THE LEARNING TEAM

ORDER OF PRESENTATION:

1. Katie Byrnes2. Divya Ashok and Henry Doan3. Aaron Schram and Ryan Coyer4. Chris Magill5. Ali Hassani and Javier Velez

Technology: Potential as Tools of Learning

Distance Education & Video Games

Katie Byrnes

Paulo Freire Carl Rogers John Dewey

Humanistic, Constructivist Learning Theory » » » » Designer-Oriented

Learning Environments

Ivan Illich Gerhard Fischer

Possibilities of Technology in Learning

• Will these new learning tools open doors for people that were not available through our traditional system of education?

• Will technology bridge the gap between the student, the curriculum, and the teacher?

• Will technology humanize or dehumanize learning environments: for students? For teachers?

Transitioning from Passive, Consuming Learners to

Active, Designing Contributors• “A major illusion on which the school

system rests is that most learning is the result of teaching.” (Illich)

• “I realize that I am only interested in being a learner, preferably learning things that matter, that have some significant influence on my own behavior.” (Rogers)

Transitioning from Passive, Consuming Learners to

Active, Designing Contributors• “The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by

the authenticity of the students’ thinking. . . In problem posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world and with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation.” (Freire)

Transitioning from Passive, Consuming Learners to

Active, Designing Contributors

“If the subject matter of the lessons be such as to have an appropriate place within the expanding consciousness of the child, if it grows out of his own past doings, thinkings, and sufferings, and grows into application in further achievements and receptivities, then no device or trick has to be resorted to in order to enlist ‘interest’.” (Dewey)

Organic connection, motivating, complex, interesting problems

Technology as a Learning Tool

• Gift-Wrapping Approach– Used to enhance

traditional ways of teaching and learning.

– Could reconceptualize the teaching & learning process

(Fischer, 1996)

• Beyond Binary Choices– Enhancing individual

and social creativity.– Collaborative design

possibilities– Interesting, meaningful

learning problems

(Fischer et al, 2005)

References

• Dewey, J. (1938). Experience & education. New York: Simon & Schuster.

• Fischer, G. et al. (2005). Beyond binary choices: Integrating individual and social creativity. IJHCS paper. Accessed on March 30, 2005 through in-class lecture.

• Fischer, G. (1996). Making learning a part of life: Beyond the ‘gift wrapping’ approach to technology. NSF Symposium June 26, 1996. Accessed on January 19, 2005 through in-class lecture.

• Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: continuum.

• Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Technology as Applied to Distance Learning

Divya Ashok & Henry Doan

Technology as Applied to Distance Education

"When people write their comments, they pay more attention to detail and get to the meat of the subject." – Fran McCall

• Source: USNews.com

VHS Tape

• What it is…• Advantages

– Cost-Effective– Common Platform

• Disadvantages– Not Portable– Difficult to Navigate– Limited Data Storage– Not Dynamic

CD-ROM

• What it is…• Advantages

– Cost-Effective– Portable– Easy to Navigate– Large Data Storage

• Disadvantages– Not Dynamic

Web Site

• What it is…• Advantages:

– Easy Access– Dynamic Updates– “Unlimited” Data Storage

• Disadvantages– Technical Difficulties– Inconvenient for Complex Situations

Forums/Message Boards

• What it is…• Advantages

– Interactions– Discussion Retrieval

• Disadvantages– Abuse– Unrelated Discussion– Unorganized

Video Streaming: Tegrity• What it is…

– Classroom capture and Video streaming– Digital student notes.

• Advantages– “Most natural”– Real-time– Live Transmission vs. Pre-recorded

• Disadvatages– Poor Quality

• Website: www.tegrity.com

• Examples….

Video Games as Learning

ToolsRyan Coyer and Aaron

Schram4/20/2005

CSCI 4830: DLC

Overview

Two primary subjects:

1. Which traditional education subjects would be best suited to learning via video games?

2. Are there other settings that are particularly well suited to using video games as learning tools?

Traditional Education Settings

The Oregon Trail© (circa 1980)

Jimmy has Dysentery!

