Technology and Education
Keeping with the times - Blended Learning
Reading the last three chapters of Teaching Naked takes me back to song by the Buggles “Video killed the radio star.” The song was written in the year 1977 and recorded in 1979. This is giving away my age but the words are so apt with highlighting how technology changes and the domino effect it has with each change. However as fast as technology has changed, education on the other hand has been rather slow in grasping and fostering the change in the method of content delivery. Partially due to the cost as well as resistance to change no doubt. If you think about it, videos came out in the seventies. While large organization began using videos to train their employees between the seventies and eighties, education only began using CD’s in the late eighties and nineties. Blended learning made its debut in 1998 and has progressively changed to webinars, online tutorials, podcasts and youtube videos to name a few.
Reflective: It seems like just yesterday when I used to drive to and from work listening to my “Learn to speak Zulu” CD’s, but in reality it was over 10 years ago. It was great that I could learn in my own time which otherwise would have been “time wasted” with face-to-face lessons in a classroom.
Technology is changing rapidly and with connectivity now a necessity rather than a luxury there is no excuse for first and second world countries not to take advantage of hybrid or blended learning. The excuse of high costs are a thing of the past with most colleges and universities offering Wi-Fi friendly campuses’ to their faculty and students. The introduction of 3rd, 4th and now 5th generation mobile connectivity as well as the market being flooded with laptops, tablets and smartphones has made blended learning that much more achievable. It will be a long time or probably not in my lifetime before degreed education will be 100% online so educators should embrace the changes technology provides and realize the value add rather than their fear of becoming obsolete. As Jose Bowen highlights “Most faculty have been performing live, but they do not have to stop to embrace online education.” They can look at meaningful ways to use online education to enhance their teaching and view it as means to integrate traditional learning with blended learning.
Interpretive: The demand for degreed employees is becoming a necessity, especially here in the Middle East where expatriates are aplenty and the job market flailing with the drop in oil prices. Large organizations recruitment criteria combined with work visa approvals have made degrees obtained in accredited universities obligatory. Refusal to accept certain online education qualifications for reasons of authenticity is one such gatekeeper for colleges and universities. Off course there is a lot of competition and further gatekeepers between the institutions such as having a solid track record for having the top football team, providing scholarships be it sport or academic related, offering a larger variety of courses and having a proven academic record.
All of the above factor into the decision parents make about where their child will study, but one factor stands out more which is the academic record. No parent will put their trust in an institution with a poor academic record given the exorbitant fees they have to pay to educate their children. This is the reason educators need to be encouraged to move away from traditional teaching and adopt an approach millennials can relate to. If the study in Teaching Naked highlights student’s participation to be three minutes per fifty minutes class time then there should be some serious reviews in the content delivery methodology.
Decisional: Given the above interpretive and gaining insight from Teaching Naked and my other references, clearly my choice is to opt for blended learning. I believe teacher involvement is needed but only as a guide or facilitator and not to serve as a dispenser of knowledge. Utilizing technology is a tool to enhance learning not just as first exposure of knowledge or in class but as own time learning; while being a guide is to inspire and motivate them to be accountable for ,their learning. To guide is to: encourage their participation in class and interaction with each other, ask the right questions to get your students thinking, challenge students when they think they have the answer. Ultimately as a guide you want your students to think critically and use their class time to a maximum of fifty minutes and not 3 minutes.
Reading the last three chapters of Teaching Naked takes me back to song by the Buggles “Video killed the radio star.” The song was written in the year 1977 and recorded in 1979. This is giving away my age but the words are so apt with highlighting how technology changes and the domino effect it has with each change. However as fast as technology has changed, education on the other hand has been rather slow in grasping and fostering the change in the method of content delivery. Partially due to the cost as well as resistance to change no doubt. If you think about it, videos came out in the seventies. While large organization began using videos to train their employees between the seventies and eighties, education only began using CD’s in the late eighties and nineties. Blended learning made its debut in 1998 and has progressively changed to webinars, online tutorials, podcasts and youtube videos to name a few.
