We had two interesting discussions on technology and colleagues shared their views and experiences. Everyone agreed that there has been an exponential growth in educational technology and that this made it hard to keep ahead of. There was also a general consensus that no one technology 'model' suited all teaching situations and this was best decided by each lecturer who could make the best choice depending on their subject and student group.
The concerns discussed centred around what to do when technology lets you down; finding time and space to develop and familiarise oneself with new technologies; and a lack of college support and strategies. With regards to the latter it was felt that a robust and clear College strategy and vision was required in order to drive technology forward. The VLE seems to be working well in certain sections and not used at all in others, people seemed keen to find out how it was being used by others in order to contextualise it for themselves.
Probably the most heartening aspect of the two discussions were that feedback indicates that in no way did our students see technology as a replacement for lecturers but rather to enhance and support the learning and teaching. So I think the message has to be that NO - the lecturer is not dead yet!
For help with many of our existing college technologies and some web 2.0 tools we would urge you to have a look at the workshops and drop-ins organised for the next staff development day on Wednesday 17th February, or contact any of the Teacher Fellows - Karen Lawson, Jerry O'Neill or Carole Paterson. Alternatively drop into the staff resource room beside the Library where you can usually find one or more of us.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Lecturer is Dead; long live Web 2.0 and the VLE!
Hi and a Happy New Year to all.
The next meetings of the Educational Development Discussion Group (EDDG) will be taking place on Friday 15th January at 1.00pm and on Wednesday 20th January at 12.15pm. Both meetings will be held in the Enterprise Centre in Suite 3 (Friday) and Suite 4 (Wednesday).
Just a reminder that EDDG is an open forum for staff to meet and discuss issues associated with the practice and research of learning and teaching.
For our next meetings we have chosen the theme of:
‘The Lecturer is dead; long live WEB 2.0 and the VLE!’
Educational technology tools are being invented on what seems like a daily basis and will probably be developed even faster in the future. However…..
· Can we learn how to use them all effectively?
· Do we want to?
· Are our students desperate for these new technologies to be used in class?
· Is training to use these various tools the answer?
· Is the technology to entertain our students or to enhance learning and teaching?
· Are we frightened of looking stupid in front of our students?
Research carried out by BECTA in England seems to suggest that there is strong evidence linking the use of technology to improvements in learning and outcomes for learning. Educational establishments that are opting for a systematic, premeditated approach to the use of technology supporting the learning are achieving better outcomes. Other findings suggest that students don’t want lecturers replaced by technology and that young people are not as highly skilled in the use of technology as we expect them to be. You may want to have a look at the publication that I have attached below from BECTA – ‘Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes’. Although it was based upon research carried out mainly within secondary schools it still has interest and meaning for FE.
I hope we can look forward to lively discussions based around this topic and tea and coffee will be available. If you are aware of any other articles that would be of interest please e mail them to me in advance or you could post them to our EDDG blog @ http://mail.stevenson.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://eddg.blogspot.com/
Finally I’ll leave you with this quote:
‘The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are undistinguishable from it.’
Weiser, M. (1991): The Computer for the 21st Century
Click on the following to access the BECTA report on Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes
BECTA is a UK-wide organisation with responsibility for supporting the effective use of technology in learning. Click here to find out more about them.
The next meetings of the Educational Development Discussion Group (EDDG) will be taking place on Friday 15th January at 1.00pm and on Wednesday 20th January at 12.15pm. Both meetings will be held in the Enterprise Centre in Suite 3 (Friday) and Suite 4 (Wednesday).
Just a reminder that EDDG is an open forum for staff to meet and discuss issues associated with the practice and research of learning and teaching.
For our next meetings we have chosen the theme of:
‘The Lecturer is dead; long live WEB 2.0 and the VLE!’
Educational technology tools are being invented on what seems like a daily basis and will probably be developed even faster in the future. However…..
· Can we learn how to use them all effectively?
· Do we want to?
· Are our students desperate for these new technologies to be used in class?
· Is training to use these various tools the answer?
· Is the technology to entertain our students or to enhance learning and teaching?
· Are we frightened of looking stupid in front of our students?
Research carried out by BECTA in England seems to suggest that there is strong evidence linking the use of technology to improvements in learning and outcomes for learning. Educational establishments that are opting for a systematic, premeditated approach to the use of technology supporting the learning are achieving better outcomes. Other findings suggest that students don’t want lecturers replaced by technology and that young people are not as highly skilled in the use of technology as we expect them to be. You may want to have a look at the publication that I have attached below from BECTA – ‘Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes’. Although it was based upon research carried out mainly within secondary schools it still has interest and meaning for FE.
I hope we can look forward to lively discussions based around this topic and tea and coffee will be available. If you are aware of any other articles that would be of interest please e mail them to me in advance or you could post them to our EDDG blog @ http://mail.stevenson.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://eddg.blogspot.com/
Finally I’ll leave you with this quote:
‘The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are undistinguishable from it.’
Weiser, M. (1991): The Computer for the 21st Century
Click on the following to access the BECTA report on Evidence on the impact of technology on learning and educational outcomes
BECTA is a UK-wide organisation with responsibility for supporting the effective use of technology in learning. Click here to find out more about them.
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