Information Technology in Education

An Open Environment of Teaching and Learning

 

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Course Rationale

The course will be based on a “Working Educational Project” utilizing information technology in the MS-Windows environment. While working on an educational project, the participants will obtain the technical skills and knowledge needed for working with a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentations and Database; exploiting the potential of the Internet and off-line data-banks; and the ability to integrate these tools to a workable learning environment which is suitable to their country’s culture and needs.

 

Course Structure

The structure of the course will be designed for an on going reflective environment. The participants will be divided into working groups (3-4 pupils in a group). The process of the course will be based upon the following model of learning:

 

 

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Course Program:

 

1. Introduction: Information Technology in Education

 

A New Learning Environment: The Digital Revolution

Information technology and its flagship - the Internet, opens new frontiers in the sphere of learning. Information in a mouse click, electronic-mail to experts from any discipline, multimedia presentations (text, picture, graphic, sound and video at the same time and space), chats, etc., enable us to transform learning to an interactive and growing process of learning - a “happening”.

The Internet, as an environment of “saturated” information and “uncertainty”, is today, “the” creative environment for learning. The “ocean” of information and knowledge is stuffed with new ideas that are simply waiting for us to come and explore them, to begin a journey that one can only choose its point of departure but cannot anticipate its end.

However, the digital revolution has disadvantages we must consider: the proliferation of information and advanced technology (hypertext and hypermedia) may “produce” a “superficial” learning, uncritical learning etc.

Nevertheless, this is today’s reality that cannot be ignored. We have to face it by adopting it, by making it our learning environment, provided we’ll be able to extract its fruitful properties. We must exploit the proficiency of the hi-tech industry and bring it into the school, targeting both teachers and students. Teachers have to become tutors instead of instructors, or as well as instructors. Students must practice new methods of learning, as opposed to being taught. A learning project should be of a concrete topic; a subject that is interdisciplinary since it comes from actual reality, and reality is interdisciplinary.

Further, in order to succeed in the attempt to change the learning environment, principals must consider a major change in organization of learning in school. Information technology is a time consuming agent, hence, “school time” needs to be much more flexible; team-work should be recommended since it brings to light many skills needed to survive in the digital world.

 

A New Learning Model

5 Basic Educational Principles:

• Learner’s Autonomy
• Relevancy
• Flexible Learning Methods
• Sensible Use of Technology
• Constructionism - Learning as a Process of Knowledge Construction

 

The First Stage

• Choosing a Subject
• Concept Mapping
• Defining (Learning Plan)

 

 

Choosing a Subject

Learning is dependent upon content, i.e. it becomes meaningless without a subject matter. Hence, the fist step of the model is a selection of subject to study. The subject can be general or specific, a disciplinary concept or an interdisciplinary concept. It serves as a starting point for the learning process.

 

Concept Mapping

Upon selection of a topic to learn or to research, we must explore into the roots of our subject, into its relations to other topics, areas or fields. We can do so by a method of “brain storming”, by which we make an effort to “mind map” all the relations of the topic to other concepts, subjects and areas with the intention to “open” new doors and windows that will shed more light from various angels. This method aims to help us to focus on the “right” process of learning - that which suits us. In order to achieve this aim, we can utilize several thinking dispositions, such as critical thinking, lateral thinking, “wild” thinking, etc.

Brain storming is a common method by which a group of pupils are expressing all the “immediate” knowledge (associations, chain-reaction thinking, etc.) they have in relations to a subject, without self-censorship and negations. Usually, the blackboard is loaded with concepts, expressions, thoughts and ideas. It may be meaningless without a process of categorization, which generally ended as a hierarchical concept-map. The concept-map helps us to make a reasonable and sensible selection on what to focus in the learning project.

 

Defining (Learning Plan)

The next step has to do with decision making. We must decide what is that we are going to focus upon, the method by which we are going to do it, draw a learning plan that will provide us the needed guide-lines for the learning process. A fine learning plan should have the following structure:

1. A specific definition of the project (the conclusion of the previous part).
2. A list of the objectives of the project.
3. A list of the information resources available for the project.
4. Timetable for the stages of learning process (Information Gathering, Information Processing, Knowledge Presentation, etc.).
5. Division of labor among the group members.

