Short introduction to educational technology for sharing
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This document provides a brief history of educational technology from the 1920s to present day. It discusses early technologies like teaching machines and programmed instruction. It then covers developments like computer-assisted instruction, intelligent tutoring systems, online/virtual learning, mobile learning, MOOCs, and personalized learning. Emerging themes are identified like interactive learning, adaptive/personalized pathways, and blended approaches. The document argues that education must adapt to a changing world through resilient models that support differing contexts.
Short introduction to educational technology for sharing
- 1. Mike Sharples Institute of Educational Technology The Open University www.mikesharples.org A Short Introduction to Educational Technology @sharplm
- 2. Definitions Pedagogy “The theory and practice of teaching, learning and assessment” Sharples, M., McAndrew, P., Weller, M., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Hirst, T., Mor, Y., Gaved, M. and Whitelock, D. (2012). Innovating Pedagogy 2012: Open University Innovation Report 1. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Educational technology Interactive technology to enable effective learning (may include fixed, desktop, mobile and wearable devices and their software - and combinations of these) Technology Enhanced Learning Learning supported by individual or multiple technologies. In Europe, now used in preference to e-learning, or computer-assisted learning
- 3. 1920s: Pressey’s self-testing machine Image copyright OSU photo archives “There must be an ‘industrial revolution’ in education, in which educational science and the ingenuity of educational technology combine to modernize the grossly inefficient and clumsy procedures of conventional education. Work in the schools of the future will be marvelously though simply organized, so as to adjust almost automatically to individual differences and the characteristics of the learning process. There will be many laborsaving schemes and devices, and even machines – not at all for the mechanizing of education, but for the freeing of teacher and pupil from educational drudgery and incompetence.” Sidney Pressey (1933) Psychology and the New Education Personalized learning
- 4. 1950s: Linear programming and teaching machines Based on scientific theory of ‘operant conditioning’ (changing behaviour by use of reinforcement after a desired response) Students presented with a linear sequence of frames of information, in small steps Immediate reinforcement of positive student responses, but the same response for each student Gradual progression to establish complex repertoires Issues: finding reinforcers that are effective and ethical; matching individual students; incorrect responses Image from B.F. Skinner (1958) Teaching Machines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTH3ob1IRFo
- 5. Emerging themes Educational technology Personalized self-paced learning Interactive learning Learning design Formative assessment Motivation for learning
- 6. 1950s: Branching programs Based on theories from cybernetics (adaptive systems, feedback control) Use information from errors to eliminate incorrect responses (vs. ensuring correct responses and reinforcing them) Student is presented with multiple choice response Feedback depends on the student’s response Move towards adaptive and personalized teaching Adaptive teaching machine
- 7. Multiple choice branching Multiple choice on FutureLearn
- 8. 1960s: Computer-assisted instruction Computer-administered teaching Adaptive teaching systems Programming languages for education (BASIC: Beginner’s All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) “Computers and computer-managed instruction systems can be expected to play a major role in transforming the educational process by giving the teacher a sophisticated aid to allow for flexible, multimedia, individualized education at a relatively small increase in cost.” H.J. Bruder, Computer-Managed Instruction, Science, 1968 Multi-media adaptive teaching system, with ‘light-pen’ touch screen, 1968
- 9. Instructivist pedagogy Learning as knowledge transfer Instructor-led Sequenced learning elements Inform – test – explain Adaptivity & personalization US patent in 1966 for ‘Audio-visual teaching system’
- 10. 1970s: Large-scale teaching systems Large scale projects (PLATO, TICCIT) Networked teaching systems Logo and microworlds Computers as coaches ‘Hangman’ software on a Commodore PET computer
- 11. 1970s: PLATO IV 950 networked terminals in 140 sites 8000 hours of instructional material by 3000 authors Aim to provide ubiquitous computer-based teaching (proposal for 1-million terminal PLATO V) High resolution flicker-free plasma display screen (transparent so that colour slides can be overlaid on it); touch panel; audio and slide; music synthesisers TUTOR authoring language First use of graphic simulations for teaching Early social network, gaming community, cyberculture PLATO IV touch-screen networked learning terminal https://archives.library.illinois.edu/erec/University %20Archives/1505050/BrownBag/BBPlatoIV.htm
- 12. 1970s: PLATO IV Evaluation: “no compelling statistical evidence that PLATO had either a positive or negative effect on student achievement”; no significant effect on student drop-out rates; PLATO students showed much more favourable attitude towards computers. In 1992 the company NovaNET was formed with the rights to PLATO technology. Changed name to Edmentum in 2012.
