Enhancing Learning with Technology in Higher Education

Jim Julius, Ed.D.Associate DirectorSDSU Instructional Technology Servicesjjulius@mail.sdsu.eduMarch 13, 2008

Overview

• Intro/background

• Classroom technologies

• Online technologies

• Blended learning

Do you think technology enhances student learning?

A. Yes

B. No

What is your teaching experience?

A. None

B. Helping an instructor as a TA

C. Responsible for a class as a [G]TA

D. Have taught at K-12, community college, or in other settings

E. Some combination of B/C/D

Rate your use of technology to manage your work (e.g. Word, Excel, internet searching)

A. Advanced

B. Proficient

C. Basic

D. Below Basic

Rate your use of technology to present, model, and demonstrate information/concepts

(e.g. classroom technologies, PowerPoint)

A. Advanced

B. Proficient

C. Basic

D. Below Basic

Rate your use of technology to communicate and deliver information (e.g. email, chat,

Blackboard, web conferencing)

A. Advanced

B. Proficient

C. Basic

D. Below Basic

Quote

“Educational technology is a useful means of meeting individual differences and individualizing instruction. It is a means of delivering instruction almost anywhere it may be desired and of doing the essential exposition and information job of teaching so that more time of the teacher may be freed for creative teaching. Educational technology may prove to be a means of making teaching more of a science, so that it can, indeed, become more of an art.”- Robert E. Slaughter, 1968

Quote

• “It would be difficult to design an educational model that is more at odds with the findings of current research about human cognition than the one being used today at most colleges and universities.” -Halpern & Hakel, 2003

Quote

“Learning itself cannot be designed. It can only be designed for through the design of learning environments … If technologies were simply for providing and structuring information, they wouldn’t be all that learner centered. Information in the form of facts and ideas isn’t what we seek as learners; we look for meaning and understanding by making connections. … This is why we bother with technologies: they have the potential to expand choices about how we teach and learn.”- Haughey, 2003

Eight Principles of Effective Learning Environments

1. Catch learners’ attention (intrigue, inspire, confound, personalize)

2. Build on prior knowledge/experience (or lack thereof)

3. Facilitate active, social, collaborative engagement

4. Convey a sense of presence/immediacy among participants

Eight Principles of Effective Learning Environments

5. Support and challenge diverse learners by providing multiple, accessible methods of content presentation, student expression, and student engagement

6. Demand practice and provide for ongoing assessment and feedback

7. Challenge students to engage with authentic representations of real situations

8. Facilitate development of process skills and metacognition

Research, Teaching … Inquiry

• Faculty as scholars / researchers

• Students as scholars / researchers

• Scholarly endeavors enrich classroom lecture / presentation

• Scholarly endeavors incorporated into classroom experience

• Inquiring approach brought into the teaching-learning process

Inquiry, research, and teaching

• Michael Wesch’s “students of today” video • Inadequacy of most learning environments on

college campuses• Inquiry-based approach to teaching a large

class• Students as researchers, collaborators, and

publishers • The process was an integral part of acquiring

the skills/knowledge/dispositions critical to his intro course.

Teaching and learning in higher ed

Characteristics of the “Net Generation”• orientation toward images rather than text• preference for active rather than passive learning• a random, trial-and-error approach to problem-solving

rather than a more linear one• preference for multi-tasking and constant social

connection• participatory and collaborative approach to creative

endeavors, freely sharing and repurposing ideas and materials

• Not necessarily experts at using technologies in academic setting!

- Oblinger, 2003

What technology brings to the mix

• “Soon it will be impossible, even with great effort, to achieve the same learning results without the use of technology that we can achieve with it” (Newman & Scurry, 2001)

• vs. “No significant difference”

Technology defined

• Technology: the application of knowledge/resources to extend one’s abilities to perform a task.

• Technology can extend the abilities of the teacher by presenting and/or individualizing instruction in a way previously very difficult. 

• Tech can also give students the ability to extend themselves through technology.

Classroom technology examples

• Presentation tools (gear & software)• Student tools

– In traditional classroom– In lab class

• Tech enhancement possibilities, in person– Concept mapping (Cmap tools, Inspiration, mindmeister)– Demonstrations & simulations (NetFrog)– Clickers– Tegrity and other flavors of podcasting / course capture– Ubiquitous Presenter– Online video clips (YouTube, learner.org)

http://www.okhighered.org/state-system/learning-spaces/brown.pdf

“Moving seamlessly between lecture, experiment & discussion and addressing the drop out rate”

MIT’s physics studio: technology enabled active learning (TEAL)

http://www.okhighered.org/state-system/learning-spaces/brown.pdf

PowerPoint

SDSU project: Challenge faculty to think “beyond bullets” and the “transmission” model of instruction that so often underlies misperceptions of PowerPoint's potential

1. Engage students with presentations 2. Design and use [pedagogically] meaningful animation and

special effects 3. Lead students in close readings and preparation for

individual assignments 4. Challenge students to predict and explain 5. Orchestrate teamwork and group discussions 6. Organize and manage resources for course assignments 7. Design and support PowerPoint-based projects by students

Online technology examples

• Learning Management Systems (WebCT, Blackboard, Moodle)

• Communication tools– Synchronous vs. Asynchronous– Web conferencing tools (Wimba)– Blogs, wikis, & Web 2.0

• Multimedia (free, publisher, faculty …)• Learning Objects (MERLOT)• E-portfolio systems (TaskStream)• WebQuests (webquest.org, questgarden.com)• Participatory multimedia and immersive environme

nts

Blended Learning defined for SDSU

Blended Learning courses integrate online activities with traditional face to face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner. Some portion (defined by the instructor) of face to face time is replaced by online activity. In addition to thoughtful integration, the transformative approach to blended learning includes a fundamental course redesign to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning experience.