Upon completion of the learning plan, the group begins to collect all the information and data needed for the project, or the learning process.

 

2. Basics of Information Gathering and Processing

 

The Second Stage

The digital revolution and its outcome - information, as we encounter in our daily life, are an essential part of our learning environment, of our practical world. Hence, We must develop the skills needed to get to the right information, to be able to organize and manage it, to transform it to knowledge. These, among other things, are the basic learning skills needed to succeed in the 21^st century, the digital era. Thus the importance of “information gathering” and “information processing” to the learning model.

 

 

Collecting Data and Information

In our learning plan we have stated what are the resources we are going to exploit in order to obtain the information and data needed to accomplish the project. Now, we have to find it, organize it, digitize it, categorize and manage it.

How and Where to Find It?

The digital revolution is a multimedia revolution. Information is not anymore solely digital text. It is available in forms of digital pictures, digital sounds, digital video and digital graphics. These media types are all available on the Internet, CD-ROM’s, etc. The Internet is “the” most important and rapid developed environment of information and data. Its accessibility enables us to utilize information gathering in a nonlinear process. The Internet, thus, is to become our major source of information and data.

How to Organize and Digitize It

Information flood, 95% garbage, how do I know what is a valid and useful information. Well, sometime we know and other times we do not. That is one of the major changes, one may argue, problem, of the digital revolution. We have to use our commonsense, develop criteria and still “make mistakes”. But, the ability to digitize all types of media and organize it in the computer, provide us the means to overcome the problems stated. The ability to organize all the data in digital files, in directories and sub-directories, move them and erase and retrieve them, helps to manage the information and data. The direct and immediate access to all kinds and forms of data we collected makes the information processing part of the learning operation much more useful.

How to Categorize and Mange It - Knowledge Construction

Categorization and information management is the heart of the learning process. It deals with integration of ideas, with the formation of relations between concepts, with evaluation of the knowledge developed, with the transformation from the public sphere to the private sphere - from information (public) to knowledge (private).

Tcomputer enables us to sort the information to groups (in a form of folders and sub-folders) with common denominator, to categorize the data according to subject-matters, issues, essential points, etc. The outcome is a more unified body of knowledge that was constructed, organized, categorized and managed by the learner. The learner that constructed his or her own knowledge is a learner that governs the learning process.

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3. Knowledge Presentation

 

 

The information revolution created a reality that compel us to master three faculties:

1. How to get to the information needs.
2. How to transform information to knowledge.
3. How to present the knowledge.

 

The process by which the knowledge obtained becomes a presentation is not only a technical procedure, it is a reflective process of learning. In order to produce the presentation (which is generally a multimedia presentation) the learner or the group of learners must recap the entire learning process they have experienced. They have to think about the learning process, think about their thinking, re-consider their consequences, decide what is significant and what is redundant concerning the aims of their project, what are they going to say and what they have decided not to say.

In short, the process of knowledge presentation is a process of writing or constructing a screenplay. A screenplay that is divided to slides that must consider the characteristics of a skillful multimedia presentation:

• Internal logic of the ideas of the presentation. This requires a pre-thinking and planning of what one wishes to say, show, present, etc. The internal logic of the presentation is a crucial condition to a useful and practical message one wants to convey.
• Use of different types of media. Multimedia does not mean the death of the word. However, it does call for a combination of different types of media as a very useful way to convey an idea. Text with graphic and/or pictures can help a great deal in a construction of an idea, not to mention the ability to add sound and video. The Internet is a good example for the use of different types of media.
• Skillful use of hypertext and hypermedia. The technology of hypertext and hypermedia provide us the ability to construct a much better lecture, lesson, presentation and show. We can move from the main line of the presentation to expand on one idea, and return to the main line without interfering with the logic of the presentation.

These are the main characteristics one must consider in order to construct a good multimedia presentation. These characteristics compose the conceptual basis for knowledge presentation. The practical knowledge is technical, which will be dealt later.

 

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