When Traditional Teaching Meets E-Learning –

Supplement, Substitute, or Complement?

Mandy Chani-Learner

http://www.i-learner.com.hk

Outline

• E-Learning: a Paradigm Shift

• Promises of E-Learning

• Obstacles

• Feasible Solutions

Paradigm Shift

• “Paradigm shift" : "one conceptual world view is replaced by another".

• By Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

• Kuhn: scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather is a "series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions"

• A Paradigm Shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It’s not a supplementing of the former way of thinking.

Three Views of Classroom Teaching and IT

Supplementary

• “ To make it more attractive: powerpoint, graphics, audio/video clips, etc.”

• “To add variety: something other than teacher-student interaction

Substitution

• “Classrooms without teachers”

• “Virtual teachers”

• “Teachers as record keepers”

Complementary

1. New mode of learning and T&L interaction

• E-Learning community – email, ICQ, discussion board, Blog

• WebQuest

2. Creating space for teachers

• Standardised body of knowledge

• Material design, marking and feedback

E-Learning: Paradigm Shifting Elements (1/2)

• The Twin Gods of Computer-assisted Learning:– Individualisation

• At student’s own pace• Without peer pressure• Choices: content and learning environment

– Spontaneous feedback• automatic marking and recording of scores• peer comparison (various forms)• ready-made progress tracking and comparison

E-Learning: Paradigm Shifting Elements (2/2)

• Interactivity– Individualisation and feedback

– Learning community• a dynamic learning community• a structured and well-guided learning community

Concerns:- Shaky knowledge foundation of students- Inadequate learning space for slow learners

Possible Solution : The World of i-Learners

• facilitate individual learning of standardised body of knowledge

• from extensive reading to multimodality learning: reading, listening, oral, and exercises

• stimulate motivation and self-esteemfor slow learners

• Link to rich learning resources for all students

Why:• Foundation knowledge is essential for further learning

stages

• At least some foundation knowledge can be standardised and be effectively taught by e-learning programmes

• E-learning programmes are best for scaffolding and repetitive training; learning material that can be used by large numbers of students but still provide standard and individualised feedback

• Free up teachers’ time for other more sophisticated tasks

• Focus on self-improvement and avoid excessive competition among students but provide enough incentive for progress

The World of i-Learners- facilitate individual learning of standardised body of knowledge

- Create space for teachers and students- provide stimulus to slower learnersWhat:

• Complementary to classroom teaching in which teachers focus on providing stimulation, inspiration and individual consultation

• Basic facts, formulas, equations + illustrations, examples, comparisons e.g. Wordworld (software developed by HKU for primary students to learn Chinese words)

• Utilise resources from the Internet (websites designed for primary and secondary teachers; university education departments’ websites; software programmes specially designed for different subjects; e-books)

How:• software that assists school and classroom

management and administration; interactive programmes or educational games e.g. WorldMaker [Ecology & Conservation]

• online reading texts/e-books; online drilling exercises (e.g. Reading i-Learner, Grammar i-Learner)

Assessment and Pacing

Salient Featuresof Reading i-Learner

• Pre-set learning schedule• Instant feedback on exercises• Summary statistics and

recommendations by learning area (distributed to students through teachers)

• Review: – Any time, anywhere -- review reading texts and redo the exercises from the

past TWO WEEKS without affecting your accumulated marks.

Today’s text

Free to review past texts and redo exercises

Last week’s texts

Individualisation

Individualisation: Choosing your own learning buddy

Spontaneous Feedback

Feedback- Knowing others’ strengths

• The Top Scorers page shows– ranking among classmates, schoolmates and all

users in Hong Kong,– ranking for yesterday’s exercise, for today’s exercise

and for all exercises this month, plus the overall champion

important to give incentive while allowing multiple assessment methods

Feedback- Knowing personal progress

• My Learning Report shows– running score and scores for each and every exercise– relative position in class and school– accumulated coins

Looking ahead- Professional support for teachers

• Analysis of students’ results – give teachers a clear picture of their students’ strengths and

weaknesses in different areas of English learning, e.g. vocabulary, grammar, listening, comprehension etc.

• Summary statistics will give teachers an overall and individual picture of their classes’ and students’ performance. They include • mean class results,

• ranking among all classes in the same school and among all users.

• top and bottom three scorers,

• the three students making greatest progress over the previous month,

• the three students with most late submissions.

• Teachers will also be provided with a detailed and individually tailored report on each and every student with suggested feedback to give to them. These reports can also be sent directly to students by us if preferred.

Knowing and Doing – a Big Gap …and How

to Bridge it

Two interlocked problems

Insufficient time and

resources

Inadequate support from the school

ObstaclesInadequate School Support

• Do your colleagues share your goal of introducing more e-learning?

• Is e-learning an integral part of your curriculum? Did your team cut back other components of the curriculum when introducing more e-learning (or is it ready to do so if this is in the planning stage)?

• Do you and your colleagues share the view that there is significant variation in quality among different e-learning tools and that informed choice and careful selection are very important?

• Does your school have a technician capable of providing efficient and quality support to e-learning tools?

• Is the technical support available after school hours?

SolutionPositive Environment

• Clear and shared goals can help you find something you really need

• Preparation to make space for e-learning in both the curriculum and teachers’ traditional classroom teaching workload

• Good support by school technicians

SolutionPositive Environment

• Showing successful examples to colleagues

• Involving colleagues in trial programmes

• Replacing some existing tasks

• Utilising the information from e-learning in planning classroom instruction

SolutionPositive Environment

• Soliciting views of students and securing commitment from them

• Involvement of parents to create supportive environment and to address the problem of the digital divide

Summary

• Maximise Limited Resources

• Smart Selection

• Positive Environment

When everythingis ready …

• How can we use IT in the classroom … so as to harness the power of technology AND without burdening teachers and students?– Innovative teaching practices

• How to assess e-learning programmes?

• Welcome Dr. Bob Fox