ICTELT in action: Applying ICT Enhanced Learning

Editor's Notes

• #2: Fate is a strange thing, it has presented me with a real application for the social software that I had been experimenting with, with while at the same time, forcing me to extend my thinking about the potential and importance of an ‘open’ curriculum. It has provided me with the opportunity to witness technology being used to transform learning by enabling learning to happen when without using the technology it would not be possible for the learning opportunities to be accessed. Now that does not happen everyday! I have had the privilege of working with Dan http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=355254054748 ; a quadriplegic who controls his computer by a cheek operated switch pad. He spends most of his day in his bed. He is an exceptional and very determined 21year old who is permanently connected up to a ventilator; he should not be able to speak, but he can. He has persevered and can now control the complex, ventilator driven, air flow such that he has a voice. He is a home-based learner who wants to communicate with others; he wants to participate and contribute. He has his own views, aspirations and ideas that he wants to share. He recognises the potential of learning to ‘free’ him from his room and is actively seeks out opportunities to learn. He is looking towards the collaborative, participatory Web for a solution. A solution that would, and already has, transformed the way he learns, communicates and participates. During recent weeks I have assisted Dan as he has embarked on his journey of exploration, that hopefully, will provide him with a global ‘voice’. A learning journey where he will explore the potential of the developing Web 2 tools; to find out if they can open up new horizons for him. Dan has mastered Skype and can now manage his own virtual classroom using Elluminate. On March 29th at 14.00 GMT, Dan will deliver a public presentation, from his bedroom. A presentation that will describe his journey so far. He will use a public room within Elluminate. More importantly, this session will provide an opportunity for others to share their experiences and ideas about how Social Software/tools might help a home-based learner. A real challenge and opportunity. I hope that you are able to contribute. Please forward this ‘invitation’ to anyone in your personal learning network who you think might want to contribute. We will use the Twitter Tag #HomeBL The session is scheduled for 14.00 on Monday 29th March (GMT) please join us by following this link http://www.learncentral.org/node/63602 John Pallister
• #3: Conclusion This paper has provided an overview of relevant current literature, and described the ICTELT model and suite of tools. Reference was also made to a case study from Unitec NZ. Experiences to date with using the ICTELT model and tools illustrate many of the benefits of this approach. Within supportive teams who are actively involved from the inception of a project, the collaborative, dynamic design process is more likely to result in mutual goals, shared development, and an increased sense of openness and ownership. ICTELT advisors can play an important role initially in guiding teams through the process, in particular (where appropriate) in shifting focus from content to the holistic development of diverse student skills. Drawbacks tend to be in the form of barriers such as time, motivation, and resourcing. As yet there is no formal data around quantitative improvements where the ICTELT model and tools have been used, although a formal research study is planned for 2010. There are nevertheless apparent effects on integration into curricula, uptake, and implementation compared with past approaches (such as generic workshops which 'taught' how to use tools). Practitioners certainly appear to be supported and empowered to create opportunities for ‘meaningful and transformative learning experiences…[by combining] technology-enhanced options with the best of established practice’ (JISC, 2009b, p. 16). Anecdotal evidence also suggests improvements around attitude and 'buy in', which has resulted in, for instance, formation of Communities of Practice, and 'viral' peer influence and support. So, although there is an intensive initial investment by an institution using the ICTELT approach, the results are long term and observably more effective.
• #4: At Unitec NZ practitioners have been involved in adapting existing programmes, and developing new ones, which integrate and exploit Information Communication Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching (ICTELT). Although practitioners are frequently experienced course designers, they often focus on the technology as opposed to effective pedagogy and practice, and are sometimes overwhelmed by factors such as time pressure and ICT skills requirements. This paper has three main aims. The first is to ground the subject in current literature. Secondly, the ICTELT model and suite of tools will be described. Reference will finally be made to a case study conducted at Unitec NZ, along with associated implications.