Reflective: It seems like just yesterday when I used to drive to and from work listening to my “Learn to speak Zulu” CD’s, but in reality it was over 10 years ago. It was great that I could learn in my own time which otherwise would have been “time wasted” with face-to-face lessons in a classroom.
Technology is changing rapidly and with connectivity now a necessity rather than a luxury there is no excuse for first and second world countries not to take advantage of hybrid or blended learning. The excuse of high costs are a thing of the past with most colleges and universities offering Wi-Fi friendly campuses’ to their faculty and students. The introduction of 3rd, 4th and now 5th generation mobile connectivity as well as the market being flooded with laptops, tablets and smartphones has made blended learning that much more achievable. It will be a long time or probably not in my lifetime before degreed education will be 100% online so educators should embrace the changes technology provides and realize the value add rather than their fear of becoming obsolete. As Jose Bowen highlights “Most faculty have been performing live, but they do not have to stop to embrace online education.” They can look at meaningful ways to use online education to enhance their teaching and view it as means to integrate traditional learning with blended learning.
Interpretive: The demand for degreed employees is becoming a necessity, especially here in the Middle East where expatriates are aplenty and the job market flailing with the drop in oil prices. Large organizations recruitment criteria combined with work visa approvals have made degrees obtained in accredited universities obligatory. Refusal to accept certain online education qualifications for reasons of authenticity is one such gatekeeper for colleges and universities. Off course there is a lot of competition and further gatekeepers between the institutions such as having a solid track record for having the top football team, providing scholarships be it sport or academic related, offering a larger variety of courses and having a proven academic record.
All of the above factor into the decision parents make about where their child will study, but one factor stands out more which is the academic record. No parent will put their trust in an institution with a poor academic record given the exorbitant fees they have to pay to educate their children. This is the reason educators need to be encouraged to move away from traditional teaching and adopt an approach millennials can relate to. If the study in Teaching Naked highlights student’s participation to be three minutes per fifty minutes class time then there should be some serious reviews in the content delivery methodology.
Decisional: Given the above interpretive and gaining insight from Teaching Naked and my other references, clearly my choice is to opt for blended learning. I believe teacher involvement is needed but only as a guide or facilitator and not to serve as a dispenser of knowledge. Utilizing technology is a tool to enhance learning not just as first exposure of knowledge or in class but as own time learning; while being a guide is to inspire and motivate them to be accountable for ,their learning. To guide is to: encourage their participation in class and interaction with each other, ask the right questions to get your students thinking, challenge students when they think they have the answer. Ultimately as a guide you want your students to think critically and use their class time to a maximum of fifty minutes and not 3 minutes.
Flipping the classroom with Podcasts:
A study conducted at the Manipal College of Dental Sciences, India to test the efficacy and perceived utility of podcasts as a supplementary teaching aid among first-year dental students. They were put into two groups where the first group attended the traditional classroom lectures followed by multiple choice question test and the second group did podcast lectures followed by the multiple choice question test. The results showed 91.3% of the students found the podcasts useful, as they could listen to lecture content repeatedly and at their own convenience. 63% of the students, however, felt that the absence of images and diagrams in podcasts was a disadvantage. “Conclusion: Students benefited when podcasts were used to supplement live lectures and textbook content. This was indicated by better student performance in the podcast group. Also, students showed a favorable attitude for podcasts being used as a supplementary teaching and learning aid.” Manipal College of Dental Sciences.
It makes perfect sense for your student’s first exposure to the subject matter should be before class. Not only does the student come prepared for class but, it frees up more class time thereby creating the opportunity for the students to be more engaged with discussion and interaction.
Reflective: I listen to daily podcasts of my South African internet radio station everyday, I am so grateful to be able to listen to the podcasts as it is an excellent source of information about what is happening in my home country. I get to hear uncensored information that our Government does not allow our National Broadcasters to air. I listen to the podcasts while driving to and fro work, while doing the dishes or just simply relaxing. I can repeat the podcast if something did not make sense to me the first time or fast-forward if I was not interested in a certain topic. It is broken down into chapter titles so I can choose what I want to listen to. This is the amazing thing about podcasts, it is so versatile that you can multitask while listening.
