Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL): Exploring possibilities and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL): Exploring possibilities and tools for low-resource settings

Tools and Delivery Options

Linda Venter Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (DVTD)

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Agenda

• Augmented, blended and online learning
• Learning Management systems vs Personal Learning environments
• Affordances of tools
• Categories of tools / social technologies
• What is it, how does it work, how can it be used for teaching & learning?

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Augmented, blended and online learning

• There are 3 broad categories of teaching with technology:

Blended

• Technology partly replaces face-to-face classroom learning

Augmented

• Technology is used to augment the physical, traditional classroom

Online

• Technology entirely replaces face-to-face classroom learning

• Augmenting teaching activities with new tools is a good way of

converting existing traditional courses

• The gradual approach might be beneficial to both lecturers and learners
• Discussions and other activities can take place in the classroom
• Content may be placed online, (e.g. reading, podcasts, videos) where

learners can access it on their own

• Online self-assessment quizzes can also be used
• Online discussion forums, blogs, wikis for group work can also increase

the effectiveness of the learning process.

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Augmented learning

• There are many different models and definitions:

“The integration of face-to-face and online learning in a planned and pedagogically sound manner in which some face-to-face “seat-time” is replaced with online instruction”

Karen Swan, Springfield, Illinois

• Spectrum: from using minimal technology to technology infused
• Example: an initial face-to-face lecture followed by a couple of weeks of
• nline instruction
• Synchronous or asynchronous tools can be used, e.g.

–Synchronous: Virtual class tools,chat tools, VOIP –Asynchronous: Discussion forums, e-mail, blogs & wikis

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Blended learning

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• Courses can be presented through an LMS like Moodle, Blackboard, etc.
• LMSs include tools for delivering content, interaction, assessment

(quizzes), gradebook and administrative functionalities

• Another option is to use a collection of tools to create a personalised

learning environment

• Fully online courses pose challenges not evident in augmented / blended

models

Online learning

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Learning Management systems vs Personal Learning environments

• Learning Management Systems (LMSs) like WebCT and Blackboard

emerged in the late 1990s

• LMSs were implemented in many Higher Education Institutions
• LMSs are expensive to implement and maintain
• Social technologies have developed rapidly for the last number of

years

• Currently a collection of tools, e.g. blogs, wikis, Google docs, Skype, etc.

can replace an LMS

• Such a collection of tools is called a personal learning environment
• Can be used to good effect in low-resource settings
• LMS developers are beginning to incorporate some of these social tools

for interaction

Learning Management system Personal learning environment

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Affordances of tools

• “Affordance” is the action potential of a technology. An affordance

helps or aids the user in doing something

• There are 6 categories of affordances:

– Access resources – Declare or state presence (as ‘currently online’, or in declaring physical proximity through GPS) – Expression (such as Second Life or profile features of most social networking sites) – Creation of new content and resources (blogs and wikis) – Interaction (through asynchronous and synchronous tools like discussion forums, Twitter, Skype, ELGG) – Aggregation of resources and relationships through Facebook, iGoogle, or NetVibes

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Affordances of tools

• Most tools have many affordances
• Blogs, for example, can be used for personal reflection and interaction
• Wikis can be used for collaborative work and brainstorming
• Social networks tools are effective for the formation of learning and

networking

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Access resources State presence Expression (profiles) Creation of content Interaction Aggregation

• f resources

Blogs Skype Wikis Facebook Google Reader

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Categories of tools / social technologies

• Tools such as blogs, wikis, Facebook have become household names
• There are a number of different categories of social technologies:

Social networking

• Establishing and building online relationships with others - a fundamental

social activity

Micro-blogging

• Sending, receiving and replying to short messages with others - for real-time

communications

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Categories of tools / social technologies

Communication tools

• Communicating in real time via instant messaging and chat, in web

meetings, and in live broadcasts, or asynchronously via email

File-sharing

• Creating, storing and/or sharing files in all formats: pictures, videos,

presentations, documents, screencasts, etc.

