Learning and teaching with ICT Expanding opportunities in teacher education Thuridur Johannsdottir Iceland University of Education BERA – 11th-13th September 2003

Iceland University of Education Student population 2002-2003 Distance learning students: 1339 Traditional on-campus students: 891 Distance learning - undergraduate: 822 Distance; primary school B.Ed on campus: 462 Distance; primary school B.Ed distance: 401 The Department of Graduate studies - only distance learners 517

Reasearch on distance education How is the use of ICT affecting the way the institution goes about organizing teaching and learning? How is the use of ICT affecting the way the teachers perform their teaching activities? How is the use of ICT affecting the way the students perform their learning activities?

Activity Theory applies well The activity system as a unit of analysis has been used to research the effectiveness of everyday learning environments the relationship between the individual participant and the activity system’s purpose Activity as mediated by tools is central http://ceo.cudenver.edu/~brent_wilson/acttheory.html When analyzing a complex system like an institution, which offers flexible teacher education off campus (decentralized or distance) we find it useful to refer to activity theory. It provides an holistic approach, analyzing not the individual learner but the activity system. Activity theory is used to explore the effectiveness of everyday learning environment in research and can also be useful in the design of learning environments (Peal and Wilson 2003). Activity theory, also referred to as cultural-historical approach, is developed from the learning theories of Vygotsky and related Russian scholars who stress the social nature of human learning and the role of language as well as other tools in learning activities. The theories of Vygotsky have lead to an understanding of the role of the teacher as well as peers in scaffolding students´ learning. Constructivists stress the importance of learning as an activity where the learner is constructing her knowledge, and Vygotsky added the social dimension, emphasizing the importance of the dialogue taking place in a learning community and the important role that the teaching activities plays.

The Activity Theory model www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/6b0.htm Tools Outcome Subject Object Key features of the Activity theory model are: Activities are designed to lead to an outcome Activities are carried out by subjects on objects. Activities take place within a community which has distinct social and cultural features Activities take place according to a set of rules Instruments/tools are used in activities e.g. to mediate learning. If we take the activity of the teacher educator in teacher education as an example: Teaching activities are designed to prepare teachers for the workplace according to the ideas that teachers have about the workplace Activities are carried out by teacher educators with students in mind Activities take place in a community of students situated in time and place Activities are regulated both at an institutional level and at an individual level ICT can be used as a tool to guide students through a task In the same way the students activity can be analyzed with the model as well as activities organized by the institutions. These three actors in the activity system of distance learning programs might well have different ideas about the outcome of their activities which in turn easily causes dissatisfaction. It is of special interest in this context to take into account the use of ICT as a mediating tool in learning. Distance educational programs increasingly rely on technology developements. Here it could enhance our understanding to look at theories of distributed intelligence (Pea 1993) that consider the role of tools as cultural artifacts used to solve a certain task but at the same time a person learns from the tool how to solve the task. Tools thus affect the way we learn and has been identified as effects with the tool and effects of the tool (Salomon & Perkins 1998:10). A man with a tool makes a new intellectual unit with increased capacities which can then act to enrich the respective culture. Rules Division of labor Community

Teaching and learning as activities Break teaching and learning down into tasks – (M. Allyson Macdonald 2003) Identify the tasks as performed on the web in distance learning and teaching Get a better understanding of how ICT-tools used to mediate teaching and learning are affecting the task Identify underlying conceptions of learning in activities performed or planned by the teacher – and mediated through ICT-tools M. Allyson Macdonald. 2003 An analytic tool for deconstructing teaching and learning tasks. BERA – conference.

Twining’s CPF (computer practice framework) Developed to evaluate to what extent ICT use is affecting learning activities How much? In what purpose? In what way? When used as a learning tool: Support Improving efficiency – no change of content Extend Content and/or process are different – but ICT not necessary Transform Content and/or process are different – not possible without ICT The CPF is a conceptual tool for thinking about computer use. Helping individual practiotioners to develop conceptual framework through which the can better understand their own practice. It can support reflection on existing practice by providing guidance about fruitful ways to thinking about that practice. (p 350) The CPF highligts three key-questions that can help to provide clarity in thinking about and understanding the potentioal impact of ICT in education. What are your main objectives for using ICT? What impact do you want ICT-use to have on the curriculum? How much time do you want the learners to spend on using computers? (p.349)

