the information superhighway the knowledge economy.

the information superhighway

the knowledge economy

just-in-time learning

the guide on the side

unbundling

bricks and clicks

the death of the university

anyone, anywhere,any time learning

digital diploma mills

hype

hype

hype

fallacies

hype

fallaciesspin

hype

fallaciesspin

myths

hype

fallaciesspin

myths

hype

hope

Learning Technologies in the Language Classroom:A Step Closer to the Future

University of CyprusNicosiaCyprus

26th – 28th May 2006

Presented by Mark Pegrum

Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia http://www.education.uwa.edu.au/

E-Learning:From Hype to Hope

Learning Technologies in the Language Classroom:A Step Closer to the Future

University of CyprusNicosiaCyprus

26th – 28th May 2006

Presented by Mark Pegrum


E-Learning:From Hype to Hope


“Universities are in the information business, and the information railroad is coming …” (Wulf 1998)

Result: intense pedagogical opposition to …

“the technologically prepackaged course” (Noble 2002)

“education in a box” (Werry 2002)

“canned” education (Dreyfus 2001)

“university.com” (Katz 2000)

Emerging recognition that well-designed e-learning is:

labour-intensive – for staff & students

more expensive than f2f teaching/learning

Recommendation:

Our focus should be reaching different audiences in different ways rather than saving money or time.

12345678910

E-learning saves money.

“Allowing the administrative and economic benefits of hybrid teaching to drive the implementation of the

model risks destroying the pedagogical benefits.”

Marjorie Kibby (2006)



Technology can be turned to very different ends:

transmission pedagogies (CAI)

methodologically regressive? (Stanford 2006)

progressive pedagogies (CMC)

dialogic pedagogy

constructivism

critical pedagogy

postmodernism

Recommendation:

Take responsibility for our methodology & pedagogy.

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E-learning is a methodology.12345678910


Constructivist principles:

active construction of knowledge

personal knowledges

sharing of multiple perspectives

Dialogue is central:

“cyber learning has electronic dialogue at its heart” (Maeroff 2003)

online interaction facilitates “dialogue across difference” (Lauzon 1999)

Differentiate:

information delivery – representational

communication – relational (Hamilton & Feenberg 2006)

Recommendation: Link methods (how) to goals (what).

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E-learning is constructivist.12345678910

[VLE screen captures shown.]


Dangers:

active learning

… engagement with technology? (Lauzon 1999)

student-centred

… covers lack of interaction with teachers? (Werry 2002)

… smokescreen for corporatisation? (Samuels 2006)

… excuse for downsizing of expertise of faculty? (ibid.)

… excuse for deskilling of faculty? (cf. Apple 1986)

Recommendation: Link pedagogy to (social) aims.

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Constructivism is a liber* pedagogy.12345678910

[VLE screen captures shown.]

“The asynchronous discussion board is one of my favorite tools […] It allows both students and tutors to

reflect on each other’s contributions and better articulate a response. It gives us time to think more

in depth than on [sic] a face-to-face interaction and most importantly it allows all the students to

participate.”

TMLA Diploma Student

(Module 09 Discussion Board, 2006)



Hype:

“everyone, every place, all the time” (Duderstadt 2000)

Dangers:

digital divide

socioeconomic – geographical – age

cultural capital

autonomous individual/reason

discourse models (Cameron 2002) – debating style

masculinity (cf. Butler 1990, Ellsworth 1989, Ess 2006, Herring 2000)

Western culture (Ess 2006, Goodfellow 2003)

Western educational models (Atkinson 1997)

Recommendation: Be sensitive to learners’ backgrounds.

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E-learning is for “anyone, any place, any time”.12345678910

“[t]he very notion of ‘dialogue’ is culturally specific and historically bound, and while one speaker may feel secure that a conversation is happening, another may

be sure it is not”

(Judith Butler 1990)


“CMC has the potential to provide a means for the weaving together of ideas and information from

many people’s minds ...”

(Anthony Kaye 1989)



What does it replace?

Representational: replaces teacher

Relational: replaces classroom

Does “can” mean “should”?

technology typically additive, not subtractive

emergence of blended paradigm (bricks and clicks)

Recommendation:

Capitalise on strengths of f2f & e-learning.

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E-learning can replace f2f learning.12345678910


Dangers:

information overload (Pegrum 2005)

burden of selection (Heim 1999)

fragmentation of attention (Herring 1999)

communication overload

waste “limited attentional budget” (Levy 2001)

lack of convergence (Hewitt 2001)

Benefits:

facilitates interaction

facilitates “weaving” of individual & cultural perspectives

Recommendation:

Build in time & space for reflection.

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E-learning is about speed.12345678910

“’Slow’ and ‘electronic’ are not antithetical. Surely there is a place in academia for slow writers, many of whom embrace new technologies … [W]e must … be respectful of the slow writing process (hypotext) that

can in turn make hypertext the best it can be.”

(Rosemary Feal 2003)


“The historical divide between speech and writing has been overcome with the interactional and reflective

aspects of language merged in a single medium.”

(Mark Warschauer 1999)



Questions:

how much flexibility is enough?

how many important learning experiences are flexible? (Brabazon 2006)

Recommendation:

Structure learning experiences appropriately.

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E-learning is about flexibility.12345678910


Questions:

how much understanding does “just-in-time” learning bring?

how much reflection does “just-in-time” learning allow?

would less just-in-time education necessitate less just-in-time educational intervention?

Recommendation:

Students should reflect on the bigger picture – from the start.

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E-learning is “just-in-time”.12345678910


Pro:

the “sage on the stage” the “guide on the side”

Anti:

teachers as “digital butlers” (Brabazon 2002)

Reality?

progressive pedagogies require democratisation

- everyone is a teacher and a learner

online teaching is ACTIVE and DEMANDING

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E-learning is facilitated, not taught.12345678910


The Online Teacher’s Tripartite Role(Pegrum & Cook 2003; Pegrum & Spöring 2004)

Teacher: structuring learning experiences and initiating discussion, which he/she must then guide and facilitate, offering direct input where factual issues arise but for the most part supporting students in developing and synthesizing their own ideas;

Monitor: knowing when to step back and observe from a distance, allowing students to interact with each other in “the creation of new patterns of understanding built on the foundation of shared individual perspectives” (Belanger & Jordan 2000: 23);

Learner: knowing when to step back in as a peer among peers, i.e. where he/she is also a learner, thereby approximating the Freirean (1996) ideal of everyone being simultaneously a teacher and a student.

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Online teacher:

role requires forethought, planning, preparation

subject knowledge and experience

offers more to ss than they would gain simply from interacting with other ss

Recommendation:

Avoid downplaying our own experience or expertise.

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Technology is “not a destiny but a scene of struggle”.

Andrew Feenberg (1991)


the information superhighway the knowledge economy.

Documents

university slide

hype slide

hope slide

time learning slide

unbundling slide

information superhighway

hype fallacies spin

learning technologies