Mobile Learning: At the Tipping Point - 1 views
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In this article, Dr. Teresa Franklin, discusses the importance of being mobile in today's society and how technology is shaping our beliefs and the way we learn. By using mobile devices our learning is not limited by the time of day or our current location. If and when we want to communicate with others or research information about a topic, we can. Today, the importance of being mobile has gotten to the point that it has become an "epidemic". Throughout the article, Franklin, defines many concepts. To ensure common understanding by all readers she explains the following terms: mobile learning, mobile devices (including, highly mobile devices, very mobile devices, and mobile devices) learners, social networks, apps, and the tipping point. In addition, Franklin, explains what it means to be a mobile user and why it is important in today's society. The article focuses on three complexities that need to be considered when using mobile devices in an educational setting. The first complexity looks at the area of pedagogy and how it relates to the use of technology. Next, Franklin writes about the need for institutions to have the correct infrastructure in place to support these devices. The third complexity she explains is the challenge that schools have to create effective ways to communicate when using mobile devices. Franklin thinks a practical, collaborative approach with incremental steps is the key when creating a mobile delivery model. Lastly, the author looks at the role of the teacher and the concerns that technology creates for staff and students. She believes educators need to shift from traditional teaching practices to incorporate more relevant skills that will create positive citizens and prepare them for the ever changing workplace. In saying this, Franklin understands that there will be
Learning and Knowing inNetworks: Changing rolesfor Educators andDesigners - 0 views
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This article begins with a discussion of "connectivism" as a learning theory and it's acceptance by the educational community. It extends beyond the traditional theories of behaviorism, congnitivism, and contructivism to describe learning within a network. Connectivism is a theory in which complex learning occurs through recognition and adaptation of patterns in social, technologically enhanced networks. He explores the overlay vs. transformation paradigm now occurring in education and provides an interesting historical perspective, the introduction of electricity to factories. Originally factories were designed to take advantage of a single power source. Electricity was introduced and replaced the original power source but was simply overlaid - used to power the original device on which the entire factory was dependent. If a problem occurred with this device, the entire factory was incapacitated. It took a complete redesign of the factories, utilizing multiple power sources, to fully realize the improvement brought by the new technology. Next, Siemens examines the various metaphors for educators in recent literature. The first is of the master artist, as in the atelier or studio model, in which the students learn from each other and are guided by the more knowledgeable and experienced teacher. Another is of the network administrator who assists students in forming connections and creating learning networks. Next is the concierge who acts as a tour guide, assisting with resource acquisition and permitting student exploration. Finally, he settles on his preferred metaphor of the educator as curator who creates learning spaces and allows learners the freedom to explore and make connections. Siemens proposes that we should consider the change caused by our networked society and rethink and reconsider our view of learning and knowledge, as well as our approach to teaching.
Web 2.0 Tools and the Evolving Pedagogy of Teacher Education - Google Drive - 0 views
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This paper discusses the significant impact of digital technology in teacher education, and the necessity of having teacher educators model effective strategies for integration of digital technology. The author describes an initiative started in the California education system, called The Digital Flexbook, "The term flexbook refers to the free, nonlinear, highly customizable and easy-to-use nature of open source textbooks (Fletcher, 2010)." Benefits such as collaboration among school districts, interactive classrooms, and increased teacher creativity were observed. Barriers such as lack of funds, lack of student access to technology at home, and lack of PD for teachers were also observed. Further benefits such as the ability to accurately reflect a community, the presence of a collaborative space to construct knowledge in innovative ways, showing multiple perspectives, promoting higher order thinking, and democratising knowledge. The author lists Web2.0 tools such as "...video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites like Twitter (Richardson, 2006a), all of which move students from consumers of information to editors of information. Research and experience show the need to infuse the TPCK model into teacher education, thus allowing students to become generators of knowledge and contributors to the Internet. One more big benefit of such constructivist pedagogy is allows for teachers and students to become more critical of the … intersection of race, gender, and socio-economic status on the writing of history, and integrated a model for how technology can and should be used in the classroom.
Sophia Learning - 1 views
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