• #5: While recognising the importance of key factors such as design, facilitation, assessment and evaluation in education, it is worth remembering the fundamental axiom that ‘what the students do is actually more important in determining what is learned than what the teacher does’ (Schuell, 1986, p. 429).  Recent research into the effective use of social software to support student learning and engagement, (JISC, 2009b) suggests that many learners born in the 1990s have been immersed in sophisticated technologies and this has led to a ‘tech savvy’ tendency. Such learners, the report indicates, are unafraid of experimenting with these technologies, but may be naïve in their awareness of the social profile they create, and have undeveloped ICT literacy skills. They operate with a strong sense of community and group identity, which is created in virtual spaces (such as blogs and social networking and gaming sites), and involves a high level of sharing and participation. Such learners are also more likely to wish to bring their personal technologies into the study environment, to communicate and collaborate beyond the physical classroom, and to be able to personalise their learning space. Benkler (2006) also identifies the democratisation of knowledge production to be a central factor. Learners are now able to imaginatively and creatively repurpose existing artefacts, thereby challenging established notions of plagiarism, authorship, collaboration, ownership and provenance.
• #6: Current tertiary education is constructed on foundations (Wesch, 2008) that are broadly ‘hierarchical, substantially introvert, guarded, careful, precise and measured’ (JISC, 2009b, p. 94). As such there is often an uneasy dichotomy experienced where the identity of a tertiary institution sits uneasily alongside diverse cohorts of students who attend lectures during the day while concurrently using a range of technologies that have taken on an almost universal accessibility and use (Kennedy, et al, 2008). However, caution should be applied to avoid creating generalised assumptions around the experience, attitudes and expectations of how students wish to learn (Kennedy, 2007) and a consequent random incorporation of ICT into learning and teaching.     Goodyear (2005), asserts that pedagogical perspectives and approaches need to be aligned, and indicates that, as yet, the demand for accessible, customisable forms of guidance for ICT enhanced learning design is largely unmet. The ICTELT process model, conceptual design framework, mindmap and self-diagnostic tools were therefore developed to guide practitioners with an ‘interest in enhancing the quality of learning and teaching, and a curiosity about how technology can assist them’ (JISC, 2009a, p. 5) through the design, implementation, and evaluation process (Owen, 2008b). The resulting scaffolded approach is appropriate for small teams or individuals working with limited resources, as well as those working within highly-resourced environments. Structured to be flexible, the ICTELT model enables practitioners to blend approaches of their choice, while also encouraging the alignment of pedagogical perspectives and practice (JISC, 2009a). Furthermore, an iterative approach is encouraged whereby designs are developed, piloted, evaluated, revisited, modified and re-evaluated over time.
• #7: The question might justifiably be asked as to whether ICTELT can improve student achievement of learning outcomes. Several meta-analyses of research projects have been conducted to consider the efficacy of ICTELT; for example, Means et al (2009) who analysed forty-six studies for variations in online, individual and group design, and for synchronous and asynchronous activities accessed via a variety of technologies. Their findings demonstrated that ‘in recent applications, online learning has been modestly more effective, on average, than the traditional face-to-face instruction with which it has been compared’ (p. 71). They also found the incorporation of ‘mechanisms that promote student reflection on their level of understanding….[offer] advantages over online learning that did not provide the trigger for reflection’ (p. 68) and the ‘individualizing [of] online learning by dynamically generating learning content based on the student’s responses was found to be effective’ (p. 68).   Nevertheless, when used creatively and flexibly, ICT has the potential to enhance learning and teaching through an ‘increasingly fluent use of media and communications methods and novel distributions of collaborative activity and relationships’ (Goodyear, 2005, p. 83), with learning enabled at any time and in any place. Rather, the suggestion is to build on learners’ tendencies toward experimentation and collaboration, by redesigning curricula to include authentic activities which encourage formal and informal collaboration in discovery-orientated tasks (Rossett, Douglis, & Frazee, 2003), while also providing scaffolding in areas such as critical thinking and information literacy skills. As such ICTELT designed programmes would include: Choice around modes of study (i.e. blended, distance, block, and/or with work-placement) Opportunities to learn and experience ways of working collaboratively, and co-creating meaning Dynamics that aid building rapport and trust which can result in robust communities of inquiry/learning Flexibility of choice, which empower students to select interactions and assignment/assessment types that suit their learning and cultural preferences, and which recognise literacy and language challenges Personalisable spaces for planning and reflection Timely, relevant feedback Active learning through engagement with authentic tasks Opportunities for immersion in scenarios Design that enables students who have specific learning needs and disabilities (for example, dyslexia) (Adapted from JISC, 2009b, p. 8)