Models of Blended Learning

Twigg/NCAT models:

• Supplemental

• Replacement

• Emporium

• Buffet

• Fully online

Blended selling points at SDSU

• Improved student learning outcomes, student satisfaction, and marketability

• Faculty teaching workload focus moves from student management to student learning

• Institutional space utilization efficiencies

• Course cost reductions (initial investment in redesign quickly pays for itself)

• Graduates are better prepared for a tech-rich future

Summing up

• former University of Michigan President James Duderstadt: “It could well be that faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments.”

• A Design Checklist for Courses Incorporating Technology

The available “enabling conditions” for learning and research are changing

• Pervasive high-speed wireless• Ubiquitous computing becoming ambient• Visualization and simulation technologies

integral to learning experiences• Learning anywhere, anytime• Campus-based learning spaces become

more flexible• Better use of extant data on learning

preferences & patterns (analytics)

http://www.okhighered.org/state-system/learning-spaces/valenti1.pdf

Where things are headed – teaching & learning (?)

• Hybrid courses: Design for learning• Beyond convenience and information transfer• Anytime, anywhere• Active, social, contextual learning• Cognitive supports and organizational tools• Connective and reflective opportunities• Assessment for learning

7 Principles for Good Practicein Undergraduate Education

• Encourage contact between students and faculty

• Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students

• Encourage active learning• Give prompt feedback• Emphasize time on task• Communicate high expectations• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning

- Chickering & Gamson, 1987

For which of the 7 principles does tech provide the greatest potential benefit?

A. Encourage contact between students and faculty

B. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students

C. Encourage active learning

D. Give prompt feedback

E. Emphasize time on task

F. Communicate high expectations

G. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning

For which of the 7 principles does tech provide the least potential benefit?

A. Encourage contact between students and faculty

B. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students

C. Encourage active learning

D. Give prompt feedback

E. Emphasize time on task

F. Communicate high expectations

G. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning

Related issues in higher ed

• Security

• Privacy

• Accessibility

• Copyright & Intellectual Property

• Faculty Development

• Retention/Tenure/Promotion (RTP)

References

• Dziuban, C., Hartman, J., & Moskal, P. (2004). Blended learning. Educause Center for Applied Research. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0407.pdf

• Halpern, D. F., & Hakel, M. D. (2003). Applying the science of learning to the university and beyond: Teaching for long-term retention and transfer. Change, 35(4), 36-41.

• Haughey, M. (2003, July). Principle-based technology and learning environment design, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NLI0361.pdf

• Newman, F., & Scurry, J. (2001). Online technology pushes pedagogy to the forefront. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(44), B7.

• Oblinger, D. (2003). Boomers, gen-xers, and millennials: Understanding the "new students". EDUCAUSE Review, 38(4), 37-47.

• Project Kaleidoscope. (2004). The Impact of Institutional Culture. http://www.pkal.org/template2.cfm?c_id=1447

• "Relationships Between Interaction and Learning in Online Environments“ http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/books/interactions.pdf

• Rossett, A., & Frazee, R.V. (2006). Blended learning opportunities. American Management Association. http://www.amanet.org/blended/pdf/WhitePaper_BlendLearn.pdf

• Twigg, C. The National Center for Academic Transformation. http://www.thencat.org/

• Zemsky, R., & Massy, W. F. (2004). Thwarted innovation: What happened to e-learning and why. Retrieved December 8, 2005, from http://www.irhe.upenn.edu/Docs/Jun2004/ThwartedInnovation.pdf

Reachable Links (in order)

NCREL 21st Century Skills: Digital Age Literacy http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/agelit.htmNo Significant Difference http://www.nosignificantdifference.org/SDSU Smart Classroom Podium http://its.sdsu.edu/resources/smartclassroom/podium/index.htmCMAP Tools http://cmap.ihmc.us/ MindMeister http://mindmeister.com Inspiration http://inspiration.com/quicktours/index.cfm?fuseaction=Insp_Quicktour_QT NetFrog http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/Frog2/home.html Clickers http://clicker.sdsu.edu Tegrity http://www.tegrity.com/tegrity_notes.php Ubiquitous Presenter http://up.ucsd.edu/about/videos/SSDemo.html Learner.org http://learner.org/resources New Media in Higher Ed http://newmedia-sdsu.wikispaces.com Synchronous/Asynchronous online learning tools http://its.sdsu.edu/wiki/largeclass/index.php/LMS_tools MERLOT http://www.merlot.org/ TaskStream http://www.taskstream.com/ WebQuests & QuestGarden http://webquest.org/, http://questgarden.com "A Design Checklist for Courses Incorporating Technology"

http://home.sandiego.edu/~jjulius/ed833/checklist.pdf