If it is so fantastic for me, you can well imagine how useful this tool is to deliver information or lectures. With video podcasts for lectures, you can incorporate images and graphs as separate chapter titles as was the case of the students in the study who felt the absence of images and graphs in the audio podcasts was a disadvantage. In this global age of technology and online education, podcasts are a surefire way for instructors to deliver lectures to their students all over the world. Podcasts are also main pillar of the flipped classroom.
Interpretive: “First exposure, learning activities and feedback are no longer limited to the classroom or class time” Teaching Naked. This statement rings true for the flipped classroom concept, our content and learning outcomes have stayed the same but we are changing our teaching strategies. The traditional classroom style of live lecture followed by homework and discussion the following day is totally flipped which is where it gets its name. With technology instructors have the ability to provide podcast lectures in advance for their students to watch so that they can research and be adequately prepared for class. Off course with students having tablets and smart phones they have instant access to information so effectively we are changing our teaching strategy to adapt to the changing lifestyles of the students.
It is highly motivating for the student to walk into the class with some understanding of the subject or at least some exposure to the subject. The student becomes more engaged in the subject because he can confidently express his views, listen to the opinions of his classmates and get feedback from the instructor to encourage further critical thinking. This can only have positive outcomes because it forces the student to not only take the initiative to be self directed and think critically but forces the student to work in groups. All of this leads to a well rounded student who can think critically, work independently display strong social skills.
Decisional: Technology never ceases to amaze me. During my research on the benefits of podcast lectures with particular reference to the Flipped classroom, I have come to realize this is a tool I would be comfortable with to deliver information to my students.
I understand that some students may have a sense of being isolated due to not being as prepared or experience technical difficulties or not have a sound understanding of the language in the instance of foreign students. In these instances, I as the instructor will have to look at each case on an individual basis to find suitable and appropriate resolutions. I also understand that this concept will not be effective in countries where connectivity is problematic.
Utilizing technology for first exposure to my students will enable them to be motivated and have the confidence to share their insights, display higher-order thinking and basically take control of their learning.
A study conducted at the Manipal College of Dental Sciences, India to test the efficacy and perceived utility of podcasts as a supplementary teaching aid among first-year dental students. They were put into two groups where the first group attended the traditional classroom lectures followed by multiple choice question test and the second group did podcast lectures followed by the multiple choice question test. The results showed 91.3% of the students found the podcasts useful, as they could listen to lecture content repeatedly and at their own convenience. 63% of the students, however, felt that the absence of images and diagrams in podcasts was a disadvantage. “Conclusion: Students benefited when podcasts were used to supplement live lectures and textbook content. This was indicated by better student performance in the podcast group. Also, students showed a favorable attitude for podcasts being used as a supplementary teaching and learning aid.” Manipal College of Dental Sciences.
It makes perfect sense for your student’s first exposure to the subject matter should be before class. Not only does the student come prepared for class but, it frees up more class time thereby creating the opportunity for the students to be more engaged with discussion and interaction.
Reflective: I listen to daily podcasts of my South African internet radio station everyday, I am so grateful to be able to listen to the podcasts as it is an excellent source of information about what is happening in my home country. I get to hear uncensored information that our Government does not allow our National Broadcasters to air. I listen to the podcasts while driving to and fro work, while doing the dishes or just simply relaxing. I can repeat the podcast if something did not make sense to me the first time or fast-forward if I was not interested in a certain topic. It is broken down into chapter titles so I can choose what I want to listen to. This is the amazing thing about podcasts, it is so versatile that you can multitask while listening.
If it is so fantastic for me, you can well imagine how useful this tool is to deliver information or lectures. With video podcasts for lectures, you can incorporate images and graphs as separate chapter titles as was the case of the students in the study who felt the absence of images and graphs in the audio podcasts was a disadvantage. In this global age of technology and online education, podcasts are a surefire way for instructors to deliver lectures to their students all over the world. Podcasts are also main pillar of the flipped classroom.