• #8: The shift to ICTELT is not a simple process and requires wider understandings around ‘how to design and support learning involving technology’ (JISC, 2009b, p. 6), as well as discussions as to how education institutions are going to support practitioners who wish to embrace ICTELT. At Unitec NZ practitioners have been involved in adapting existing programmes, and developing new ones, which integrate and exploit Information Communication Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching (ICTELT). Although these practitioners are frequently experienced course designers, they often focus on the technology as opposed to effective pedagogy and practice. Furthermore, they are sometimes overwhelmed by the range instructional design process models and conceptual frameworks, as well as by practical barriers such as time pressure and ICT skills requirements (Owen, 2008a). In spite of the learning gains found through the combination of ICTELT and effective practice, however, ‘there is often a gap between teachers' hopes and educational outcomes…[resulting in] teacher disappointment and/or student frustration’ (Goodyear, 2005, p. 83). Often this is due to 1) a variation in the quality of practitioners’ designs (Goodyear, 2002; Romiszowski & Mason, 2004) because design skills and experience with ICTELT are not yet widespread (Armitage & O’Leary, 2003), and 2) because there is still a tendency for technology to be the driving focus as opposed to pedagogy (Salmon, 2002).  
• #9: anecdote of write/right click   The ICTELT process model, conceptual design framework, mindmap and self-diagnostic tools were therefore developed to guide practitioners through the design, implementation, and evaluation process. The resulting scaffolded approach is appropriate for small teams or individuals working with limited resources, as well as those working within highly-resourced environments. The structure of the ICTELT model is flexible enough for practitioners to blend approaches of their choice, while also encouraging the alignment of pedagogical perspectives and practice. Furthermore, an iterative approach is encouraged whereby a design is developed, piloted, evaluated, revisited, modified and re-evaluated over time.     The ICTELT model and tools is currently being piloted in the design, implementation and piloting of a NZ-wide literacy intervention, as well as with practitioners at Unitec NZ. As such, this paper has three main aims; first to ground the subject in current literature, and to describe the ICTELT model and suite of tools. Secondly, reference will be made to a case study conducted at Unitec NZ to illustrate how the ICTELT model was used with practitioners. The paper concludes by briefly discussing outcomes and implications.
• #10: ICTELT Process Model The ICTELT process model (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcqj5jv4_93c59jgwfq) provides a visually presented approach for adapting curricula, activities and/or resources. It has an iterative structure that encourages the alignment of pedagogical perspectives and practice. Practitioners are guided to select a session, set of resources, or programme for adaptation, which has the best chance of success (whether this is measured in completion, retention, learners’ attitudes, improved achievement of learning outcomes, or ‘lessons learned’). The resulting design is developed, piloted, evaluated, revisited, modified and re-evaluated over time. It is assumed there will be access to either experienced peers and/or an ICTELT advisor, as well as to the necessary ICT tools.
• #11: ICTELT Framework The complementary framework (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcqj5jv4_92fp7ppghp) is designed to work alongside the model, and assists practitioners through the initial steps of the design process with a series of questions (not all of which need to be answered). Questions have been devised to help practitioners formulate a ‘clear understanding of the approach or approaches to be taken and the underpinning perspective on learning’ (JISC, 2009b, p. 10) that also forms the basis for collaborative discussion around design choices, concerns, anxieties, educational philosophies, identification of their own and of student needs, ICT tool selection, and the complexity of incorporating a range of pedagogical approaches with a variety of tools (Conole, 2008). A worked exemplar (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcqj5jv4_917vsj938d) accompanies the framework to help unpack abstract concepts (Goodyear, 2005).