- 13. 1970s: Logo programming for children Seymour Papert - colleague of the psychologist Jean Piaget Learning through programming computers Logo programming language and computer- controlled robotic ‘turtle’ for children Claims that programming, proceduralization and debugging are valuable problem-solving skills “In many schools today the phrase “computer aided instruction” means making the computer teach the child. One might say the computer is being used to program the child. In my vision the child programs the computer” (Papert, Mindstorms) Children using a ‘button box’ to control and programme a turtle From Papert, S. A. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.
- 14. 1980s: Microcomputers in education Multimedia personal computers Videodisks Networked-based teaching and computer- supported collaborative learning Educational simulations Commercial teaching and training packages Children using educational software on a BBC microcomputer
- 15. 1980s: Intelligent tutoring systems Computer system that acts as an interactive tutor Explicit models of: Expertise Student knowledge and misconceptions Pedagogy – how to teach Aim is to teach to the same level of effectiveness as a human tutor WHY: Do you think the Amazon jungle has a heavy rainfall or a light rainfall? Student: Heavy rainfall WHY: Why does the Amazon have a heavy rainfall? Student: Because it’s near the Atlantic WHY: Yes, the Amazon jungle is near the equatorial Atlantic. How does that affect the rainfall in the Amazon jungle? Student: The water in the current is warm Joseph Psotka, Sharon A. Mutter (1988). Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Lessons Learned. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- 16. 1990s: Online learning Edutainment Integration of video, animation, hypermedia Notebook computers Web-based learning environments (VLEs, MLEs) Integrated learning systems Intelligent agents ‘Smart Operator’ adaptive simulation-based training package with ‘intelligent agent’ feedback on learner errors WebCT virtual learning environment
- 17. 2000s: Personal and mobile learning Web-based virtual learning environments in universities and colleges Mobile and contextual learning Seamless learning Multimedia learning spaces Spoken language interaction with tutoring systems Open educational systems HandLeR mobile learning technology developed at University of Birmingham, UK, 2000 Sharples, M. (2000). The design of personal mobile technologies for lifelong learning. Computers & Education, 34(3-4), 177-193.
- 18. 2010s: MOOCs Designed to deliver learning at massive scale Short free online courses, some with over 150,000 learners Multimedia teaching, immediate feedback Learning design and learning analytics
- 19. 2010s: Personalized learning Learner profiles Personal learning paths Competency-based progression Flexible learning environments Career readiness “Three personalized learning elements — Student grouping, Learning space supports personalized learning, and Students discuss data — had the greatest ability to isolate the success cases from the other schools. All of these elements were being implemented in the most successful schools.” RAND (2015). Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning. http://k12education.gatesfoundation.org/resource/continued-progress-promising-evidence-on-personalized-learning-2/
- 20. 2020s: Resilient education Education that can withstand shocks to the system Adapts to external changes Supports differing cultures and contexts Remote and virtual reality labs Blended and social learning Community engagement Weller, Martin and Anderson, Terry (2013). Digital resilience in higher education. European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 16(1) p. 53.