Social bookmarking

• Storing and sharing links to web resources

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Categories of tools / social technologies

Podcasting

• Creating or listening to audio (MP3) files

Blogging

• Reading, commenting or writing blog posts

Collaboration tools

• Working synchronously or asynchronously with others to co-create

documents, presentations, mindmaps, etc

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Categories of tools / social technologies

Social and collaboration platforms

• Providing enterprise-wide, integrated suites of social media tools in one

platform

RSS

• Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary) - subscribing to and

reading blog and web news feeds

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Tools: What is it, how does it work, how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Blogs Social bookmarking Aggregation Microblogging Audio & podcasting Image sharing Video Web conferencing Social networking software Wikis

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References

• George Siemens, Peter Tittenberger, Handbook of Emerging

Technologies for Learning. (March 2009).

• Christian Dalsgaard, Social software: E-learning beyond learning

management systems. (http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Christian_Dalsgaard.htm)

• Gene E. Hall, Technology’s Achilles Heel: Achieving High-Quality

Implementation (http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ882505.pdf)

• Tom Franklin, Mark van Harmelen, Web 2.0 for Content for Learning

and Teaching in Higher Education. 2007. (http://staff.blog.ui.ac.id/harrybs/files/2008/10/web-2-for-content-for- learning-and-teaching-in-higher-education.pdf)

Thank you! Merci bien! Gracias!

linda.venter@up.ac.za

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Blogs – what is it?

• A basic web page with posts presented in reverse chronological order
• Can be retrieved via an RSS reader (such as Google Reader)
• Well known people use blogs, which are followed by people interested in

the same field or topic

• Blogs are simple to use, but offer many opportunities for lecturers to

improve communication with (and between) learners: – increase depth of learning through reflection – express diverse viewpoints and perspectives – enable lecturers to connect with each other

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Blogs – how does it work?

• Bloggers sign up with an online service – such as Blogger or Eduspaces

– or download software to a server and host their own blog (Movable Type or Wordpress)

• Posts can be made through a desktop application (such as Microsoft’s

Live Writer) or through the interface accessible with a web-browser

• Blogs allow readers to comment on posts
• Many bloggers use anti-spam measures - holding comments in

moderation, or requiring information to verify a person, and not a script, is entering the comment

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Blogs – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

• Blogs are simple tools for learners and lecturers to use in teaching and

learning

• Lecturers can use a blogs to

– update learners on course activities – post reflections on in-class or online conversations – share journal articles and related course resources

• Learners can use blogs to

– reflect – connect with others – use as an e-portfolio or journal – comment on posts made by other learners

Back

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Wikis – what is it?

• Wikis are for collaborative writing on the web
• Wikis have captured the interest of business leaders and academics, e.g

Wikipedia

• A wiki is a simple web page that anyone can edit
• Wikis are informal knowledge spaces, and can be chaotic and intimidating to

newcomers

• Wikis enable individuals to create a collective resource
• Blogs enable individual voices, a wiki over-writes individuality
• Wikis are all about democracy and openness
• The openness of wikis has lead to spamming, and vandals can simply delete

text

• Wikis are not without governance or management

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Wikis – how does it work?

• Wikis can be remote hosted (such as PBWiki, WetPaint, or collaborative

Google Docs) or hosted by an institution (such as MediaWiki or the wiki feature in Moodle)

• Wikis can be open - where anyone can create an account and edit – or

closed - requiring approval from a site administrator

• Edits may be handled through simple editing with wiki markup (similar to

HTML) or a Word-style formatting bar (in hosted wikis such as PBWiki)

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Wikis – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

• Common uses include:

– Course notes – Course syllabus – FAQ – Collaborative writing and group work – Brainstorming – Inviting experts (whose work may/may not be the focus of the wiki) to review completeness of learner wikis – Content creation with lecturers from other universities/schools

Back

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Social Bookmarking – what is it?

• Social bookmarking is a way to store and organize bookmarks (favorites)
• n the web
• Having bookmarks on the web means they are accessible from any

computer with an internet connection and a browser

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Social Bookmarking – how does it work?