The Oregon Trail© cont’d

• Well suited to education because, among other things, it was fun.

• As a byproduct, players learned about history, geography, geology, economics and anthropology.

Another Traditional Application

All your multiplication table are belong to us.

Math Blaster© (circa 1994)

Math Blaster©

• Again, players learn as a byproduct of having fun.

• Various mathematical and non-mathematical skills are developed and honed, including chart reading and understanding abbreviations.

Non-Traditional Situations

Flight Simulators

Flight Simulators

• Flight simulators allow pilots to not only develop and perfect the skills that they need to fly and fight their aircraft, but they allow the pilots to do so without risk to man or machine.

• Flight simulators are used by the almost all of the world’s Air Forces and commercial airlines.

Non-Traditional Situations

Combat Simulators

Less Practical Uses

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005©

Combat Simulators

Advances in virtual technologies are enhancing the military’s ability to simulate reality and teach skills that are far too dangerous or otherwise impossible to practice.

More Tiger Woods

Side wind

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005©

• Playing this game will make you a better golfer. (We can support this with evidence)

• The gaming engine presents the player with relevant information throughout the game.

• The accomplished TW2k5 player, now knowledgeable about the effects of wind, elevation and grass type, uses said knowledge on the course.

Chris Magill

An educational video game design informed by

readings in hands-on learning

Hands-on learning and…video games?

– Hands-on (embodied) learning is the most effective way for children to gain elementary science and math knowledge.

(Frances Hawkins, Journey With Children)

– The LOGO programming language uses turtle geometry (embodied or “body syntonic” coordinates).

(Seymour Papert, www.papert.org/works.html)

Hands-on Pencil-and-paper

Increased motivation and engrossment

Students easily distracted

Faster learning overall Faster apparent progress through topics

Increased retention Content quickly forgotten

Concepts available to students in other contexts

Rote learning, not generalized

Increased student enjoyment Boring

Messy, lots of potential connections

Neat, linear sequence of topics

Demanding of teachers Easy for teachers

Difficult to assess learning Standardized content, standardized testing.

A Game aboutGeometric Optics

• Mirror Vision is an example of a Critical Barrier.

• Critical barriers are elementary concepts that many people have not learned.

• Until these critical barrier concepts have been mastered, it is difficult to understand more advanced topics in science or mathematics.

(David Hawkins, The Roots of Literacy)

Goals for this game

• Bridge 2 coordinate systems– Embodied (relative, body-syntonic)– Cartesian

• Be linked to hands-on activities– Game activities are repeatable in the real-world

• Model the uses of, and develop student intuition about, geometric concepts.

• Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection• Complementary angles• Perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and transversals• Cartesian coordinates in 2 and 3 dimensions

Why is most educational software “games”?

• Information media have epistemological biases.– Print media—coherent, expository content– TV media—incoherent, visually entertaining content– Computer media— ???

(Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death)

• Much educational content is packaged as games– Is this evidence that computer media are biased

towards interactive, but (like TV) essentially trivial content?

The need of a topic for future learning

Javier Velez Ali Hassani

Did technology improve learning?

A release in 2000 by the SIIA showed the effectiveness of technology in schools. Based on the report:– Technology has increased students’

achievements – Technology is useful to students in

collaborative learning situations and to students with special needs

– Technology improves inventive thinking, digital literacy, effective communication, teamwork, and the ability to create high quality products.

How could technology improve learning further

- Bring exciting curricula based on real-world problems into the classroom

- Provide scaffolds and tools to enhance learning - Give students and teachers more opportunities

for feedback, reflection, and revision- Build local and global communities that include

teachers, administrators, students, parents, practicing scientists, and other interested people

- Expand opportunities for teacher learning.

Technology: A sword with 2 edges

If technology is used inappropriately it could:- Prevent learners from acquiring the right knowledge- Develops a big dependency in technology- Creates sciences that are not needed and that could be developed to be dangerous

The need for experience surpasses the need for

simulation- Not all students will have access to the computer systems required to operate the programs- Technology may be threatening to novices - Academics may not have the skills, time or support required to best use educational technology.- Computer programs are not good substitutes for books