E-learning week 3

• How might social constructivism support the development of e-learning or m-learning courses?

I think the traditional model of teaching and learning struggles to be relevant in the lives of young people, especially as they approach the middle years and begin to question what and why they are learning something. The teacher (and parents) cannot possibly compete with what is available through mainstream and social media or the Internet - if knowledge acquisition remains the goal of lessons at school. Social constructivism supports a shift away from acquiring knowledge for the purpose of tests and essays towards a more meaningful process of sense making. Students may be able to access large amounts of information with a click, but can they make sense of it, discern what is good/bad and then do something with their learning. Project and inquiry based learning utilises the access students have and puts the learning into a meaningful context. The role of the teacher in this model is no longer as the purveyor of
information but instead a project designer, resource developer, skill assessor and sense making guide.

• How might the communities of practice framework support the development of e-learning or m-learning courses?

Although we may strive to make learning authentic and contextualised by providing students with more projects based on real world problems, the learning still tends to be teacher driven, at least in the middle years where I teach. It is not democratic, although aspects of choice are utilised in projects as well as collaboration. Web 2.0 tools such as Skype classroom, glogster, prezi and blogs are opening possibilities for students to share their learning with a wider audience. A good example comes from Taking it Global

• How useful is the SAMR framework in thinking about how digital technologies are used?

I like the SAMR model as a tool for professional learning with the teaching team. It provides a framework for analysing the effective integration of technology in the curriculum. With the Australian Curriculum being introduced, content + pedagogies being more closely scrutinised and more schools going 1-1, I think we need clear frameworks such as this to help with the change process.

• How useful is the TPACK framework in thinking about teacher training in digital technologies?

• What role(s) might PLNs, PLEs and e-portfolios play in the future of e-learning and m-learning?

I am very interested in learning more about the aggregrator tools such as Symbaloo and FlipBoard as tools for student learning. The popularity of tools such as iGoogle which allows for customisation of the home page is an indicator of how these other tools might be picked up and used well by students.


Kevin Donnelly has followed up last week's attack on the integration of technology in Australian schools with a scathing review of the constructivist approach prevalent in Australian teacher training institutions and schools. His comments appear unbalanced, highly political and inflammatory. This quote from the article an example of his far reaching swipe.
"As a result, trainee teachers are overwhelmed by postmodernist, feminist, neo-Marxist, postcolonial, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex theories that, while possibly having some value in the cloistered world of the university, do nothing to help teachers deal with a restless and noisy class of 30 prepubescent children on a hot Friday afternoon."
He does conclude the article with some solutions to the problem, the first of which seems to contradict his position on constructivism???
"Practising teachers and schools should have a greater say in teacher training, both in terms of course development and in giving teacher training courses a more practical focus. An apprenticeship model should be adopted, where trainee teachers spend more time in the classroom being mentored by experienced teachers.

More here
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/training-for-our-school-teachers-is-substandard/story-e6frgd0x-1226442562165