• #12: ICTELT Mindmap Experiences around piloting the model and framework revealed that practitioners were often at a loss as to what a design might ‘look’ like, and discussions tended to be esoteric and scattered. It was suggested therefore that teams draw up a mindmap that identified the main functionality and design of the programme or session they had chosen. However, some teams found this a challenge, so a mindmap 'model' (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcqj5jv4_131d2686rhf) was developed. The online mindmap is adaptable, and users are encouraged to change it to suit their purposes. The range of spaces, activities, tasks and interactions illustrated in the mindmap is extensive. However, rather than expecting that all will be used simultaneously, users are guided to select the items and tools carefully, and to ‘mix and match’ to suit circumstances and to change or omit any elements that are irrelevant or unsuitable. Although the central starting point of the mindmap is labelled ‘course’ it could just as easily be a Community of Practice, a department, or a support unit. The mindmap has been piloted with virtual community space design (see, for example, Te Hononga Maori Architecture Studio - http://moodle.unitec.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=136), as well as with academic programmes and activities. Anecdotal feedback to date suggests that teams thought it was a great help to 'see' their design, and visualise all of the disparate but interconnected elements. It was also a great springboard for discussions about the pedagogical reasons for including elements such as, for example, informal, social spaces.
• #13: ICTELT Diagnostic Matrix Developed in July 2009, the ICTELT diagnostic matrix (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcqj5jv4_127gp4tzrgh) was seen as a 'behind the scenes' analysis of a continuum of possible ICTELT skills. It was intended to inform the design of a user-friendly, self-diagnostic survey with automatic feedback, links to tools, and suggestions for resources and professional development, that practitioners could use to identify realistic, incremental progression in the design and facilitation of ICTELT.
• #14: Zeenah is Somali and has been living for the last 6 months with her family in a medium-sized, rural town in New Zealand. She is close to her family and shares a lot with them. Zeenah misses her county and friends, is shy and feeling isolated, and finds school an unsettling blurr. Her language diagnostic assessment shows that she requires support around language, literacy and numeracy. In addition, Zeenah is worried about a different way of learning and the expectations of her as a learner. The school she attends has one ESOL teacher, and five other students requiring assistance.
• #16: During the first month of attending school, Zeenah was introduced to the ESOL teacher, which included a welcome pack, saved on a Flash memory stick, to a year-long blended learning ESOL course. She took the memory stick to the local community centre where she was beginning to make friends, and asked someone to help translate the contents. The pack she found contained videos and images, as well as text (written in graded language, with non-complex sentence structures). The videos were fun and easy to follow, and she found she was able to understand a lot from the graphics without knowing the words. One of things she discovered from the welcome pack was that she was going to use the Internet a lot as part of her studies about which she was curious but also rather apprehensive. A bilingual aide at the school also told her she would be able to borrow a wireless Netbook laptop from the library, and could also apply for a bursary to cover a data plan.
• #17: The first thing the students did after exploring the online spaces, was join and set up their profiles in Ning by answering a series of (non-mandatory) questions. Zeenah didn’t want to upload a picture of herself, but instead a friend with a mobile phone took a picture of her favourite food, and helped her upload it. She was really pleased when looking at the other students’ profiles – many of whom are based all around New Zealand on both the North and the South Islands – to find Moza. Moza is also from Somali, and Zeenah sees she has a similar taste in food. So, Zeenah leaves a comment on Moza’s wall saying ‘hi’ and asking a couple of questions, to which she receives a reply almost immediately, and then asks the eTutor is Moza can be her online ‘buddy’.
