape, students, networked computer, aquarium, human body model. If two different media (textbooks and computers, for example) present the same messages with the same degree of interactivity, is one more effective (better) than the other?


Most importantly, these notes provide support for helping you learn how to perform the following important teaching-related skills:

Make good decisions about what is important to be learned Define meaningful and purposeful learning contexts Design effective strategies for instructing specific types of learning outcomes Develop necessary scaffolding opportunities Assess learning Make all decisions based on evidence**

**scientific AND personal observations and experiences


What IS teaching with

technology, and why is it

important?


What IS teaching with technology? From pencils to PowerPoint, calculators to computers, professional educators have always been faced with the challenge of determining the most effective way to use resources in the promotion of learning. And not just student learning. Educators must also use technology to support their own continuous improvement as professionals. One simple way to represent the role educational technology can play in the practice of educators is to consider the different ways in which technology can be used to improve instruction, build community among and between all stakeholders in the teaching and learning process, improve the administration of resources and procedures needed to do a good job (management), and examine how technology can be used to continually learn and grow as educators (professional development). The graphic below reflects the specific areas in which educational technology can influence and affect the practice of professional educators.


Why is it important for teachers to learn more about educational technology and how it can affect their practice? Technology is continuing to change the way people live and work in the real world outside school, and it is beginning to necessitate changes in the way educators and students experience life inside school. Although there are many areas of education that are changing as a result of technology, perhaps the fundamental question facing educators today in the face if such changes is simply:

“How can I use technology to improve my professional practice?” Like most questions of this nature, the best answer can be summed up in two words:

It depends. Obviously, the best way for educators to use technology to improve their professional practice depends on the availability of technology resources (both in the classroom as well as in the home) as well educators’ own attitudes and abilities associated with learning how to use technology and technology-supported resources. Perhaps above all, the best way to use technology resources in the classroom depends on those skills, knowledge and attitudes teachers believe are worth learning. As described earlier, the various contingencies that define how to best use technology can be categorized into questions about instructional design & evaluation, professional education management issues, and professional development concerns. The following list represents a “Big Picture” of some of the most important ways that change in instructional design & evaluation, management, and professional development is being dramatically influenced by the amount and type of technology in American society today:


Instruction

1. The use of technology in the classroom is changing the types of skills learners are expected to acquire as a result of specific learning experiences. Many of these reflect worthwhile skills that are important for students to learn in order to be prepared to succeed in the world outside school.

2. Technology is enabling teachers to define a much wider variety of meaningful,

purposeful instructional contexts.

3. Technology is providing teachers and students with much greater access to resources that can help define more effective instructional introductions, skill-specific learning activities, practice with feedback, and review experiences.

4. Technology is providing teachers and students with access to a greater number of

scaffolds (support mechanisms) for learning new skills.

5. Technology is enabling educators to more easily develop effective and specific evaluations of learning.

6. Technology is enabling teachers to provide their students with access to a wide

variety of reference and support libraries.

7. Technology is providing more opportunities to motivate learners with respect to the messages presented within the learning environment.

Community-Building

8. Technology can help teachers get to know their learners better.

9. Technology is making it easier for students and teachers to develop effective learning communities consisting of people from around the corner and around the globe.

10. Technology is making it easier for teachers, students, parents, administrators,

experts, and other stakeholders in education to communicate with each other.

11. Technology is making it easier for educators to manage collaboration among and between students as well as collaboration between other teachers. Choosing to have students work in cooperative teams necessitates the learning of effective technology-supported constructive collaboration skills.

12. Technology can help teachers structure and implement more learner-centered

classrooms.

13. Technology can help support a deeper sense of community among and between members of a teaching and learning community be helping to define and communicate individual identities (social presence), membership (affiliation), providing opportunities for members to have some influence with the group (a sense of mattering), cultivating the feeling that members’ needs will be met with the help of shared resources, and providing a shared emotional connections through dialogue, common places, and similarity of experiences defined by the technology.


Management & Support

14. Technology can help teachers choose worthwhile goals and objectives.

15. Technology is making it easier for educators to communicate important information to all stakeholders in the teaching and learning process. Online calendars, email announcements and classroom updates, web-based access to student learning artifacts for discussion, and immediate cell-phone access to parents (voice or text) are some of the many ways in which networked computers and wireless communication devices are enabling students, teachers, parents and other to stay connected throughout the day.

16. Technology is providing teachers with easy access to more instructional

resources than at any time in the history of education, including lesson plans, online teaching resources and online productivity tools.

17. Technology can be used to help educators more easily manage large projects.

18. Technology is making it easier to organize and manage access to files.

19. Technology is making it easier for students, teachers and parents to manage, access

and evaluate learning assessments and student grading, including the assessment of collaboration skills and complex performances via electronic portfolios.

Professional Development

20. Networked computing technology offers professional educators affordable access to more professional development instructional experiences than at any other time in the history of education.

21. Technology enables teachers to easily obtain news, information, and emerging

teaching resources related to specific educational issues and procedures.

22. Technology can enable teachers to easily interact with experts and peers.

23. Technology can help teachers monitor and participate in professional organization activities.


How can educational technology

improve instruction?


What IS instruction?

Instruction is a term used to describe the way an environment is arranged to facilitate learning.

OK…so what is learning?

Learning is the development of new knowledge, skills, or attitudes resulting from an individual’s "external" interaction with her/his environment and/or "internal" interaction between new and previously-existing information or knowledge structures.