- 21. Old and new learning (1990s – 2020s) E-learning in the 1990s Technology-enhanced learning in the 2020s Constructivist learning Social-constructivist learning Online learning Blended learning VLEs and MLEs Personal Learning Environments Media-equipped teaching rooms Flexible learning spaces Desktop computer rooms Support for students with multiple personal technologies Creating re-usable learning objects Open learning and student-created media Collaborative learning Social networked learning Evaluation of learning gains Evaluation of learning transformations Effective learning technology Effective, resilient, scalable, sustainable learning technology
- 22. Education for a changing world 2000-07 2008-11 2012-13 2014-16 2017-20 Adapted from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Timeline_of_MOOC_and_open_education_ development_with_organisational_efforts_in_the_areas.png Face-to-face teaching Open and distance education Open Educational Resources Open University & distance universities OpenLearn Birth of MOOCs Udacity Coursera EdX FutureLearn Khan Academy Flipped classroom Blended learning Online program management Micro- credentials Nano- degrees Corporate training Blended courses & degrees Hybrid open & distance courses MOOCs Learning analytics
- 23. A new science of learning Computational learning Infer structural models from the environment Learn from probabilistic input Social learning Learning by imitation Shared attention Intersubjectivity Neural learning Learning supported by brain circuits that link perception and action Developmental learning Behavioural and cognitive development Neural plasticity Pedagogy Principles of effective teaching A.N. Meltzoff, P. K. Kuhl, J. Movellan, & T. J. Sejnowski (2009) Foundations for a New Science of Learning, Science 325 (5938), 284.
- 24. A new science of learning “Insights from many different fields are converging to create a new science of learning that may transform educational practice” “A key component is the role of ‘the social’ in learning. What makes social interaction such a powerful catalyst for learning?”
- 25. Types of learning Learning as… Learning sciences… Changing behaviour Neuroscience Behavioural science Enhancing skills Cognitive development Storing information Information sciences Gaining knowledge Cognitive sciences Epistemology Making sense of the world Social sciences Socio-cultural and activity theory Interpreting the world in a new way Phenomenology Personal change Psychoanalysis
- 26. Theories of learning with technology John Dewey’s Instrumentalism Knowing is activity in the world, involving a combination of thoughts and external artefacts as tools for inquiry Every reflective experience is an instrument for production of meaning Inquiry-led learning Yrjö Engeström’s Expansive Activity Theory Learning is a cultural-historical activity mediated by tools, including technology and language Activity systems contain the possibility for expansive transformation, as contradictions are internalised and resolved Social-constructivist learning Gordon Pask’s Conversation Theory Conversation is the fundamental process of learning Learning is a cybernetic process of “coming to know” through mutual adjustment and negotiation Conversational learning
- 27. Dewey’s instrumental inquiry Education should be based upon the quality of experience For an experience to be educational, there must be continuity and interaction Continuity: experience comes from and leads to other experiences Interaction: when the experience meets the internal needs or goals of a person Pragmatic instrumentalism: Knowing is activity in the world, involving a combination of thoughts and external artefacts as tools for inquiry
- 28. Dewey and social learning “The principle that development of experience comes about through interaction means that education is essentially a social process. This quality is realized in the degree in which individuals form a community group. … It is absurd to exclude the teacher from membership in the group. As the most mature member of the group he has a peculiar responsibility for the conduct of the interactions and inter-communications which are the very life of the group as a community.” Dewey, “Experience and Education” (1938)
- 29. Dewey and reflective learning Learning comes when a person strives to overcome a problem or breakdown in everyday activity, or recognises part of the continual flow of activity and conversation as worth remembering Every reflective experience is an instrument for the production of meaning A mis-educative experience is one that stops or distorts growth for future experiences A non-educative experience is when a person has not done any reflection and so has not obtained lasting mental growth
- 30. Learning as cultural historical activity Learning is a cultural-historical activity mediated by tools, including technology and language Activity is the focus of analysis Activity systems are multi-voiced, with many perspectives, transitions and interests in continual interaction Activity systems are shaped over time Activity systems contain the possibility for expansive transformation: they go though extended periods of qualitative change, as the contradictions are internalised and resolved, leading to the emergence of new structure, tools and activity. Engeström
- 31. A university as an activity system Learning at university is an activity system shaped by the history of higher education and mediated by tools, including technology and academic language Teaching and learning activity is the focus of analysis Teaching and learning activity systems are multi-voiced: many teaching methods, learning strategies, cultures Teaching and learning systems in universities are shaped over time University systems contain the possibility for expansive transformation. For example, students bringing their own devices into lectures initially caused tensions and disruptions - but also possibilities for radical transformation to a more student-centred learning activity. Example
- 32. A theory of how we come to know, derived from cybernetics All human learning involves conversation We converse with ourselves to reflect on experience We converse with teachers to understand their expert knowledge We converse with other learners to try and reach shared understanding 3 Pask and learning as a conversational system
- 33. Human adaptivity
- 34. Human adaptive learning through reflective conversation Reflect Understand Plan Act Experience Check Effect Level of actions Level of descriptions How do we do that? Why are we doing that?
