Learning technology is the broad range of
communication, information and related technologies that can be used to support
learning, teaching, and assessment.
Learning technologists are people who are actively
involved in managing, researching, supporting or enabling learning with the use
of learning technology.
A very wide range of people in industry and in
private and public sector education have learning technology as a core part of
their role: you do not have to be called or to call yourself a learning
technologist to be one!
SOME
DEFINITIONS OFLEARNING TECHNOLOGY
Roger Rist and Sue Hewer
Learning Technology is defined as: The applcation of
technology for the enhancement of teaching, learning and assessment. Learning
Technology includes computer-based learning and multimedia materials and the
use of networks and communications systems to support learning. Learning
Technology clearly embraces a wide range of applications, some of which, in the
past have been classified under various acronyms such as the following:
CAI Computer
Aided Instruction
CAL Computer
Aided Learning
CBL Computer
Based Learning
CBT Computer
Based Training
Newer technologies which are included within Learning
Technology have also brought with them their own acronyms. For example:
CAA Computer
Aided Assessment
CMC Computer
Mediated Communications
An essential component in a Learning Technology
package is the ease with which the learner can interact with the contents. This
is often referred to as the HCI, or Human-Computer Interface.
The following categories indicate the main
application areas for Learning Technology:
Drill and
practice
Tutorials
Information retrieval systems
Simulations
Microworlds
Cognitive
tools for learning
Productivity tools
Communication tools
A further category refers more to learning about
computers rather than learning with computers. This is the use of programming
languages and software to control equipment.
Features and characteristics of educational software
Drill and practice
Drill and practice packages offer structured
reinforcement of previously learned concepts. They are based on question and
answer interactions and should give the student appropriate feedback. Drill and
practice packages may use games to increase motivation.
Tutorials
Tutorials are used to teach new concepts and
processes. Material is presented to the student in a structured format.
Tutorial software usually includes worked examples and gives the learner the
opportunity to assess their understanding with questions, answers and feedback.
Intelligent Tutoring systems are capable of corrective feedback and adapt their
presentations to suit the learner, based on the actions of the learner.
Information retrieval systems
Information retrieval systems store knowledge in a
structured way and allow the learner to browse or search for information as
required. They include on-line databases; structured information systems such
as dictionaries and encyclopaedias and also hypertext and hypermedia reference
systems.
Simulations
Simulations model an experiment or a real life or
imaginary situation. The context of the simulation may be a business plan or a
laboratory experiment or an animation of the working of a chemical plant. Simulations
usually are based on interactive graphics and give the learner the ability to
visualise a process and explore the effect of changing parameters on the
operation of the system.
Microworlds
Microworlds use the computer to create a problem
solving environment and are derived from the work of the cognitive psychologist
Jean Piaget. Seymour Papert, for example, introduced the Logo language into
schools to encourage children to learn about mathematics in a Mathland
microworld.
Cognitive tools for learning
Cognitive tools for learning are based on the
constructivist principle that learners need to construct their own
understanding of new concepts. These tools give the learner a way (often
graphical) of representing their understanding of new knowledge and concepts
and how they relate to existing knowledge and concepts. Expert systems and
authoring tools can also be used in this way, allowing the learner to present
his/her understanding in a way that can be accessed by other learners.
Productivity Tools
Productivity tools include applications such as word
processors, spreadsheets, databases, graphics, desktop publishing and
presentation packages. Whilst these tools are not specific to Learning
Technology, if used within a pedagogical framework, they can support learning
by enhancing the quality of the learning process and by improving student
productivity. For example, word processing encourages drafting, reflection and
editing and removes from the student the chore of having to re-write any
written submission. Spreadsheets can promote a structured approach to problem
solving and enable the student to spend more time on the task in hand rather
than on routine or lengthy calculations. Databases can be used to help
students, as well as staff, to organise information related to their courses
and to develop their information handling skills.
Graphics and desktop publishing packages enable staff
and students to achieve a higher quality of presentation. Good quality handouts
make for greater clarity and improve student motivation. These tools also
enable students to produce high quality submissions and encourage the
development of transferable written presentation skills which will stand them
in good stead in future employment.
Presentation packages provide much the same benefits
for spoken presentations as the graphics and desktop publishing packages do for
written one. They are clearly of great benefit to support conventional
lectures, enabling the lecturer to draw together text and graphics. Equally
they are helpful in enabling students to demonstrate their understanding of new
knowledge and its applications, supporting them in the development of oral
presentation skills.
Communication tools
Computer-mediated communication takes several forms
including electronic mail, electronic conferencing, video conferencing and the
World Wide Web. These tools allow learners to share ideas and information, to
co-operate, to collaborate on joint work and can also be used for submission
and publication of students' assignments and of tutors' comments on students'
work.
Electronic mail (e-mail) is an asynchronous
communications medium, not requiring the recipient of a message to be
co-ordinated in time or place with the sender. Further, e-mail can be used
one-to-many, as well as one-to-one. These characteristics are helpful in
maintaining communications between tutor and student, tutor and students and
among students since they overcome constraints of distance and time. E-mail is
also a useful tool for course managers particularly where distance or open
learning components are involved.
Like e-mail, electronic conferencing is asynchronous
and can be used at a location of the user's choice, given access to appropriate
equipment. It provides a structured forum for the exchange of ideas and,
because of its asynchronous nature, promotes reflective participation. It can
be used to replace or augment, for example, face-to-face seminars where a
student electronically presents a case and the rest of the group electronically
debate the points raised. Here as the contributions are electronically 'saved',
they are available for participants and tutors to review during or at the end
of the conference, a factor that also provides a possible vehicle for
assessment. Electronic conferencing need not be restricted to text, any form of
computer files can be handled including, for example, graphics and stored
sound.
Unlike electronic conferencing video conferencing is
synchronous, the participants interact in real time, either one-to-one,
one-to-many or many-to-many. Although one of the main benefits of video
conferencing is to avoid travel it is often necessary for participants to go to
a local centre which has the appropriate facilities, unless they have desktop
facilities which support video conferencing. One of the objectives of the
Scottish Metropolitan Area Networks initiative is to promote the use of video
conferencing within the Higher Education system by the provision of video
conferencing suites and network facilities capable of giving priority to video
conferencing traffic.
As well as providing a range of on-line communication
tools, on-line communications can provide access to the World Wide Web (WWW).
The WWW consists of millions of information sites between which information
providers have set up hypertext/hypermedia links. By visiting one site of
particular relevance, you are likely to find at that site a number of links to
other sites which will also prove of interest to you. The WWW is capable of
supporting multimedia pages as well as plain text. It is by no means a passive
resource. It is possible for staff and students to search the web to locate
sites of interest, to give feedback to information providers through on-line
comment forms and to create web sites for use within the teaching and learning
process.
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