From a practical standpoint, learning can only be inferred by observing a persistent and permanent change in a person’s behavior.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that learning IS a change in observable behavior. Learning is a complex biological process involving physiological and anatomical changes in neurological structures and bio-electrical stimuli pathways resulting from the manifold synergisms of genetically-defined neurological structures, external stimuli, previous experiences, and instinctual responses. Even if this is true, the question still remains: “How can you TELL somebody has learned something?” We only have external observations to rely on, which is fine since we (as instructional designers) can only manipulate and control the learner’s external environment.

External Interaction = The degree to which human input influences (changes) the

messages presented from external media. Internal Interaction = Changes in cognitive knowledge structures and processes resulting

from the interchange between new information (received via media) and previously-existing information/knowledge structures.

Some media are, by their very nature, more interactive than others. For example, a DVD constitutes a medium with a relatively low degree of interactivity because the messages are presented in a fairly linear fashion. Stopping and starting the messages is about all that is typically done with a DVD (although the ability to fast-forward, reverse, freeze-frame and access chapters or specific scenes does increase the interactivity a bit). In contrast, a


multimedia computer-delivered program can have a high degree of interactivity because a user can influence or change the messages presented on the computer screen in many different ways, resulting in many different types of messages presented.

What’s worth learning? Worthwhile learning outcomes are statements of behaviors representing:

- skills, knowledge or attitudes (SKA) students will actually use in their real lives

outside the instructional environment - skills, knowledge or attitudes required in order to acquire other, more useful skills,

knowledge or attitudes - skills, knowledge or attitudes the teacher wants students to be able to use in their

real lives (and they will probably have the opportunity to use the SKA throughout their lives)

- skills, knowledge or attitudes the learners want to use in their real lives

When presented with similar learning outcomes or instructional objectives, determining which is more worthwhile is simply a matter of applying the four criteria above to each statement and deciding which answers "yes" to the most criteria. The first criterion "skills students will actually use in real life" is generally the most important. Distinguishing between “more worthwhile” and “less worthwhile” outcomes is very important for teachers because determining worthwhile outcomes is an important step in designing meaningful learning environments. The following rubric scale can be used to help rank the overall importance or “worthwhileness” of specific outcomes:

Learning Outcome “Worthwhileness” Rubric

0 1 2 3 It is difficult to identify any good reason why learning the SKA is important. The skill isn’t used by most people in the real world and it isn’t readily apparent why or how the SKA is needed to help learn other, more worthwhile SKA. In addition, the SKA may not represent anything the learners would ever want to acquire.

The SKA represents something the teacher hopes the learners will choose to use in their lives outside school…

AND/OR …the SKA represents something the learners WANT to use in their lives, and there is a good chance that they will have an opportunity to use the SKA throughout their lives if they choose.

Although the SKA may not be something the learners will use in their real lives outside school, the SKA do represent prerequisites for learning other worthwhile and important SKA.

The SKA represents something the learners will use in their lives outside school, and the SKA will help them learn other worthwhile SKA.


Successfully accomplishing instructional tasks using technology resources often result in the learning and/or application of many skills beyond subject-matter outcomes. See Appendix A: New Media Literacy Skills as well as Appendix B: Constructive Collaboration Skills for examples of worthwhile skills needed to be learned and/or applied in order to succeed in many different types of computer-supported learning environments. If the skills described in these two appendices reflect things that teachers value (i.e. they are worth learning), then teachers may choose to design learning experiences that include the use of technology-supported creation and collaboration. Other great resource presenting a body of academic outcomes that reflect worthwhile skills, knowledge and attitudes can be found at: 21st Century Skills

http://www.battelleforkids.org/networks/p21/frameworks-resources National Educational Technology Standards for Students

http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students

Big 6 Skills for Information Problem Solving https://thebig6.org

Critical Thinking Standards

http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm Constructive Collaboration Skills

http://gregsherman.weebly.com/constructive-collaboration-skills.html New Media Literacy

http://www.newmedialiteracies.org Money Management Skills

https://bettermoneyhabits.bankofamerica.com/en

Growth Mindset https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

Next Generation Science Standards

https://www.nextgenscience.org/ Flow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)


What role do teachers play in the design of instruction? In a word: everything. A teacher’s professional practice is defined by two fundamental roles:

1) Decide what is important for their specific students to learn (what’s worth learning).

2) Effectively arrange the learning environment (media) to maximize the

probability individual learners will learn what they intend.

What factors influence and affect learning? The following list represents seven important factors affecting how a person learns from a particular arrangement of the environment. This isn’t THE list (I don’t think THE list exists), just some important factors. Each factor is classified as being “internal” to the learner, or “external” (part of the instructional environment).

Cognitive abilities and developmental level of the learner [internal] Previous experiences of the learner [internal] Instructional components and conditions present within the context (i.e. type and

amount of practice with feedback) [external] Degree of message abstraction Perceived relationship, if any, between verbal and visual stimuli [external and

internal] Clarity and effectiveness of messages presented (i.e. examples, nonexamples)

[external] Amount, type and rate of information presented at any given time [external] Amount and type of support mechanisms (scaffolds) accessible throughout the

learning experience [external] Motivational strategies integrated into the learning experience [external] Type and degree of interactions possible with instructional media present [external] Social interaction within the learning context [external] Intrinsic, personal motivational level or “state” [internal] Personal learning style [internal] Overall instructional context. [external]


What IS an instructional context? Instructional Context represents all the factors external to learners within an instructional environment that provide meaning for the messages they receive. These are the factors that influence and define what, when, where, how, why, and with whom individual learners learn from instruction. The most effective learning contexts most likely constitute environments that provide meaning, purpose, and mindfulness to the process of acquiring targeted knowledge, skills and attitudes. One way to conceptualize different types of meaningful instructional contexts commonly used in education is to consider contexts in three broad areas: Creation, Problem-Solving, and Real/Simulation.