• Bookmarks can be posted to services such as Delicious directly through

the Delicious website, or through a browser toolbar

• When saving a webpage, users can

– tag the resource, – select it for private/public view, and – share it with others in a network

• The use of a specific tag will allow others with similar interest to discover

shared resources

• Services like Diigo and Stumble Upon allow users to rate, tag, and

comment on specific web pages (comments are only visible to other users of the service)

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Social Bookmarking – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

• To organize personal information
• To share information, articles, and learning resources
• Researchers can use it to keep track of all their source materials and

commentary

• A course can be assigned a specific tag, and the contributions of all

learners can result in a useful collection of resources

• A special tag can be used for an assignment or group work to gather all

bookmarks

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Audio & Podcasting – what is it?

• Podcasting is the distribution of audio online through RSS
• Technology enables an instructor to record and distribute audio files with

a computer, a microphone, and internet access

• There are many different audio tools for collaboration (such as Seesmic
• r Voice Thread)

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Audio & podcasting – how does it work?

• Podcasts can be created with Audacity, Odeo, Garage Band, or digital

voice recorders

• Audio files can be shared via services such as PodBean, iTunes, or

plugins for blogging software (such as Word Press)

• As with blogs, learners can subscribe to RSS feeds of podcasts
• Learners can listen to podcasts on a computer or iPod (or similar audio

device)

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Audio & podcasting – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Podcasts can be used for:

• Recording lectures
• Including external presenters
• Evaluation and feedback
• Learner created reflections and interviews
• Interviews with content experts in a particular field
• News or course-related updates
• Short introductions to new subject areas

Back

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Image sharing (Flickr) – what is it?

• Flickr is a web-based image sharing tool

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Image sharing (Flickr) – how does it work?

• Users can upload, tag, share, annotate, and discuss images and photos
• Groups can be formed around topics and themes

– For example, a conference can set up an image group and all attendees can post and share images

• Individual images can geotagged (tagged by location) – useful

experiencing (from a local perspective) different parts of the world

• Images can be annotated so individual components within the image can

be described

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Image sharing (Flickr) – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Flickr can be used for:

• Sharing photos within a class, school, department, faculty, college or

university

• Setting up a group for a course and share photos with group members
• Stimulating discussions on countries of origin - international students
• Field research
• Building community in distance education - i.e. students share images of

themselves, where they live, etc: “introduce yourself in flickr”

• Diagnostic purposes in telemedicine

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Back

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Video – what is it?

• The web has undergone a transition from a text-based medium to a

multi-media platform with audio, video, and greater interactivity

• For lecturers, this presents a great opportunity to add diversity and

variety to courses

• Video-taped lectures have been common on university campuses
• Increased bandwidth allows a new approach to extend lectures -

enabling learners to view missed (or not fully understood) lectures at their convenience

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Video – how does it work?

• Video in education varies from easy-to-create “talking heads” (recorded

with a web cam) to edited professional quality resources

• Easy for lecturers to create video with a web cam or video recorder
• With Freecorder you can save Skype conversations as MP3 files
• After videos have been created and edited, they can be uploaded to a

university site or posted on a public site such as YouTube or blip.tv

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Video – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Common uses include

• Short demonstrations
• Interviews with content experts
• Incorporating video developed by other institutions as open educational

resources

• Including recorded presentations of conferences as course resources
• Using video to place future lectures into context
• Using video to review key concepts discussed in class (for learner review
• r to augment lectures)

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Microblogging – what is it?

• Microblogging involves sharing resources and engaging in short

conversations with other users of the service

• Twitter, Tublr, and Plurk are popular examples

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Microblogging – how does it work?