• #18: The first thing the students did after exploring the online spaces, was join and set up their profiles in Ning by answering a series of (non-mandatory) questions. Zeenah didn’t want to upload a picture of herself, but instead a friend with a mobile phone took a picture of her favourite food, and helped her upload it. She was really pleased when looking at the other students’ profiles – many of whom are based all around New Zealand on both the North and the South Islands – to find Moza. Moza is also from Somali, and Zeenah sees she has a similar taste in food. So, Zeenah leaves a comment on Moza’s wall saying ‘hi’ and asking a couple of questions, to which she receives a reply almost immediately, and then asks the eTutor is Moza can be her online ‘buddy’.  
• #20: The first thing the students did after exploring the online spaces, was join and set up their profiles in Ning by answering a series of (non-mandatory) questions. Zeenah didn’t want to upload a picture of herself, but instead a friend with a mobile phone took a picture of her favourite food, and helped her upload it. She was really pleased when looking at the other students’ profiles – many of whom are based all around New Zealand on both the North and the South Islands – to find Moza. Moza is also from Somali, and Zeenah sees she has a similar taste in food. So, Zeenah leaves a comment on Moza’s wall saying ‘hi’ and asking a couple of questions, to which she receives a reply almost immediately, and then asks the eTutor is Moza can be her online ‘buddy’.
• #22: The students in her ESOL class have all used computers before, and Zeenah finds that they often help her when they see she is stuck with something. In the first few weeks of the blended ESOL programme the students log in to the Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle where they find the ‘formal’ face of the programme as well as a map of other areas she can access. For example, she can visit the student lounge (hosted in a Ning ), where she can go and see the videos uploaded by her peers or eTutor/eTeacher, leave a comment on her peers’ wall, or do text chat. The first thing they did was explore all the different parts of the programme (all marked with icons, and, to help with aural as well as reading skills, ‘guided’ by a speaking avatar ( Voki ), who also gives tips about online safety and etiquette). The ESOL teacher also showed them the “Our Cultural Village” area where they were able to find online bilingual dictionaries, eBooks in their first language, videos, music and pictures from their country, and a range of other resources.
• #23: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #24: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #25: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #26: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #27: .   After six months learning in the blended programme her eTeacher and eTutor ask students to form a group of four (with at least two being from a different town), and introduced a new project around the environments. The collaborative output from the project was hosted in a class wiki , and each group had their own page. Scaffolding in the form of videos and audio helped students with concepts around inquiry based learning such as Internet search skills. Zeenah and her group discussed what topic they wanted to cover and discovered that they all had creeks in their towns. They then planned who was going to do what. Some students took pictures of the creek, while two students in the group (whose parents knew the local Department of Conservation ranger) went to conduct an interview about the local creek. One of the girls also heard there was going to be a local volunteer group working to clean up the creek, and took video footage on her mobile phone. They also discovered at the local library there were some back issues of the town newspaper. Some of the language was much too difficult to understand, but they were able to take a couple of photocopies and translated some of the sentences with the help of their eTeacher. The project, overall, took 3 months to complete (all the while hearing, reading and producing the target language and structures required by the syllabus, and associated learning outcomes). At the end of 3 months the students opened the wiki to a global audience, and a reporter from the local paper came around to ask them about the project. Pictures of the wiki, and all of the students online appeared in the next issue of the paper, much to the delight of Zeenah’s parents.   Over the school year, Zeenah completes another two projects (four projects altogether), all of which are linked to the learning outcomes of the programme and to the national curriculum.  
• #28: The students have also started working on their own “Our Cultural Village” using the existing ones as models, and for ideas. A grading rubric and set of instructions have been discussed with the eTeacher and eTutor, and students have access to videos (with audio), which illustrate and demonstrate the key skills and guidelines. The students are hosting their Cultural Village in their ePortfolio space. Zeenah has already found some Creative Commons pictures that she likes on Flickr , along with a video of a local Farmer’s market from Blip TV , and another of a traditional Somali dance from You Tube . The writing she has done about her family and her likes and dislikes she is also going to include in her Cultural Village, but she is only sharing that with the eTeacher and two peers at the moment as she is in the middle of an editing cycle. Zeenah is really looking forward to sharing her ePortfolio with her friends in Somalia, and already her family love seeing her work, and often have helpful suggestions and feedback for her.