How can technology be used to define meaningful, purposeful learning contexts? The following types of context categories reflect common ways in which technology can be used to provide meaning and purpose to a learning experience.

Context Type Description

Design/Creation These types of contexts provide opportunities for learners to

design and create things.

Real/ Simulation

These context types allow learners to make decisions in the development and/or subsequent operation of a real or simulated environment or situation. Simulations often try to replicate real-world environments

Modeling Modeling contexts enable users to develop models to explain or

demonstrate complex ideas, procedures, concepts, or processes.

Situation Exploration Case-Based Story

Situation explorations and cases don’t allow the learners to control parameters of the environment, but they can freely explore within a simulated or real environment or situation. These types of contexts are often "problem solving" in nature. Story contexts present stories (fiction or non-fiction), and story elements such as characters, plot, setting, and conflict might be used as “anchors” or themes to help facilitate specific, discrete outcomes. Non-fiction story elements, such as collected and tabulated data, reflect elements of cases that are often used to help facilitate the learning of specific outcomes as well.

Research Problems Problem/Project-Based Learning [PBL]

In this context type, research problems (problems associated with a specific content domain) are presented to the learners, and they must use computer-based resources to help investigate and solve the problems.

Invention

Invention often involves the engineering of a creative solution to a specific problem.


Experimentation

Experimentation contents provide experiences in which observations are made and organized, questions raised about the observations, and experiments are designed and conducted to test hypotheses.

Reference Exploration Treasure Hunt Scavenger Hunt

Reference exploration contexts encourage learners to freely explore and access reference-type information. In a treasure hunt, learners are given a topic or concept, and they are directed to locate interesting information related to the topic. In a scavenger hunt, learners are given a list of interesting questions to answer.

Games

This type of context usually engages learners in competition, cooperation, puzzles, or strategies, often for the sake of entertainment. Other contexts may employ this context because of the motivational advantages of games.

Storytelling

This type of context encourages learners to construct and communicate fiction and nonfiction stories. This context types is presented separately from “creation” contexts simply because the act of storytelling falls somewhere in-between creation and communication.

Performance

This context type is directly related to creation and storytelling. Plays, songs, and movies reflect some of the ways in which learners can create and perform material designed to tell stories and/or express perspectives.

Visualization These contexts encourage learners to use tools to help reason and represent ideas visually.

“Big-Picture” Mapping This context type encourages the learners to create conceptual

“Big Pictures” that represent the scope of particular content domains.

Discussions & Questioning

Discussion contexts are simply environments in which a moderator presents or facilitates the articulation of topics to be discussed by the learners. A moderator can also direct questioning strategies specifically designed to challenge and uncover depth. Playing Devil’s Advocate, answering questions with questions, the Socratic method of questioning, and redirecting questions to different learners represent various strategies that can be employed.

Community-Building [Social Networking]

One of the more popular uses of Internet resources is the social networking aspects of various sites that facilitate communication among and between groups of people. Although newer to the game, a number of social networking sites for younger users are becoming available.


How is technology used to define more effective INTRODUCTIONS? No matter what type of learning experience is designed by educators, the most effective experiences tend to have certain components in common. Nearly all lesson design models have one or more of the following instructional components in common: Introduction, Activity/Information Presentation, Practice (with feedback), Review, Transfer. Each of these components are defined by specific strategies, and many effective strategies can be influenced (and in some cases improved) through the application of technology-supported resources. The following chart depicts the strategies included within specific instructional components. Note: Where technology might be used to support more effective approaches, the text is presented in purple italicized font.

Introduction Instructional Strategies Meaningful, purposeful, mindful instructional contexts should be established, and all subsequent instructional strategies should be presented "in context." When the learners are initially introduced to the instructional context, efforts should be made to really gain their attention. Orienting activities should be initiated in which the purpose for personally engaging in the instruction is clearly established. This can be explicitly facilitated by the instruction, or implicitly established through the learner's meaningful relationship with the instructional context itself. Learners should be made aware of the purpose of the learning experience (this MIGHT involve informing the learners of intended outcomes). The instruction should facilitate the setting of personal goals relative to succeeding within the impending instructional experience. Instructor/leaner communication and feedback should be provided to ensure that individual goals are indicative of the successful acquisition of intended instructional goals. Opportunities should be presented that help learners identify in some way those skills, knowledge, and attitudes (SKA) already needed to succeed within the new learning environment. This may involve the presentation of cues within the instructional context that aid the learners in selecting and applying appropriate previously-learned SKA. Similarly, opportunities should be provided in which learners relate what they will be learning (goals and objectives) to what they already know how to do.


A "Big Picture" should be presented that focuses attention on the bigger conceptual, intellectual, and/or social contexts in which the current instructional goals reside. This "Big Picture" might include a graphic representation of how the current instruction relates to previous instructional experiences, or it might include a graphic representation of the relationship between the general concepts to be learned and the related concepts that define a content domain. An initial "Big Picture" might also be generated by the individual learner as a means of communicating an initial state of awareness with the content addressed by the learning experience. Strategies should be employed to engage the learners in reflection over the usefulness (personal relevancy) of the SKA to be learned. Strategies should be employed for engaging the learners in identifying and articulating the intrinsic and extrinsic incentives/rewards for learning the SKA and succeeding within the learning environment. Access to learning scaffolds should be clearly identified, especially procedural scaffolds (guidance on how to utilize resources and tools, such as how-to sheets, tutors, introductory remarks and examples from the instructor). Computer-based procedural scaffolds include guided tours, maps and overview diagrams, tables of content, search engines. The introduction should establish clearly-perceived learner accountability, role(s) and task(s) within the learning environment, particularly if cooperative groups are to be established. In other words, individual learners should be very clear about what role they will play, and what their responsibilities will be, throughout the learning experience. The introduction may need to clarify the specific role that the instructor will play within the learning experience. Will the teacher be a “guide on the side,” providing individualized help when needed? Or will the teacher be the “sage on the stage,” presenting general information to the class as a whole?