Interpretive: “First exposure, learning activities and feedback are no longer limited to the classroom or class time” Teaching Naked. This statement rings true for the flipped classroom concept, our content and learning outcomes have stayed the same but we are changing our teaching strategies. The traditional classroom style of live lecture followed by homework and discussion the following day is totally flipped which is where it gets its name. With technology instructors have the ability to provide podcast lectures in advance for their students to watch so that they can research and be adequately prepared for class. Off course with students having tablets and smart phones they have instant access to information so effectively we are changing our teaching strategy to adapt to the changing lifestyles of the students.
It is highly motivating for the student to walk into the class with some understanding of the subject or at least some exposure to the subject. The student becomes more engaged in the subject because he can confidently express his views, listen to the opinions of his classmates and get feedback from the instructor to encourage further critical thinking. This can only have positive outcomes because it forces the student to not only take the initiative to be self directed and think critically but forces the student to work in groups. All of this leads to a well rounded student who can think critically, work independently display strong social skills.
Decisional: Technology never ceases to amaze me. During my research on the benefits of podcast lectures with particular reference to the Flipped classroom, I have come to realize this is a tool I would be comfortable with to deliver information to my students.
I understand that some students may have a sense of being isolated due to not being as prepared or experience technical difficulties or not have a sound understanding of the language in the instance of foreign students. In these instances, I as the instructor will have to look at each case on an individual basis to find suitable and appropriate resolutions. I also understand that this concept will not be effective in countries where connectivity is problematic.
Utilizing technology for first exposure to my students will enable them to be motivated and have the confidence to share their insights, display higher-order thinking and basically take control of their learning.
Making Facebook Work in Education
Objective: “We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day” Mark Zuckerberg, August 27, 2015. That is quite an achievement and no doubt 11 months later that figure is bound to have increased exponentially. With that number of people using Facebook in a single day it is a given that’s where you will find your students. So what better way to maximize your interaction and communication channels with your students than with Facebook as a virtual classroom?
Reflective: Technology is an established part of the lives of students therefore educators need to stop dwelling on tablets, laptops and smart phones as being a hindrance in their classes but rather to look at meaningful ways to incorporate these devices to gaining improved outcomes from their students. If you as an educator is not techno savvy i.e. not on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or do not know what a tweet is, you are bound to lose credibility with your students as they will view you as being someone still living in the dark ages and unable to connect with them on their level. As an educator you need to be on a similar thinking par with your students to better understand them and their needs. If the traditional methods of reaching out to your students are not working for you, why not take advantage of the tools they spend the better part of their day looking at.
Some educators will find Facebook as being cold and lacking in the personal touch or daunting and perilous especially with leaving their digital footprint and being concerned about them and their student’s professional standards online. But these concerns can be alleviated once educators and students learn how to master the settings on Facebook and can agree on the terms of using social media and Facebook in particular as an educational tool. Facebook can come across as being cold and or lacking in the personal touch that only face to face interaction can provide, but as an educator you can determine your students preferences and provide what works best for the respective students.
Interpretive: I use Facebook and I learn something everyday. I am bombarded with quotes, urban legends, how to lose weight, recipes, etc. Thanks to Facebook I am now quite the chef. On a serious note, my thoughts go to, yes this is good tool to use for education and how can I make it work for me. I really do not want to be seeing what my students get up to in their private lives and vice versa so the best approach is for me to either create a professional Facebook profile for the sole purpose of educating or I can create a Facebook group and inform the students to join thereby avoiding connecting with them as a friend and keeping my interaction with them strictly professional. This can be my groups “so called meeting place” where they have access to communicate not just with me but the other students. A place where announcements can be made, files and links can be posted, and of high importance it is a place where they can share ideas and have timely responses from me when they are doing their exercises. Having students on a Facebook group does not have to be all about work, adding fun videos or memes on the subject can add value to the learning.
If an educator chooses to benefit fully from this Facebook virtual classroom he needs to realize there will be extra work involved in creating and maintaining the group, sourcing innovative methods to use Facebook to keep students interested, ensuring timely responses to students. Poor response time means students will lose confidence in the tool.
