Digital Resources for Learning

264 Pages·2017·7.729 MB·English

by  Daniel Churchill (auth.)

Springer Texts in Education
Daniel Churchill
Digital
Resources
for Learning
Springer Texts in Education
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13812
Daniel Churchill
Digital Resources
for Learning
123
DanielChurchill
Division of Information andTechnology
Studies,Faculty of Education
TheUniversity of HongKong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
ISSN 2366-7672 ISSN 2366-7980 (electronic)
SpringerTexts inEducation
ISBN978-981-10-3775-7 ISBN978-981-10-3776-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3776-4
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017930941
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Foreword
Thisvolumeaddressesthemanyissuesinvolvedinplanning,designing,configuring,
and making effective use of digital resources to support learning and instruction.
These issues have arisen in part due to new and powerful digital devices and
technologies (Spector 2015; Spector et al. 2014). Both online learning and mobile
learninghaveincreaseddramaticallyinthelasttenyearsduetothepossibilitiesthat
newdigitaltechnologieshavemadepossible.Anaturalquestionhasbeenrepeatedly
raisedwithregardtohowtomakethebestuseofthesenewtechnologies(Bereiterand
Scarmadalia 2003; Spector and Anderson 2000). Answers have ranged from
changing instructional approaches to developing specific applications for specific
needs (i.e., still more technology; Moore 2013). Integrating informal learning
experienceswithformalexperienceshasalsobeenraisedasawaytomakegooduse
ofsomeofthesetechnologies(Sampsonetal.2014).Stillothersuggestionsinclude
eliminatingclassesstructuredaroundtraditionaldisciplinary boundaries(e.g., biol-
ogy, history, literature, and physics) and creating learning centers around various
topicalareasorproblemsthatcutacrossmultipledisciplines,suchasenvironmental
problemsolving,stabilizingeconomicandsocialsituations,designingbuildingsand
bridges,integratingtechnologyintolearning,andsomanymorereal-worldproblems
(Rosenetal.2015).
Intermsofthedigitaltechnologiesavailabletosupportlearningandinstruction,
itisthebestoftimes,andevenmorepowerfultechnologieswillsurelyfollow(e.g.,
affordable wearable devices, dynamic feedback to support complex problem solv-
ing, and recommendation engines to support individualized and personalized
learning). One only needs to read the various Horizon Reports published by the
New Media Consortium (see www.nmc.org) to understand how quickly digital
technologies are emerging and themany affordancesthey now make possible. Itis
the best of times for instructional designers and educators in terms of available
digital technologies.
In terms ofplanning for the effective useof new technologies,it istheworstof
times, especially given the rapid pace of technology emergence into mainstream
living,learning,andworking.Assoonasteachersaretrainedintheeffectiveuseof
one device or platform, along comes a more powerful device or platform. More-
over, given the wide variety of digital technologies now available, it is difficult to
choose which one best suits a particular need or requirement. There are ever more
v
vi Foreword
open repositories of digital resources and learning objects from which to choose
from. More challenging is matching a resource to a need—finding an appropriate
resource to achieve effective learning outcomes. Needs range from access to rele-
vantcontent,information,anddatatoascertainhowinformation, data,andcontent
can or should be presented and represented to support specific learning goals and
objectives. In addition, there is an even more challenging need to integrate digital
resourcesinmeaningfulwaysintolearningactivitiesthatincludepracticeexercises,
collaborative problem solving, and the exploration of related issues and problems.
Pre-service teachers need to be trained, and in-service teachers require ongoing
professional development if success in making the effective use of new technolo-
giesistobeachievedonalargescale.Moreover,unlikethepreviousgenerationof
computer-assisted learning and instruction, mobile devices and social networking
needtobeconsideredintermsofhowtheycanbestbeusedtosupportlearningand
instruction.Itistheworstoftimesintermsofeducationaltechnologyplanningand
implementation.
This volume should prove useful in guiding educators and instructional
designers through these challenging times. Hopefully, the lessons learned will
pertaintothelearningmuchmorethantothetechnologiesmentionedanddescribed
invariouscasesandstudies.ThemantraIhaveadoptedtoguidemethroughthese
challenging times is as follows: technologies change; technologies change what
peopledo;technologieschangewhatpeoplecando,shoulddo,andwilleventually
do; and technologies can change what people want to avoid doing.
Whatthisbookisaboutischanginglearningandinstructiontomakethebestuse
of digital technologies. A framework for thinking about different kinds of tech-
nologiesispresentedalongwithavarietyofissuesanddiscussionforeachofthose
categories. In that sense, this book is about the learning that can be attained by
effective use of technologies, with the understanding that the technologies will
surely change and the framework presented in this volume is likely to evolve with
changing technologies and pedagogies.
J. Michael Spector
Professor
Department of Learning Technologies
College of Information
University of North Texas
Denton, USA
References
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (2003). Learning to work creatively with knowledge. In E. De
Corte, L. Verschaffel, N. Entwistle, & J. van Merriënboer (Eds.), Powerful learning
environments: Unravelling basic components and dimensions (pp. 55–68). Bingley, UK:
EmeraldPublishing.Retrievedfromhttp://ikit.org/fulltext/inresslearning.pdf
Foreword vii
Moore, M. G. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of distance education (3rd ed.). New York, NY:
Routledge.
Rosen,Y.,Ferrara,S.,&Mosharraf,M.(Eds.).(2015).Handbookofresearchontechnologytools
forreal-worldskilldevelopment.Hershey,PA;IGIGlobal.
