2A.5 PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH ICT
Stage 3 Capabilities of Technology
At this stage students have learned about technology and its use and they start using it as a mean that facilitates their way towards the desired outcome. This means that at this stage, students as they have initiative for their actions, start finding out the most efficient way to achieve their goals. As cited in Hill & Smith (1998), this is a very important stage as research has shown that moving towards student-centered classrooms can be very effective, as this method of teaching ―takes advantage of multiple human abilities (Smith 1992), recognizes the social basis of learning (Vygotsky, 1978) and values learning in context (Lave, 1988)― (p. 42).
b) HOW STUDENTS LEARN WITH TECHNOLOGY
One of the biggest questions we have in mind when we think about educational technology from the educational point of view, is what is the process involved in order for learning to take place. Schultz (2000), in his study has found a strong relationship between technology and the way of thinking. Characteristically, he mentions that not only the technological progress clearly reflects the way people think at a particular point in time, but also the way people think is clearly mirrored in technology. This is because technology tries to facilitate the process towards the solution of current problems and current problems are the cause for having the process of improving technology initiated. According to Schultz (2000), this interrelationship of technology to human way of thinking also reflects the cognitive abilities of the individuals.
Based on the above, we could follow Shield‘s model (Shield, 2000) in order to explain the process of students learning with educational technology that is schematically represented in
Figure 1 Learn er Cognitive Processing Style Learnin g Style L e a r n i n g S t y l e Learni ng Strate gy emplo yed Learnin g Outcom e Achiev ed
to his/her personal cognitive abilities and learning style has to employ the most appropriate learning strategy in order to achieve the desired learning outcome. Therefore, the role of the teachers is, for a given group of students, to provide educational technology activities of an appropriate level of difficulty based on their cognitive abilities (age, fast vs. slow learners), that are expressed in a variety of ways (i.e: multimedia, the Internet, etc.),in order to adjust the curriculum to a variety of learning styles (visual, audio, by-doing) expressed through project-based activities based on the active learning approach. Additionally, teachers have to provide a plethora of learning strategies in order for the students to learn how to select the one , that is most appropriate for their desired learning outcome. Based on Stables (1997), what is most important in this process is for the children to express and to develop their own ideas. Teachers are there to facilitate this process and to identify where the learning blockage occurs, in order to facilitate the learning process.
In addition to Piaget‘s theory of cognitive adoption, based on their cognitive processing styles, learners can be divided into two additional categories, as Ellis (1994), cited in Leask (1999) describes:
a) Focusers: those who concentrate on one aspect of the problem at a time and proceed in a step-by-step manner
b) Scanners: those who tackle several aspects of the problem at the same time and allow ideas to crystallize slowly
The above categorization seems to be related to whether a person has a deductive or an inductive way of reasoning, that is unconsciously whether he starts his/her thinking process from a general or a specific idea respectively. Along with the concepts of assimilation and accommodation, this composes the cognitive processing style of each individual.
Students' Learning Styles
Generally speaking, if we measure learning as the amount of information people can recall after learning has taken place, studies have shown that people can recall 20% of what they have heard, 30% of what they have seen, 50% of what they have experienced and nearly 90% of what they have heard, seen and experienced simultaneously. These percentages are certainly not rigid, as each individual has a learning style of his own. Based on this, he/she learns better by hearing (audio learners), by seeing (visual learners) or by doing (kinaesthetic learners). The advantage of teaching with multimedia technology is that it covers all the learning styles at the same time, as it combines text, sound and interactivity of the user with the program. This is considered as the main advantage of teaching with technology over the traditional method of instruction.
Additionally, apart of the way students learn they tend to employ other type of learning patterns according to their personalities and personal preferences on how they want to learn. Willing (1987), cited in Leask (1999), has studied how these personal preferences affect the learning style of each individual. From his study we conclude that students‘ learning styles also highly depend on:
a) Structured vs. spontaneous learning :The degree of flexibility an individual wants during the learning process, that is how much structured and well- organized or spontaneous the individual wants the learning material.
b) Autonomous vs. Instructor-led learning :The degree to which the individual wants autonomy or another individual (teacher) to get involved in the learning process.
Teachers should identify the learning style of the classroom, that is the learning style of the majority of their students and try to employ the best teaching method that would be of benefit to them, but also to be flexible enough to provide challenging activities to those who learn better in this way. Teaching with ICT certainly offers this option. However, the reality is that teachers have a tendency to teach according to how they would like to be taught themselves.
Learning Strategies Involved
No matter what the cognitive process involved and the learning strategy of each individual student is, the teaching method, that is the learning strategy teachers choose to teach with, highly affects the amount and the quality of learning that takes place. Therefore, the learning strategies presented in class should always take into consideration both students‘ cognitive processes and learning styles.
Unit End Exercises
Q1. With the help of suitable examples discuss the need to consider learner characteristics while designing or preparing for a teaching learning process.
Q2. What are the characteristics of a powerful learning environment? Discuss the role of ICT in developing a powerful learning environment.
Q3. Why is it necessary for educators to understand the different stages of adaptation to ICT which students undergo? Discuss these stages as a process of the teaching learning process.
Q4. Describe the various factors that interact in the process of involvement of the students learning through ICT.
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