How is technology used to define more effective ACTIVITIES? The most appropriate strategies to be included within the activities of an instructional experience depend somewhat on the TYPE of outcomes facilitated. Appendix C presents descriptions and categorizations of the different types of learning outcomes, according to Robert Gagné (see Gagné, R. & Driscoll, M., 1988). As with the previous section, where technology might be used to support more effective approaches, the text is presented in purple italicized font.

Activity Instructional Strategies by Outcome Type


Opportunities should be provided for the learners to explore the overall learning environment with minimal instructor guidance and intervention……but guidance should be available for learners as they apply information presented to the skills, knowledge and attitudes (SKA) being facilitated. Appropriate strategies for the type(s) of new SKA facilitated should be accessible and embedded within the learning experience: Verbal Information [a.k.a. Declarative Knowledge]

New terminology and definitions are used in a sentence. Attempts are made to relate new terms and definitions to assumed preexisting

knowledge. Definitions are presented clearly using the fewest number of words to convey the

meaning. Related terms or units are grouped into clearly defined categories. A variety of concrete (observable) examples are presented whenever possible,

emphasizing the clear and well-defined features that relate directly to the information. How the learners will be expected to recall the verbal information within the classroom

environment is clearly articulated at the time it is presented if possible. Make information readily accessible to learners, and provide opportunities for them to

explore "nice-to-know" information associated with the verbal information to be learned.

Provide opportunities for the learners to practice using the verbal information to be learned in the same way it will be assessed in the future…with immediate feedback.

Intellectual Skills [a.k.a. Procedural Knowledge]

Varied examples or instances of concepts and rule applications must be available in the learning environment, with attention called to the distinctive features of examples, definitions, and procedures.

Nonexamples or noninstances of new concepts to be learned should be provided if they help clarify meaning.

Strategies should be employed for encouraging learners to recall previously-learned information or examples that illustrate concepts or rules being presented. This may involve the presentation of cues within the instructional context that aid the learners in selecting and applying appropriate previously-learned SKA.

Definitions of defined concepts should be clearly communicated, using the fewest number of words.

The process of performing or applying rules should be broken down into steps, and these steps should be clearly communicated or made accessible to the learners.

Application of new rules to be learned should be demonstrated for the learners, with access to expert performances whenever possible.

Regardless of the context type, the learners should be provided with opportunities to "play" with concepts and rules within simulated or real environments, identifying and selecting their own examples and nonexamples of concepts and rule applications if possible.

Ample guidance throughout the early stages of practice should be available. Cognitive Strategies


Include all the strategies from the intellectual skills category, paying special attention to the modeling of strategies by experts (or students who already know how to perform the skills well).

Encourage learners to articulate their personal strategies for applying skills and solving problems.

Attitudes

Examples of choices made by credible and attractive (similar, familiar, or appealing appearance) people who possess the desired attitude should be provided.

Strategies for enabling learners to identify instances in their lives in which making choices are based on the attitude being presented should be employed.

Strategies should be employed for making the learners aware of the personal benefits gained by making choices based on the desired attitudes (using role models or other people that the learners admire if possible).

Opportunities should be provided that allow learners to practice making choices associated with the desired attitude (role-playing, group discussion, etc.), complete with feedback.

Motor Skills

The instruction should visually represent examples of acceptable and successful motor routine execution.

The instruction should verbally guide learners through the motor routine. The instruction should provide ample practice with immediate feedback. The instruction should encourage the use of mental practice or visualization strategies.

How is technology used to define more effective PRACTICE/FEEDBACK? Apart from any practice/feedback strategies described within the "Activities" instructional component, initial learner guidance should be available whenever practice over the desired skills, knowledge and attitudes is present in the learning environment.

All practice over desired skills, knowledge and attitudes should closely match the performances and conditions indicated within the instructional objectives.

If groups are used, strategies should be employed to ensure that all group members receive adequate practice/feedback over the intended instructional objectives. Group practice and consensus-building strategies in which learners negotiate the meaning of the instructional events and information should be considered as well.

Feedback should always be as immediate as possible, unless delayed feedback is desirable (research suggests that delayed feedback directed at intellectual skill performance can sometimes be more effective than immediate). The most beneficial


type of feedback should be employed, depending on the types of skills practiced and the type(s) of media employed:

- Knowledge of response (learners are informed that they have submitted a

correct or incorrect response). This type of feedback mechanisms is often used in situations where the leaner must respond until a correct answer is submitted.

- Knowledge of correct response (learners are informed about what the correct response is). This is the easiest type of feedback to provide within computer-based environments.

- Corrective feedback* (learners submitting an incorrect response to a practice item are informed of the correct answer and offered information about the nature of their error)

- Elaborative feedback (correct or not, the learners are informed of the correct response and are presented with additional information/examples related to the correct response)

- Advisement feedback* (learners are informed about the consequences of specific responses or patterns of responses, and may receive recommendations about future choices)

*In common computer-based environments, these types of feedback are more comprehensive in nature and rarely programmed due to their complexity. It is generally more cost-effective to employ humans whenever this level of feedback is desired.