• Accounts can be setup without charge
• Social networking consists of adding / following friends and interacting

with others

• With Twitter and Plurk, users are limited to maximum responses of 140

characters (including spaces and punctuation)

• Conversation ranges from totally meaningless to meaningful (The key

question in Twitter is “what are you doing”)

• Twitter enables the creation of strong social networks by sharing the

“small details of life” that are often only experienced by people in physical proximity

• Blogs lack the immediacy and personal communication found on Twitter
• Posts can be displayed on a public timeline, but privacy settings are

available

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Microblogging – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Uses in education include:

• Asking learners to “follow” notable thinkers in a particular field
• Forming social networks with other learners
• Sharing resources
• Following conferences within a field of study
• Tracking current events
• Participating in conversations with experts in a discipline
• Providing an alternative avenue for student-instructor interaction
• Providing class updates and reminders

Back

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Social Networking Software – what is it?

• Social networking has been popular in various forms since the

development of the internet

• The development of sites such as MySpace, Orkut, and more recently,

Facebook, has made social networking universally accepted and popular

• The ease of use and ability to connect with others of shared interests

resulted in rapid adoption

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Social Networking Software – how does it work?

• Social networking sites are often integrated suites of tools with

functionality similar to blogs, Twitter, Flickr, discussion forums, etc.

• Users create an account on a networking service and fill out their profile
• Through site search, users can form connections with other people
• Information – images, status updates, event invitations, emails, videos –

can then be shared with “friends”

• More than 400 million active users!

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Social Networking Software – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

• Using popular technologies for teaching is a very relevant topic
• Facebook is a social space, used for informal conversations and building

and maintaining relationships

• Facebook can be used to create small networks / study groups
• Emergency communications with students
• Useful for Alumni relations, events management, special events
• The value of Facebook for formal teaching and learning is still unclear
• Not all researchers agree that social network sites like Facebook should

be used in formal education settings

• danah boyd: “I have yet to hear a compelling argument for why social

network sites (or networking ones) should be used in the classroom. Those tools are primarily about socializing, with media and information sharing there to prop up the socialization process …I haven’t even heard

• f a good reason why social network site features should be used in the

classroom.”

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Back

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Aggregation – what is it?

• Blogs, news, social bookmarks, academic journals, Flickr images, and

YouTube videos produce a huge amount of information that can become

• verwhelming
• How can learners manage these resources of information in meaningful

ways?

• Tools like iGoogle, NetVibes, and Google Reader give learners control of

information

• By subscribing to blogs, journals, Moodle forums, and other online

services, learners can bring together meaningful resources

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Aggregation – how does it work?

• Many websites produce RSS or web feeds. It is simply an XML file that

can be read by software

• An ‘aggregator’ searches the site and updates any information added

since the last visit to the site

• RSS allows information to be ‘pulled in’ to you instead of you having to

go to the information. (Email, in contrast, is a push technology)

• New content from all the websites you are following will be displayed in a

browser or on your desktop RSS

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Aggregation – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

• Creating personal learning environments
• Learners can follow key thinkers in a field (blogs)
• Learners (and lecturers) can subscribe to academic journals

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Back

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Webconferencing – what is it?

• Webconferencing is used to facilitate group meetings or live

presentations over the Internet

• Varies from text messaging to videoconferencing combined with

application or desktop sharing

• All forms of webconferencing are synchronous communication tools

using computers and the internet

• Some webconferencing programs have recording capability
• The advantage of webconferencing to videoconferencing is that

webconferencing can be accessed from anyplace that has a computer with the appropriate software and an internet connection

• Expensive videoconferencing equipment is not required and the

technical overhead to ‘operate’ a webconference is much lower

• The disadvantage to webconferencing is that the quality of video is

sometimes poor

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Webconferencing – how does it work?

• Desktop webconferencing or online classrooms can be managed

through services like Elluminate or Adobe Connect

• A typical service will include an interactive whiteboard, text chat, audio,

video, polling, application sharing, web browsing, filesharing, and presentation (Powerpoint) tools

• Presentations can be recorded and used for future playback
• Elluminate Publish! can be used to create podcasts or Flash videos of

Elluminate presentations

Webconferencing – how can it be used for teaching & learning?

Webconferencing can be used for:

• Group meetings
• Virtual classes
• Students meeting with mentors
• Guest lecturers
• Recording classes or meetings
• Online conferences

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