• #29: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #30: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #31: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #32: For homework, Zeenah has several choices of what she would like to do, and uses a Ta da list (to which her eTeacher also has access) to work out a learning plan. She realises she is quite confident at speaking, but struggles to write. So, her eTeacher has suggested that Zeenah do as much reading as possible. With her Netbook, Zeenah is able to access the online reading texts , as well as a collection of graded readers that have been collated in her school library, and even better, another site has a huge collection of readers . She downloads the .pdf files and reads for gist and detail, and highlights vocabulary she doesn’t understand, so that she can include it in her vocabulary wiki page with a translation of the word, a picture if she has time and can find a suitable one, and the example of the word in context. She posts an outline of the text into her blog along with what she did/didn’t like about it. She tries to read the same books as Moza because then they can help each other, and also compare whether they like or dislike the book and why. Other students often leave short comments on her reader blog posts, and it surprises her how many people in her class like the same sort of stories.
• #33: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #34: ePortfolio In her ePortfolio Zeenah also keeps a regular weekly blog. She has been able to choose between recording an oral blog or writing one (although once a month all students have to complete at least one written and one oral blog), and finds it much easier to speak. She has been able to capture her concerns and anxieties, as well as her triumphs, successes and things she has really enjoyed doing. She only shares her blog posts with her eTeacher and Moza, although some of the other students share theirs with all of the students in the group.  
• #35: ePortfolio In her ePortfolio Zeenah also keeps a regular weekly blog. She has been able to choose between recording an oral blog or writing one (although once a month all students have to complete at least one written and one oral blog), and finds it much easier to speak. She has been able to capture her concerns and anxieties, as well as her triumphs, successes and things she has really enjoyed doing. She only shares her blog posts with her eTeacher and Moza, although some of the other students share theirs with all of the students in the group.  
• #36: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #37: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #38: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #39: Over the first 3 months, the students are helped by their eTeacher and eTutor to add things to their profiles, and work on their language, literacy and numeracy skills in embedded, authentic contexts. For instance, the weekly online Webinar session with her classmates from around New Zealand and her eTeacher (using Adobe Connect ), means that there is a real reason to ask about what someone did over a weekend, or what a peer’s family is like, because they only ‘see’ the other students once a week, and have never actually met them.
• #40: Not a formal research study - annecdotal evidence NO measure of second language acquisition or skills as yet
• #41: Conclusion This paper has provided an overview of relevant current literature, and described the ICTELT model and suite of tools. Reference was also made to a case study from Unitec NZ. Experiences to date with using the ICTELT model and tools illustrate many of the benefits of this approach. Within supportive teams who are actively involved from the inception of a project, the collaborative, dynamic design process is more likely to result in mutual goals, shared development, and an increased sense of openness and ownership. ICTELT advisors can play an important role initially in guiding teams through the process, in particular (where appropriate) in shifting focus from content to the holistic development of diverse student skills. Drawbacks tend to be in the form of barriers such as time, motivation, and resourcing. As yet there is no formal data around quantitative improvements where the ICTELT model and tools have been used, although a formal research study is planned for 2010. There are nevertheless apparent effects on integration into curricula, uptake, and implementation compared with past approaches (such as generic workshops which 'taught' how to use tools). Practitioners certainly appear to be supported and empowered to create opportunities for ‘meaningful and transformative learning experiences…[by combining] technology-enhanced options with the best of established practice’ (JISC, 2009b, p. 16). Anecdotal evidence also suggests improvements around attitude and 'buy in', which has resulted in, for instance, formation of Communities of Practice, and 'viral' peer influence and support. So, although there is an intensive initial investment by an institution using the ICTELT approach, the results are long term and observably more effective.