Decisional: Based on my reflection and research, Facebook is a tool I would be comfortable using as a virtual classroom. As an active and avid Facebook user I know the impact social media has on people and by me choosing to utilize Facebook as a tool for education I know I can make an impact on my students and add value to their learning. “ Technology is taking us in two directions as once. The explosion of information has created a wealth of primary data that is a wonderful resource for learning activities. But the trend toward less quantity and more customized information….” Teaching Naked. I can harness and post subject relevant information on Facebook for my students to reflect critically and brainstorm. I will get my students to post links to their journal entries, bring out their competitive edge with educational games and challenges. The possibilities are truly endless for an educator who is prepared to go the extra virtual mile for his students. I choose to be that educator. Off course there are other methods like Skype, Twitter and Google + but given the number of Facebook users this option remains the most efficient for me.
Objective: “We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day” Mark Zuckerberg, August 27, 2015. That is quite an achievement and no doubt 11 months later that figure is bound to have increased exponentially. With that number of people using Facebook in a single day it is a given that’s where you will find your students. So what better way to maximize your interaction and communication channels with your students than with Facebook as a virtual classroom?
Reflective: Technology is an established part of the lives of students therefore educators need to stop dwelling on tablets, laptops and smart phones as being a hindrance in their classes but rather to look at meaningful ways to incorporate these devices to gaining improved outcomes from their students. If you as an educator is not techno savvy i.e. not on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or do not know what a tweet is, you are bound to lose credibility with your students as they will view you as being someone still living in the dark ages and unable to connect with them on their level. As an educator you need to be on a similar thinking par with your students to better understand them and their needs. If the traditional methods of reaching out to your students are not working for you, why not take advantage of the tools they spend the better part of their day looking at.
Some educators will find Facebook as being cold and lacking in the personal touch or daunting and perilous especially with leaving their digital footprint and being concerned about them and their student’s professional standards online. But these concerns can be alleviated once educators and students learn how to master the settings on Facebook and can agree on the terms of using social media and Facebook in particular as an educational tool. Facebook can come across as being cold and or lacking in the personal touch that only face to face interaction can provide, but as an educator you can determine your students preferences and provide what works best for the respective students.
Interpretive: I use Facebook and I learn something everyday. I am bombarded with quotes, urban legends, how to lose weight, recipes, etc. Thanks to Facebook I am now quite the chef. On a serious note, my thoughts go to, yes this is good tool to use for education and how can I make it work for me. I really do not want to be seeing what my students get up to in their private lives and vice versa so the best approach is for me to either create a professional Facebook profile for the sole purpose of educating or I can create a Facebook group and inform the students to join thereby avoiding connecting with them as a friend and keeping my interaction with them strictly professional. This can be my groups “so called meeting place” where they have access to communicate not just with me but the other students. A place where announcements can be made, files and links can be posted, and of high importance it is a place where they can share ideas and have timely responses from me when they are doing their exercises. Having students on a Facebook group does not have to be all about work, adding fun videos or memes on the subject can add value to the learning.
If an educator chooses to benefit fully from this Facebook virtual classroom he needs to realize there will be extra work involved in creating and maintaining the group, sourcing innovative methods to use Facebook to keep students interested, ensuring timely responses to students. Poor response time means students will lose confidence in the tool.
Decisional: Based on my reflection and research, Facebook is a tool I would be comfortable using as a virtual classroom. As an active and avid Facebook user I know the impact social media has on people and by me choosing to utilize Facebook as a tool for education I know I can make an impact on my students and add value to their learning. “ Technology is taking us in two directions as once. The explosion of information has created a wealth of primary data that is a wonderful resource for learning activities. But the trend toward less quantity and more customized information….” Teaching Naked. I can harness and post subject relevant information on Facebook for my students to reflect critically and brainstorm. I will get my students to post links to their journal entries, bring out their competitive edge with educational games and challenges. The possibilities are truly endless for an educator who is prepared to go the extra virtual mile for his students. I choose to be that educator. Off course there are other methods like Skype, Twitter and Google + but given the number of Facebook users this option remains the most efficient for me.