Computer/ Internet use is changing. Where beforehand it was considered as a single function device like searching for information, nowadays it is being considered as a multi function device. Some of the activities are paying bills online, chat, communicate and more. This has been a great change and for some people including myself it is phenomenal. Example physically impaired people can easily pay bills. Personally, it did change my usage. Overtime, it is like the Web is changing according to my needs and not vice versa.
As regards to education, there is also a change. Many teachers upload notes and presentations however in my opinion, there are some teachers who are still ‘frightened’ or still ‘green’ to use this technology. It may also be hard to convince the elder teachers who have been teaching for a very long time by making use of paper.
I think that the concept of ‘distance learning’ is still new to some people. When thinking of it, it sounds great since there are both advantages and disadvantages. The first thing that comes to my mind to describe this concept is learning without any interaction with other people. Although there might be a tutor/ other students learning, there is no physical contact. If any problems are encountered, the tutor’s response may take some days as well.
When learning without any interaction with other people, the interaction becomes a Web-based one. In fact in this type of learning the only problem I would find is solitude. Personally, having other people to whom I can talk (face to face) gives me more courage and enthusiasm.
E-learning inside a classroom can accommodate students in many ways. If a student is sick, the lesson can be still delivered at home. The student may send messages to the teacher and the teacher can reply back on the same day. But then what about those students who do not have access and who do not feel confident in using it?
Many people have the idea of the World Wide Web as Internet. When then asked what is internet, they reply back: a means of communication and source of information. The WWW is changing and in my opinion, it provides a lot of opportunities for students to explore things. Students are not robots. It is not healthy for the students to just get instructions. Teachers need to let students explore. This shift makes the students less dependable and to a certain extent, more interested.
Technology is growing too fast. Is there a chance of schools getting closed due to e- learning and become itself a Web based learning community? On the other hand what happens to physical communication and interaction? And what happens to those students who need additional support?
A good Web based learning environment would better help a Web based learning community to communicate, share resources and experiences. Thinking of an example of a situation of high level participant interaction would be when the participant shares/access his/ other's resources. In addition to this, when s/he takes part in discussions, the participant’s experience grows. A situation in which a middle level of interaction takes place is when the user has access to other’s resources without sharing his material then making little use of the resources available with very little interaction would be regarded as a low level of interaction.
All this seems to be very easy to perform. However I think that before action takes place, a lot of thinking and planning has to be done. It involves a lot of work and for some people it may be more difficult to access and to understand then others. One has also to keep in mind the needs of the people. When using this technology every need has to be catered in order to have full accessibility.
This is very interesting. I do believe it is all about attitude. To be honest I do not believe that many people who refuse to use technology for their classroom practice and education are refusing the pervasiveness of the technology itself. Technology is ubiquitous... it is diffused and dispersed and definitely entangled within our lives. How many teachers use their mobile phones to communicate? How many teachers use facebook to keep in touch, or to check out what others are doing, or to communicate again? How many perform online searches, or use the Internet to shop online? E-Learning is just another term which has yet been abused, in such a way as to give people, notably educators to shy away from another pedagogical facet or perspective, which whether they agree to or not, is already part of the classroom. I do not want to be misinterpreted and I do not want to use the term too loosely. Nor do I want to mix terms like technology, e-Learning and technology-enhanced learning. I think they have been mixed up already. Maybe someone else would like to comment on their differences and uses. I am sure I will be posting more about these in the coming days and weeks.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I think that many people are not aware that technology is everywhere. In fact, we are so surrounded by it that in my dissertation,although there are non- computer users, they are still connected to technology since they have other means of communication (e.g. mobile).
ReplyDeleteMoreover, as there are a lot of mis interpretation (regards to E-learning)I think that one of the first thing that should be done is make the teachers aware what this concept is really about.