How is technology used to define more effective REVIEW? Many teachers present students with a review sheet at the end of a lesson that deals SOMEWHAT with the topics covered, and it often looks like more practice. However, a closer examination often reveals that the infamous “review sheet” is NOT practice over the outcomes stated in the objective…and it rarely addresses the following conditions for an effective review:

Opportunities should be provided for learners to summarize the key ideas emerging from the learning experience. This might include the generation of concept or mind maps.

Opportunities should be provided for the learners to reflect upon and articulate what they learned and how they personally learned it.

Opportunities should be provided for the learners to identify how their newly-acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes fit into the "Big Picture" presented at the beginning of the experience.

Learners should be encouraged to reflect on “what’s next…” related to the content and skills they recently acquired.

The instruction should communicate, or restate, the instructional goal and objectives.


How is technology used to define more effective TRANSFER? Determine the most effective conditions needed within an instructional TRANSFER component. Ideally, all newly-acquired skills, knowledge, and attitudes should become an integral part of subsequent instructional experiences. But if a formal “transfer” experience is desired, consider implementing a learning event that includes the following conditions:

Present a new context that elicits the same outcomes (performances) under different conditions.

Make apparent the utility of succeeding within the new context. Present cues within the new context that aid the learners in selecting and applying the

appropriate previously-learned SKA. Clearly communicate the incentives/rewards for succeeding within the new context.

How is technology used to provide a wider variety of effective scaffolds?? The following table presents descriptions of the different types of instructional scaffolds commonly used within effective learning environments, as well as examples of ways in which technology can be used to help provide such scaffolding.

Scaffold Type Description Common In-Class Examples

Technology-Supported Examples

Procedural [Functional]

Procedural or functional scaffolds provide guidance on how to utilize instructional resources and tools.

“How-To” Sheets Tutors Introductory

remarks and examples from the instructor

Well-written instructions

Guided Tours Maps and

Overview Diagrams Tables of Content Search Engines Tutorials Well-written

instructions Process

Process scaffolds help learners figure out where they are within an instructional experience. They also help learners figure out

"Big Picture" review Daily introduction Daily closure

activities

History of user path throughout program or website

Explicit directions for navigating the


what they need to do to get where they want to go within an instructional experience.

program or website

Clear menu structures

Site maps Identification of

links traveled Conceptual

Conceptual scaffolds provide guidance over what the learners should consider or reflect upon throughout the learning experience.

Benchmark lesson(s) facilitated by an instructor

Study questions Advance organizers

Course Concept Maps and "Big Pictures"

Moderated chat experiences

Moderated discussion groups

Metacognitive: Planning

Metacognitive scaffolds represent mechanisms for learners to receive guidance on how to best think about problem(s) under study. Planning scaffolds allow students to set goals and objectives, chart benchmarks and deadlines for projects, create concept maps, etc.

Organizational

schemes [“Activities & Materials,” “In-Progress,” and “Completed” folders]

Concept mapping

software

Metacognitive: Regulating

Regulating scaffolds help students monitor their progress and receive feedback on their performance

Individual mentoring Peer tutoring Teacher modeling

Computer quizzes Interactive

practice exercises

Metacognitive: Evaluating

Evaluating scaffolds allow students to critique one another's work, exchange documents to-from the instructor for revising, etc.

Rubrics and checklists

“In” box for reviewing work-in-progress

Rubrics and checklists

E-mail with attached documents

Strategic

Strategic scaffolds help learners figure out various approaches to solving problems.

Small group Mini-lessons Textbook

assignments Hints and examples

Open chats Open discussion

groups and forums

Hints Interpersonal

Interpersonal scaffolds provide guidance for facilitating constructive collaboration and interpersonal interactions.

Specific roles assignments

Modeling/examples provided

Interaction debriefing

Specific role assignments

Modeling/examples provided

Mediated discussion and chat environments



improve community-

building?


Technology can be used to help establish a sense of community among and between all stakeholders in the teaching and learning experience. Stakeholders might include students, teachers, parents, administrators, community members, and other experts who might be included in various learning experiences. A “sense of community” can be defined by the following factors (McMillan & Chavis, 1986): 1) Membership (Affiliation)

The feeling of belonging or sharing a sense of personal relatedness. Social presence of self and of others in the group is established.

2) Influence

A sense of mattering. Making a difference to a group, and feeling as if the group matters to its members.

3) Integration and fulfillment of needs Feeling that members’ needs will be met by the resources available to and within the group.

4) Shared emotional connection

Commitment and believe that members have shared and will share history, common places, time together, and similar experiences.

The following strategies might be used to help establish a sense of community among an between all members of the learning community, including the teacher, students, parents and others (many strategies based on the work of Palloff and Pratt, 1999):

As a group leader and manager, teachers should establish a social presence.

Provide opportunities for each group member to establish her/his social presence.

Implement strategies that support an awareness of the presence of others among members.

As a group leader, be responsive to other members (quick email responses,

assessments).

Clearly communicate the purpose of the group, and ensure all group members are aware of specific goals for the group.

Create a distinctive gathering place for the group.

Define norms and a clear code of conduct.

Allow for a range of member roles.

Allow for and facilitate subgroups if needed.


