About the Creative Interrelationship of

Learning, Instruction & Technology

 Presenter: Rita Higgins, Instructor

Humanities Division

Essex County College

October 7, 2003

As teachers we no longer have all of the answers. Back "in the day" the local teacher had the books, the knowledge and was the biggest source of knowledge on a given topic for students.

How has the way teachers perceive learners changed?

Now the with the availability of the

Internet, texts on any topic, research papers

etc, our students can be the experts and teach us.

Why is this good?

Students get out of the passive role and actively engage in thinking and in giving information to others.

Learning is an active process.

We try to engage learners and accentuate that learning.

Good teaching is not just the passing of information from teacher to student.

Do students believe learning is an active process?

Do they still believe that we are supposed to be the experts in our fields?

Is there a gap between how we perceive education and our roles and the perceptions carried by our students?

The WEB has made education more 'democratic' by opening up the doors of information to a wide audience.

Teaching is more fulfilling and fun when students come

to class having done research on topics of interest

to them.

However, because of these new sources of information, we need to maintain or strengthen our roles as instructional experts.

Students sometimes do not have the skills to sift through all of the information available to them on the web, and if we do not maintain our own expertise in our fields, we cannot help guide them.

How should we gear students towards higher levels of learning with

an increased level of interaction?

We can design suitable learning activities:

(e.g. working on a group project that involves in exploring information from Internet or other resources…and

Report what they have discovered to others) and assessment methods (e.g.project-based not memory-based) in order to promote active learning for students.

As instructional "experts" as technology influences the

classroom: There is sometimes too much information available.

Students need guidance in sifting through it, filtering it, and

evaluating it.

We can be of assistance there.

A time and place for learner-centered education.

While it is satisfying and highly effective to learn by discovery and to learn with active participation, there are some things better and more efficiently learned by just plain direct instruction.

The trick for teachers and is to learn what works best and when!

Not all students see their role as active participant or as a sometimes knowledge

provider.

It is also difficult and new for them to see the teacher as a resource model rather than a font

of all answers.

The shift for the student to the learner-centered environment will

not always be easy.

However, The Learning Center can help make the transition smoother in this respect by carefully training

LC staff.

How?Encourage the learner to be an

independent, open-minded learner with technology.

Determine when technology will make learning more efficient.

Learn more ways to direct students to find what they are looking for.

What is the impact of the interrelation learning, instruction and technology have

upon students, teachers and Learning Center staff?

The Teachers and Learning Center Staff, working together, can continually seek

creative ways to engage our students in the classroom and guide them when they are doing research outside of the classroom.

In this way, The Students will become more adept in

technology as well as in communicating and in

performing research activities.

Our roles are continually expanding because we must not only be up-to-date in

our specialized field, but up-to-date technologically.

Yet, have we also reached the point where there is a marriage between

technology and our respective fields…

They are no longer distinct but interrelated.

Concerning Distance Learning, students need to switch to WRITING IS THINKING.

This mindset is crucial for most online courses where posts are mandatory. This is good for the teacher who has time to pause and really think before commenting.

Thus thoughts are more polished than what would be said from the top of our heads in the classroom.

The communication is not spontaneous, but it is deeper because it has been contemplatively wrought.

In this sense, communication rises to a new level.

Communication is also improved in that students communicate more frequently

with instructors via email.

Email is a bridge that unites students and teachers both throughout the

semester and after the completion of a course.

Email facilitates the communication process by

removing barriers of mutually convenient time & space as well

as the inconvenience of returning phone calls and letters.

In summation, the creative interrelationship of learning, instruction & technology has

deepened communication, improved learning, and brought students and

teachers to a new level.

Thank you for joining us today!

Questions and Answers

About the Creative Interrelationship of Learning, Instruction &

Technology

 Presenter: Rita Higgins, Instructor

Humanities Division

Essex County College

October 7, 2003