Lesson 6

IT ENTERS A NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

4 conceptual models:

Meaning Learning - This gives focus to new experience that is related to what the learner
already knows. A new experience departs from the learning of a sequence of words or
memorization through rote memory but gives attention to meaning.

Discovery Learning This kind of learning is differentiated from reception learning in which
ideas are presented directly to students in a well-organized way, such as through a detailed set
of instructions to complete an experiment or task.

Generative Learning - In generative learning we have active learners who attend to learning
events and generate drawing from this experience and draw inferences thereby creating a
personal model or explanation to the new experience in the context of existing knowledge.

Constructivism - In constructivism, the learner builds a personal understanding through

appropriate learning activities and a good learning environment. The two accepted principles are:

Learning consists of what a person can actively assemble for himself and not what he can
receive passively.

The role of learning is to help the individual live/adapt to his personal world.

Lesson 7

IT FOR HIGHER THINKING SKILLS AND CREATIVITY

The traditional information absorption model of teaching is that the teacher is the one who
organizes and presents information to student-learners. He/she may use the chalkboard,
videotape, newspaper or magazine and photos.

The Upgraded Project Method

Given these complex thinking skills, the modern day teacher can now be guided on his goal to
help student achieve higher level thinking skills and creativity beyond the ordinary benchmark of
the students passing, even excelling achievements tests. When the ordinary classrooms are
lacking with instructional kits, use the project method to bring students to higher domains. In a
project method, students work on projects with depth complexity, duration, and relevance to the
real world.

Lesson 8

HIGHER THINKING SKILLS IT-BASED PROJECTS THROUGH

The Four Types of IT-Based Projects

I. Resource-based Projects

In these projects, the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being a content expert and
information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information. Only
when necessary for the active learning process does the teacher step in to supply data or
information. The general flow of events in resource-based projects are:

1. The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class (e.g. the definition of man)

2. The teacher presents the problem to the class.

3. The students find information on the problem/questions.

4. Students organize their information in response to the problems/questions.

Students can also be assigned to create their software materials. Of course, there are available
software materials such as Creative Writer (by Microsoft) on writing, KidWork Deluxe (by
Davidson) on drawing and painting, and Media Weave (by Humanities software) on multimedia).

In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity or high
intelligence. Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or
building. Creativity is said to combine three kind of skills/abilities:

Analyzing- distinguishing similarities and differences/ seeing the project as a problem to be

solved.

Synthesizing- making spontaneous connections among ideas, thus generating interesting or

new ideas.

Promoting- selling of new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas themselves.

II. Guided Hypermedia Projects

The production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached in two different ways:

1. As an instructive tool, such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of a

selected topic.

2. As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia presentation (with text,

graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc. To simulate a television news show.

IV. Web-based Projects

Students can be made to create and post webpages on a given topic. But creating webpages,
even single page webpages may too sophiscated and time consuming for the average student.

It should be said, however, that posting of webpages in the internet allows the students (now
the webpage creator) a wider audience.

LESSON 9

COMPUTER AS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

 Through computer technology, educators saw the amplification of learning
along with computer literacy. Much Like reading, the modern student can now interact with
computer messages; even respond to questions or to computer commands. Again like writing,
the learner can form messages using computer language or program.

Some computer-assisted instruction (CAI) was introduced using the principle of individualized
learning through a positive climate that includes realism and appeal with drill, exercises that
uses color, music and animation. The novelty of CAI has not waned to this day especially in the
basic education level as this is offered by computer-equipped private schools. But the evolving
pace of innovation in todays Information Age is so dynamic that within the first decade of the
21st century, computer technology in education has matured to transform into an educative
information and communication technology (ICT) in education.

The Personal Computer (PC) as ICT

Until the nineties, it was still possible to distinguish between instructional media and the
educational communication media.

Instructional media consist of audio-visual aids that served to enhanced and enrich the teaching-
learning process. Examples are the blackboard, photo, film and video.

On the other hand, educational communication media comprise the media of communication.
For example, the distance learning was implemented using correspondence, radio, television, or
the computer satellite system.

Close to the turn of the 21st century, however, such a distinction merged owing to the advent of
the microprocessor, also known as the office and school has before him a tool for both audio-
visual creations and media communication.

LESSON 10

THE COMPUTER AS A TUTOR

The computer is one of the wonders of human ingenuity, even in its original design in the 1950s
to carry out complicated mathematical and logical operations. With the invention of the
microcomputer (now also commonly referred to PCs or personal computers), the PC has become
the tool for programmed instruction.

Educators saw much use of the PC. It has become affordable to small business, industries and
homes. They saw its potential for individualization in learning, especially as individualized
learning is a problem since teachers usually with a class of forty or more learners. They therefore
devised strategies to use the computer to break the barriers to individualized instruction.
Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

The computer can be a tutor in effect relieving the teacher of many activities in his personal
role as a classroom tutor. It should be made clear, however, that the computer cannot totally
replace the teacher since the teacher shall continue to play major roles of information deliverer
and learning environment controller. Even with the available computer and CAI software, the
teacher must:

Insure that the students have the needed knowledge and skills for any computer activity.

Decide the appropriate learning objectives

Plan the sequential and structured activities to achieve objectives.

Evaluate the students achievement by ways of tests of the specific expected outcomes.

Today, educators accept the fact that the computer has indeed succeeded in providing an
individualized learning environment so difficult for a teacher handling whole class. This is so,
since the computer is able to allow individual students to learn at their own pace, motivate
learning through a challenging virtual learning environment, and assist students through
information needed during the learning process.

Lesson 11

THE COMPUTER AS THE TEACHERS TOOL

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

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

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

The Computers Capabilities

Informative Tool

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

Communication Tool

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

Constructive Tool

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

Co-constructive Tool

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

Situating Tool

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

Lesson 12

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING

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

The Traditional Classroom

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

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

The SCL Classroom

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

In contrast, industrialized societies we find knowledge-based economies in which workers

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

Lesson 13

COOPERATIVE LEARNING WITH THE COMPUTER

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

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

Cooperative Learning and the Computer

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

LESSON 14

THE SOFTWARE AS AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

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

There are two kinds of software:

1. THE SYSTEM SOFTWARE

2. THE APPLICATION SOFTWARE

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE can be visited on the internet or can be bought

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

LESSON 15

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

The presentation of information-learning activities in hypermedia is said

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

CHARACTERISTICS OF HYPERMEDIA APPLICATION

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

a. LEARNER WIDE RANGE OF NAVIGATION ROUTES. For the most part,

the learner control the sequence and pace of his path depending of his ability
and motivation.

b. VARIETY OF MEDIA. Hypermedia includes more than one media (text,

graphics, audio, video clip) but doeas not necessarily use all types of media in
one presentation.
Hypermedia provides personalized learning activities as it helps those
slow and poor learners, It gives activities suited to your learning objectives and
needs. It presents variety of media that will really cater those fast and slow
learners. Where areas in a traditional teaching method, the teacher would take
extra time, attention and effort to help the studentswho are know in
understanding the lesson. With that gives the teacher a hard time to develop
new strategies and objectives for both past and slow learners. so, it really
beneficial for the teacher to use the hypermedia.

LESSON 16

THE INTERNET AND EDUCATION

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

GETTING AROUND THE NET

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

THE VIEW OF EDUCATIONAL USES OF THE INTERNET

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