Email, student and teacher blogs, and social networking sites can all be used to help establish communication between stakeholders, and creative projects can be implemented to help teachers get to know their students better. This type of communication can help establish the following elements of community-building:

Getting to know your learners Communicating with parents Accessing experts & other information resources Facilitating constructive collaborative groups Promoting a learner‐centered classroom (see strategies in the

Management & Support section) Networking with other teachers

Technology can also be used to help teachers manage the components of a “learner-centered” classroom: “Learner-Centered Classroom” Strategy Technology Support Establish meaningful learning contexts enabling students to set their own personal goals

Establish meaningful learning contexts that relate to the learners’ lives in the real world

Allow learners to schedule their time [day, week]

Create a daily or weekly calendar template with pre-determined activities and commitments included, allowing learners to fill in the remaining time blocks as needed

Help learners organize and manage their resources

Have students create three folders [in a hanging file folder crate or on the computer] to contain their project material:

Activities & Materials In Progress Completed

Include copies of calendars, rubrics and other tools in a shared folder for students to copy

Assign clear and specific roles when grouping learners

Create and distribute analytic rubrics at the beginning of each project

Create rubrics using word processing software. You can obtain rubrics for general skill sets from a variety of web sites.

Ensure scaffolds are available, and learners know how to access them

Ensure that necessary classroom resources are readily available

Create “how to” sheets for the most commonly-used technology features, such as file-saving protocols, browsing the Web, using word processing software, using a digital camera, etc.

Provide support for differentiated instruction Use a word processing program to create templates for individual activity sheets. Create these sheets for those learners


needing more specific and/or alternate instructional experiences.

Structure self-assessment experiences Create a variety of practice/feedback exercises and/or detailed analytic rubrics.

Arrange the physical learning environment space to accommodate all “learner-centered classroom” strategies

Make sure the classroom environment includes areas for group work as well as easy access to all technology resources. Rows don’t work well for a learner-centered classroom.



improve teaching

management & support?


Educators can use technology in a variety of ways to help manage the different aspects of their job. Cloud storage such as Google Docs, Box, and Dropbox enable teachers to have all their files available from any computer, at any time….with backups and archived files created without effort. Online gradebooks can be used to help keep track of performances, as well as foster communication between teachers and parents. Tools such as Google Calendar can help teachers manage and communicate time commitments and expectations more efficiently. Blogs and basic websites can be used to help communicate information to parents and students easily and with some measure of creativity. Resource websites can be organized and used to provide support for the development of instructional experiences. Collaborative web-based tools, such as Google Documents, can be used to help manage group projects between collaborating students and faculty members. In summary, technology can be used to help teachers:

Choose worthwhile goals and objectives Organize and access lesson plan archive Organize and access online teaching resources Organize and access online tools Manage large projects Aid in communicating Use computer-based assessment & evaluation tools and resources


How can technology

improve professional

development?


Like all professionals, teachers must continually improve their practice and respond to changes in their professional environment by keep current with news, research results, and general trends in their field. Content changes and conceptual shifts in thinking and modeling about specific learning domains also need to be continually reviewed. Perhaps the most important use of networked computer technology in the field of education is its amazing ability to help professional educators incorporate ongoing professional development into the culture of their practice. Most professional organizations provide access to a variety of resources designed to help practicing educators grow within specific domains of learning. For example, the International Society for Technology in Education [www.iste.org] is an organization designed to help support the technology needs of educators at all levels of education (PK-16). Likewise, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is a professional organization designed to support teachers and administrators in a variety of ways. More specifically, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is a professional organization that provides access to a variety of PD resources designed to meet the needs of in-service teachers in the areas of science instruction. The image on the following page provides a look at the NSTA’s “Learning Center,” a tool designed to help educators organize and manage access to science education articles, books, online multimedia learning modules, and tool for defining a professional development plan and electronic portfolio. Many of the resources at the NSTA website are free, regardless of membership. Before online access, such resources would have only been available via individual subscription or archived in some libraries. This resource is free for anybody:

http://learningcenter.nsta.org


Professional Development Resources

State/National/International General Education Organizations

American Council on Education American Educational Research Association American Federation of Teachers Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Council of Chief State School Officers National Education Association National Parent Teacher Organization National Staff Development Council [Learning Forward] National Rural Education Association International Society for Technology in Education U.S. Department of Education Virginia Department of Education

Field-Specific Organizations The following is a good sampling of field-specific professional organizations:

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC)* International Literacy Association (ILA)(formerly IRA) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) SHAPE America/Health Education SHAPE America/Physical Education Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Organizations that Support Education

Education World: The World's Educational Resources on the Web Public Broadcasting Service TED Education Talks Edutopia Annenberg Learner (Learner.org) Library of Congress Microsoft National Writing Project NASA NOAA Smithsonian Institute San Diego Zoo PD360


References & Suggested Readings Bloom, B; Mesia, B.; & Krathwohl, D. (1964). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (two

vols: The Affective Domain & The Cognitive Domain). New York. David McKay. Cunningham, D.J., Duffy, T.M. & Knuth, R.A. (1991). The Textbook of the Future. In

McKnight, C. (Ed.), Hypertext: A Psychological Perspective. London: Horwood Publishing.

Gagné, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (1997). Multimedia, magic and the way students respond to a situated learning environment. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2), 127-143.

Howland, J., Jonassen, D. & Marra, R. (2011). Meaningful Learning with Technology (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Januszewski, A. & Molenda,, M. (2008). Education technology: A definition with

commentary. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jonassen, D., Peck, K. and Wilson, B. (1999). Learning With Technology: A Constructivist

Perspective. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill Publishing. McMillan, D.W., & Chavis, D.M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory.

Journal of Community Psychology. Volume 14. Merrill, M.D. (1994). Instructional Design Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational

Technology Publications. Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace. San

Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Instructional Components and Conditions

The strategies indicated within these various components are based on theories and models communicated by the following authors: Brown, J.S., Collins, A. & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning.

Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42. Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press. Honebein, P. (1996). Seven goals for the design of constructivist learning environments.

In B. Wilson (ed.) Constructivist learning environments: Case studies in instructional design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, Inc.

Dick, W. & Carey, L. (1996). The systematic design of instruction (4th edition). New York: HarperCollins.

Gagné, R. & Driscoll, M. (1988). Essentials of learning for instruction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall.

Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (1997). Multimedia, magic and the way students respond to a situated learning environment. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2), 127-143.

Hunter, M. (1982). Mastery teaching. Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Corwin Press. Keller, J. M. (1987). Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design.

Journal of Instructional Development, 10 (3), 2-10.


Merrill, D., Li, Z. & Jones, M. (1990). Second generation instructional design (ID2). Education Technology, 30 (2) 7-14.

Merrill, M. D. & Tennison, R. (1994). Teaching concepts : an instructional design. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Educational Technology

Merrill, M. D. (1994). Instructional design theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications.

Reiser, R. and Dick, W. (1996). Instructional Planning: A guide for teachers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Sullivan, H. & Higgins, N. (1983). Teaching for competence. New York: Teachers College Press.

Wilson, B. (1996). What is a constructivist learning environment? In B. Wilson (ed.) Constructivist learning environments: Case studies in instructional design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, Inc.


Appendix A: New Media Literacy Skills

Skill Description Play experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving

Performance adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery

Simulation interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes Appropriation meaningfully sample and remix media content

Multitasking scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details

Distributed Cognition

interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities

Collective Intelligence

pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal

Judgment evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources

Transmedia Navigation

follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities

Networking search for, synthesize, and disseminate information

Negotiation travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms

*From: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (2006). An Occasional paper on digital media and learning By Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT. With Ravi Purushotma, Katherine Clinton, Margarate Weigel & Alice J. Robison. Sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. www.digitallearning.macfound.org


Appendix B: Constructive Collaboration Skills

Category Skills Interpersonal Skills

Encourage other group members Listen attentively Speak clearly and directly to others Don’t criticize during brainstorming Respond to questions asked Treat others with respect at all times Ask questions about things that are unclear or not

understood Do not hurt others with words or actions

Cooperative Learning Small Group Skills

Carry out assigned roles Remain on-task when needed Accomplish assigned tasks Stay with group when directed to do so Monitor progress of all group members, offering help

when needed Project Management Skills

Set group and personal goals Encourage brainstorming and multiple solution

possibilities for problem Follows plan Meet deadlines Review progress Make changes to plan when needed Seek help when needed


Appendix C: Classification of Learning Outcomes

Category Description of Performance Outcome Common Verbs

Verbal Information (Declarative Knowledge)

Verbal information the learner must state, including: facts, dates, people, names, principles, generalizations etc.

State, Recite, Tell, Declare, Name, List, Define

Intellectual Skills: (Procedural Knowledge) Discriminations

Distinguishing objects, features, or symbols (“back “versus “not back”, for example)

Distinguish, Differentiate

Intellectual Skills: Concepts

Concrete Concepts: Objects (parts of a bindery), Classes of objects (books, human resource personnel, losers etc.), Object features (5 inches, red, etc.), and Object relations (above, near, etc.)…that can be pointed out and identified. Defined Concepts: Objects, principles, classes, features, and relations that cannot be identified by pointing them out. They must be defined.

Examples include: “quality”, “energy”, “satisfaction”

Identify, Label Classify instances, Sort, Categorize

Intellectual Skills: Rules

Rules make it possible to do something using symbols (most commonly, the symbols of language and math). Rules include the application of single principles to explain, describe, or predict phenomena or events. Rules make it possible for students to respond to a class of things with a class of performances.

Solve, Show, Demonstrate, Generate, Develop, Create, Determine, Calculate, Predict


Intellectual Skills: Higher-Order Rules (Problem Solving)

Higher order rules employ more than one rule or principle to solve problems, perform tasks, or explain, describe, and predict phenomena or events. Learners must decide which rules or principles must be utilized to perform tasks or explain, describe, or predict phenomena or events.

Solve, Show, Demonstrate, Generate, Develop, Create, Determine, Calculate, Predict, Defend, Support

Motor Skills

Motor skills represent physical activities requiring movement and coordination of all or part of the body.

Execute, Perform, Swim, Walk, Run, Climb, Drill, Saw

Attitudes

Attitudes represent intrinsically motivated choices people make. Some of the most important outcomes are really attitudes.

Choose, Decide, Participate

Comparison of Common Instructional Model Lesson Components & Strategies

General Instructional Component

Common Models/Strategies Areas for

Improvement* Gagné (1985)

Hunter (1982)

Marzano, et al (2001)

Cunningham (2009) Radford STEL Bybee

(2009) Merrill (2009)

Introduction The Beginning

Gain attention Inform learners of objectives Stimulate recall of prior learning

State objectives Provide an Anticipatory Set strategy

Provide cues, questions and advance organizers Set objectives and provide feedback

Set a purpose Introduce the key concepts, topic, main idea Pull students into the excitement of learning Make the learning relevant Check on previous knowledge Clarify key points Focus on specific standards, objectives, goals Check for correctness and add to background knowledge

Refine SOL based on an understanding of students’ learning and development Collaborate with students in identifying personalized learning objective(s) Provide opening statement/ experience of the topic to generate interest in the lesson amongst students Provide hook/ anticipatory set

Engage 1: Make connections between past and present learning experiences Engage 2: Anticipate activities and focus students' thinking on the learning outcomes of current activities

Activate relevant cognitive structures in learners by having students recall, describe, or demonstrate relevant prior knowledge or experience Have learners share previous experience with each other Have learners recall or acquire a structure for organizing new knowledge

Ensure that the instructional experience promotes the learning of worthwhile objectives (relevance): p.10 Clearly communicate what the students are learning how to do Communicate a “Big Picture” that connects what is to be learned with a broader conceptual framework Establish a meaningful learning context that relate to the learners’ lives in the real world and provides authentic meaning and purpose to learning the intended outcomes: p.14 Provide strategies for building community and facilitating constructive collaboration: p.24

*Page numbers indicate the location in the course notes where further information about the strategy is presented.