Sampson,D.G.,Ifenthaler,D.,Spector,J.M.,&Isaías,P.(Eds.).(2014).Digitalsystemsforopen
accesstoformalandinformallearning.NewYork,NY:Springer.
Spector,J.M.(Ed.).(2015).TheSAGEEncyclopediaofeducationaltechnology.ThousandOaks,
CA:SagePublications.
Spector,J.M.,&Anderson,T.M.(Eds.).(2000).Integratedandholisticperspectivesonlearning,
instructionandtechnology:Understandingcomplexity.Dordrecht:KluwerAcademicPress.
Spector,J.M.,Merrill,M.D.,Elen,J.,&Bishop,M.J.(Eds.)(2014).Handbookofresearchon
educationalcommunicationsandtechnology(4thed.).NewYork,NY:Springer.
Preface
The central questions this book is addressing are, what are the effective digital
resourcesforcontemporaryteachingandlearning?andHowsuchresourcescanbe
designed, developed, classified, used, and reused?
Countries around the world have been transforming and modernizing due to
cultural, political, social, scientific, economical, and other conditions created by
emerging technologies. Technological development has been rapid; however, this,
to a large extent, also has been too fast for educational institutions to fully
understand and create timely responses. Governments around the world are
investing in education and support of educational modernization, and initiatives
oftheireducationauthoritiesemergetofocusonthetransformationofpedagogical
practices away from traditional teacher-centered to modern learning-centered
approaches empowered by the contemporary technological developments and
practices. For traditional, teaching-centered educational practices, the goals of
teaching are to transfer curriculum content to learners, prepare learners to score
highly on examinations, and develop knowledge in a specific discipline that they
would use and practice throughout their life. These are no longer holding the
ground, and societies for today and the future need people who have deep con-
ceptual foundations of disciplinary knowledge required for them to make sense of
developments and solve problems and, at the same time, be prepared for lifelong
learning and challenges that emerge in front of all of us now and in the future.
However,oneofthekeyproblemsfordrivestomodernizeeducationinlinewith
the technological development is somehow limited ability of many educators and
education policy-makers to transform their own traditional expectations, under-
standing,andmind-setsofwhatisteachingandlearning,andhowtechnologyplays
important roles in that process. It is strongly emerging, as recognized by the
authorities and researchers, that changes are essential in (a) what we teach, that is,
inthecurriculumdesign;(b)howweteach,thatis,inthepedagogy;and(c)howwe
evaluate learning, that is, in assessment, as essential conditions for effective tech-
nology integrations. These, in turn, impose a need for changes in the resources we
design and use in teaching and learning, including those digital resources for
learning.Weneedtothinkdifferentlyaboutthedesignanduseofdigitalresources
for learning than it has been done so far in the context of traditional teaching and
learning. Speed and form of learning achieved in the traditional educational
ix
x Preface
practicessimplyarenolongersufficienttoenableindividualsandsocietiestobein
linewithdevelopmentsanddemands.Inthissense,anorganizingideaofthisbook
is that there is an unavoidable transformation of teaching and learning, influenced
by broader changes and needs of contemporary societies, and this imposes a
demand for rethinking what are effective digital (and non-digital) resources for
learning. In a nutshell, this book is not only about digital resources for learning
(whichareseenasoneofthetoolsforchanges),butalsoanattempttopromotethe
modernization of teaching and learning.
Important
One of the key problems for drives to modernize education is somehow a
limited ability of many educators and education policy-makers to transform
traditional expectations, understanding, and mind-set of what is teaching and
learning, and how technology plays important roles in that process.
There has been widespread absence of understandings of what are effective
digital resources for contemporary learning, their connection to a curriculum, and
their design and learning uses. Often, technologies and digital resources are taken
simply as instructional medium for the transfer of explicit information to passive
learners,orasspecificmediatypes,suchasdigitalvideos,animations,simulations,
and slide presentations. Before articulating effective design and strategy use of
resourcesforcontemporaryandmodernteachingandlearningpractice,weneedto
haveacurriculumapproachthatwillenablethese.Oncemore,thegoalofeducation
should be that learners accumulate lifelong lasting knowledge foundation
(conceptualknowledgeprimarily)andskillsneededtoutilizetheseindealingwith
challenges successfully (e.g., in continuous learning, problem solving, design, and
innovation).Thereisaneedforthecurriculumtoembraceanewapproach,notthe
traditionalonefocusingoninformationandasingledimensionofwhatwilllearners
know, but a multidimensional approach that integrates all aspects of knowledge
content, knowledge use, and emerging literacies and skills. Traditional curriculum
modelssuchasBloom’sTaxonomy(seeBloometal.1956)andevenvariationsand
revisions such as those proposed by Anderson et al. (2001) and Krathwohl (2002)
might not sufficiently address the needs of such a need. Without an appropriate
curriculum in place that emphasizes important components, there will not be any
change in traditional teaching and learning for twenty-first century education. The
proposed curriculum model for modern education in this book emphasizes three
components or directions:
(cid:129) Knowledgecontentdimension—where,inadditiontodeclarativeandprocedural
knowledge, more attention is given to the development of conceptual knowl-
edge shaping disciplinary specific thinking and decision making (theoretical
thinking);
(cid:129) Knowledge use dimension—disposition to make intellectual uses of knowledge
content to solve problem(s), continuously learn, and create innovation; and