- 35. Learner • demonstrates understanding • proposes solutions to problems Learner • acts to develop understanding • acts to solve problems Partner • demonstrates understanding • elaborates solutions to problems Partner • acts to develop understanding • helps to solve problems Level of descriptions Level of actions Shared medium • enables learners and partners to represent arguments and reach agreements Shared medium • enables learners and partners to access information, develop models and solve problems ‘how? and ‘what’ questions and responses ‘why?’ questions and responses offering conceptions and explanations proposing goals and modifying actions reflect adapt reflect adapt Conversational framework
- 36. Conversational learning: FutureLearn Platform designed to support learning as conversation Each learning ‘step’ linked to guided conversation The more people who exchange ideas and perspectives, the better the learning experience Peer review and small group discussions Social network techniques to manage the scale of conversation www.futurelearn.com www.futurelearn.com
- 37. A theory of learning for the mobile age
- 38. What is distinctive about learning in a mobile world? Learners are continually on the move Mobile devices enable new learning spaces Need to understand learning as a mobile and contextual activity Involves a blend of portable, wearable and fixed technologies Embraces learning in both formal and informal settings Design learning within and across contexts Sharples, M., Taylor, J., & Vavoula, G. (2016) A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. In C. Haythornthwaite, R. Andrews, J. Fransman & E.M. Meyers (eds.) The SAGE handbook of e-learning research, 2nd edition. SAGE, pp. 63-81.
- 39. Predictions from learning theories Set personal goals and work to achieve them Explore a topic from multiple perspectives Work together in a team to solve authentic problems Share and discuss worked examples with peers and teacher Interact with media and simulations Get formative tests and receive rapid feedback on results Work to achieve mastery of a topic Reflect on their recent learning and how to improve it Develop meta-cognitive strategies to assess and improve their learning Use familiar personal technology to solve problems in context Learning is likely to be more successful if students:
- 40. Learning design and analytics “The potential is emerging for a virtuous circle, where inquiry into the learning process feeds into learning design, which motivates learning analytics, which motivate future inquiry and thus the refinement of the design and analytics.” Learning analytics Analysis of learning Learning design Learning activity Sharples, M., McAndrew, P., Weller, M., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Hirst, T., and Gaved, M. (2013). Innovating Pedagogy 2013: Open University Innovation Report 2. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
- 41. Evaluation of learning with technology Micro level: Usability issues technology usability individual and group activities Meso level: Educational Issues learning experience – processes and outcomes continuity of learning across settings critical incidents: learning breakthroughs and breakdowns Macro level: Organizational Issues effect on the institutional practice emergence of new practices take-up and sustainability Evaluate throughout its lifecycle: from initial designs to full deployment
- 42. Step 1 – what was supposed to happen pre-interviews with stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, support staff), curriculum, lesson plans, learning designs Step 2 – what actually happened pre and post tests observations learning analytics focus groups Step 3 – differences between 1 & 2 reflective interviews with stakeholders critical incident analysis Lifecycle evaluation At each level:
- 43. Multiple media, methods, devices Ethical design of learning Independent verification Secure environment Support for learners Informed consent Open access to learning aNalytics for learning
- 44. Where to look next http://hotel-project.eu/sites/default/files/hotel/default/content-files/documentation/Learning-Theory.pdf
- 45. Innovating Pedagogy annual reports from The Open University www.open.ac.uk/innovatingMike Sharples (2019). Practical Pedagogy: 40 New Ways to Teach and Learn. Routledge.
Editor's Notes
- #4: Multiple choice – recorded answer. The great idea was to fix the machine so that it would not move on until the student chose the right answer. Then it was easy to show that this second arrangement taught the students which were the right answers.