Common Models/Strategies Areas for Improvement Gagné

(1985) Hunter (1982)



(2009) Merrill (2009)

Activity/ Information Presentation The Middle

Present the content

Input Provide modeling/ modeled practice Check for understanding Provide guided practice

Have students identify similarities and differences Model and facilitate summarizing and note taking Provide and promote nonlinguistic representations Structure cooperative learning Guide students toward generating and testing hypotheses

Introduce key vocabulary Ask questions to clarify ideas and to add knowledge Brainstorm main ideas Clarify and correct misconceptions Provide teacher input Check for understanding with sample problems, situations, questions

Provide opportunities for students to learn and use targeted vocabulary throughout the lesson Choose develop‐mentally appropriate strategies, methods, and instructional tools to provide for student choice and mastery of lesson objectives Represent the content in multiple ways Include other applicable UDL strategies in the areas of engagement, representation and expression

Explore 1: Provide students with a common base of experiences. Explore 2: Help students identify and develop concepts, processes, and skills through active exploration of their environment or manipulative materials. Explain 1: Help students explain the concepts they have been exploring Explain 2: Have students verbalize their conceptual understanding or demonstrate new skills or behaviors. Explain 3: Introduce formal terms, definitions, and explanations for concepts, processes, skills, or behaviors

Use a task‐centered instructional strategy Use a progression of increasingly complex whole tasks Provide a demonstration of the skill consistent with the type of component skill: kinds‐of, how‐to, and what‐happens Provide guidance that relates the demonstration to generalities Engage learners in peer‐discussion and peer demonstration Allow learners to observe the demonstration through media that are appropriate to the content

Ensure appropriate strategies are implemented for the type of skills to be learned: p. 16 Ensure all multimedia provides appropriate visual/auditory/ text representations for types of skills facilitated Ensure enough scaffolding opportunities are provided (Procedural, Process, Conceptual, Metacognitive, Strategic, Interpersonal): p.21



(1985) Hunter (1982)



(2009) Merrill (2009)

Practice/ Feedback The Middle

Provide “learning guidance” Elicit performance (practice) Provide feedback

Provide and promote independent practice

Reinforce effort and provide recognition Provide homework and practice

Provide time for practice and review Supervise students' independent practice

Include before, during and after higher order questions and discussion opportunities when reading or viewing text, videos or websites.

Elaborate 1: Provide strategies that extend students' conceptual understanding and allow them to practice skills and behaviors and deepen/broaden their understanding of major concepts Elaborate 2: Provide opportunities for students to obtain more information about areas of interest, and refine their skills

Apply learning consistent with the type of component skill: kinds‐of, how‐to, and what‐happens Provide intrinsic or corrective feedback Provide coaching, which should be gradually withdrawn to enhance application Engage learners in peer‐collaboration.

Ensure enough guided and independent practice is available, with immediate, valuable and appropriate feedback (p. 19):

Knowledge of response

Knowledge of correct response

Corrective feedback Elaborative feedback

Advisement feedback



(1985) Hunter (1982)



(2009) Merrill (2009)

Review The End(ish)

Implement closure strategies

Bring the lesson to closure

Synthesize major points and preview learning to come as part of the closure. Involve students in the review of the content.

Integrate new knowledge into learners’ cognitive structures by having them reflect on, discuss, or defend new knowledge or skills Engage learners in peer‐critique Have learners create, invent, or explore personal ways to use their new knowledge or skill

Do a real review (p.19): Summary [WHAT?] Reflection [SO WHAT?] “What’s next…” [NOW WHAT?]

Introduce or reintroduce learning objectives Revisit “Big Picture”



(1985) Hunter (1982)



(2009) Merrill (2009)

Assessment Assess performance

Design and utilize a variety of assessment tools which take into consideration student learning difference and provide multiple ways to demonstrate performance

Evaluate: Have students assess their own understanding and abilities, and teachers should evaluate students' understanding of key concepts and skill development

Ensure assessment items align with intended outcomes and follow rules for well‐designed assessments

Transfer

Enhance retention and transfer

Have learners publicly demonstrate their new knowledge or skill

Chart References

Bybee, R. W. (2009). The BSCS 5E instructional model and 21st century skills: A commissioned paper prepared for a workshop on exploring the intersection of science education and the development of 21st century skills. BSCS org Retrieved January, 26, 2012.

Cunningham, G. (2009). The New Teacher's Companion: Practical Wisdom for Succeeding in the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Hunter, M. (1982). Mastery teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Gagné, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning (4th.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Marzano, R. J., Norford, J. S., Paynter, D. E., Pickering, D. J., & Gaddy, B. B. (2001). A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development. Merrill, M. D. (2009). First principles of instruction. In C. M. Reigeluth & A. A. Carr‐Chellman (Eds.), Instructional‐design theories and models: Building a common

knowledge base (Vol. III, pp. 41‐56). New York: Routledge.