ICT as a tool for teaching and learning in distance education Possibilities and constraints of the tool? McLuhan: The medium is the message David Wood 1998: computer-based teaching systems have their roots in assumptions about theories of how students learn any limitations of the theory will be inherited by the system intelligent users of such systems in education must measure their promise against our general knowledge of how people learn David Wood (1998) has pointed out that computer-based teaching systems “have their roots in assumptions about theories of how children learn” (p. 295). He adds: More generally, however, it is important to recognize the theoretical assumptions about the nature of human learning and development which have inspired the design of such systems. Any limitations of the theory will be inherited by the system. .....If we are to be intelligent users of such systems in education, and not simply a dupe to a hard sales pitch, then we must measure their promise against our general knowledge of how children think and learn.” Wood, D. 1998. How children think and learn. (2nd edition). Blackwell publishing, UK and USA:

Internet is the main tool in distance education today Learning to understand the possibilities that lie in the tool Access to resources Publish learning products Communicate and collaborate Multimodal representations, multimedia and hypertext possibilities Technical constraints caused by e.g. bandwidth

Available tools for teaching tasks Main categories E-mail E-mail list servers Conference systems Course management tools or course-ware: WebCT - closed Web-editors - open or closed webs Team or project management tools: Lotus: QuickPlace Microsoft: SharePoint

Sub categories – ICT-tools The computer Word PowerPoint Excel The Internet Discussion webs Interactive database blog Chat – MSN Management systems Drop box for assignments in WebCT Managing assignments – grades, feedback

Distance-teaching as activity or task Teaching activities ICT-tool Effect of ICT Structure learning process Word linear text-file Hypertext Text with icons Supports Extends Provide resources List of books and journals Hypertext links to sound and videofiles and interactive assignments +textfiles Transforms Reading instruction PowerPoint slides with or without talk Extends–Transforms

Distance-teaching as activity or task Teaching-activities ICT-tool Effect of ICT Assignment instruction Word or PPT WebQuest with links web page with icons and photos Supports Extends Feedback and evaluation Closed grading system WebCT Interactive exams Open space to share documents Transforms Motivation and enhancing empathetic atmosphere. Cultivate the social Creating nice learning environment on the web. Take part in students’ discussion Chat – MSN Using pictures Using sound - talk Extends–Transforms

Distance-learning as activity or task Learning-activities ICT-tool Effect of ICT Discussion E-mail E-mail postlist Threaded discussion webs Supports Transforms Collaborative projects Telephone Chat File-exchange by attachments Share Point Extends Present learning products Word file as attachment PPT-presentation Webs - digital portfolios

Distance-learning as activity or task Learning-activities ICT-tool Effect of ICT Find and evaluate relevant resources Search engines Databases Supports Peer support Chat E-mail Telephone Discussion webs Sharing documents Extends Transforms Self-reflection e.g. writing learning logs Word file log-book Write learning-log og open blogsite on the web and making links to co-students

Underlying learning theories Behaviourism – transfer of knowlegde model Linear structure of the learning process Reading textbooks Answering questions Getting the right answers from the teacher Course webs used to exchange files Discussion used to ask the teacher to clarify content FAQ

Underlying learning theories Social constructivism Dialogue as a learning tool Collaborative assignments Foster the learning community Build around meaningful activity Work with the available tools Publish the learning products and sharing them with co-students – stressing the social construction of knowledge

ICT-tools – inherent learning theories WebCT built on transfer model Not easy to present and share documents with co-students Collaborative groups are supposed to work on closed area Students are supposed to send the teacher their assignment and get direct/personal feedback and grade Tool for interactive multiple choice exams

Tools for constructive learning Open web-sites where the teachers provide for resources and tools needed to learn Use authentic tools available on the Internet Share Point for team work Lotus knowledge rooms Weigler Blog-sites Digital portfolios

Authentic learning on the Internet Learning as an authentic activity Using the tools available in the respective culture Learning from real communities on the web – how they work – rules Which tools they are using and in what purpose How they collaborate – division of labour – and distributed cognition Weigel. Van B. 2002. Deep learning for the digital age. Technology’s untapped Potential to enrich higher education. QuickPlace from Lotus Notes. Transforming the classrooms into knowledge rooms.