Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 186 (2015) 898 – 902
5th World Conference on Learning, Teaching and Educational Leadership, WCLTA 2014
Teaching and Learning Enhanced by Information and Communication Technologies Blanka Frydrychova Klimovaa* a
University of Hradec Kralove, Rokitanskeho 62, Hradec Kralove, 500 03, Czech Republic
Abstract This article reflects on significant changes in teaching and learning enhanced by constantly emerging new information and communication technologies (ICT), which have altered common approaches to teaching and learning. The purpose of the article is to explore three striking phenomena such as learner centeredness, interactivity and mobility which underpin current nontraditional teaching and learning that is becoming a norm. In addition, blended learning as a new methodology exploiting all these phenomena is examined. 2015The TheAuthors. Authors. Published by Elsevier ©©2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center. Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center Keywords: ICT; learner centeredness; interactivity; mobility; cloud computing; blended learning
1. Introduction Within the past 20 years any sphere of education has dramatically changed owing to constantly emerging information and communication technologies (ICT). They have altered common approaches to teaching and learning. As Bonk (2011) puts it: Anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime. In addition, he states that the Web is becoming our preferred learning platform and non-traditional learning is suddenly the norm. Siemens (2004) adds: We can no longer personally experience everything. There is too much. We create networks to learn more than we can as individuals.
* Blanka Frydrychova Klimova. Tel.: +420-493-332-318 E-mail address:
[email protected]
1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.112
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2. Changes in Teaching and Learning Enhanced by ICT Teaching and learning is becoming more: A. learner-centred; B. interactive; and C. mobile (cf. Sorden, 2012). a)
The teacher is not the authority in the class anymore. S/he is a kind of facilitator, advisor or mentor (cf. Frydrychova and Poulova, 2011). Moreover, Shneiderman (2003) claims that the teacher’s role is to activate and develop creativity. The technology should not lead; the teacher should teach/ navigate his/ her learners how to process and form scientific knowledge and enquiry. This reflects the so-called concept of the Community of Inquiry (CoI, cf. Lipman, 2003) in which teacher is to stir students to think about the world when teachers reveal knowledge to be ambiguous, equivocal, and mysterious. This theory was in 1990’s expanded to online learning contexts (cf. Garrison, Anderson and Archer, 2000; Garrison and Vaughan, 2008). The CoI framework was designed to define, describe and measure elements supporting the development of online learning communities. The three principle elements identified by the CoI model are social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence. Social presence is defined as the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected one to another; cognitive presence is conceptualized as the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse; and teaching presence is defined as the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes to support learning (cf. Swan and Ice, 2010). See also Fig.1 for its demonstration.
Fig. 1. A Model of Community of Inquiry
b) The 21st century learners cannot imagine their studies without being able to interact with the online materials or their peers. As Jung, Choi, Lim and Leem (2002) claim, interactivity is especially important in overcoming one of the shortcomings of traditional distance education, that is, a lack of interpersonal interaction. In addition, Bednarikova (2013) suggests implementing the so-called ACCEL model (Activity-Co-operation-ConformityEntrance-life styles) when running online courses. ACCEL is an educational model for interactive online education with the ICT support and it has the following five pillars: x x
activity, which requires an active and thinking approach from students; co-operation, which supposes that participants will be involved into discussions, joint assignments and projects;
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conformity, which means an adjustment to students’ requirements, needs and possibilities; entrance, which means that the study enables a qualitative entrance to information sources; and life styles, which means that the study is adjusted to students’ life style, their time and financial possibilities; independence on place and time.
c)
Learners want to have an opportunity to study at anytime and anywhere. Nowadays it is possible thanks to the cloud computing which enables learners to get things done via wire without considering hardware condition. Thus, learning materials can be available anywhere on any device. One does not have to double duplicate them anymore and does not be afraid of losing USB flash disc. Moreover, the cloud computing offers services such as interactive platforms (Youtube) that allows teachers and students to extend their learning beyond the traditional classroom environment (cf. Cui, 2014). In addition, Ishihara and Ham (2012) list certain benefits of using cloud computing for learning, in their case for foreign language learning:
x x x
students seem to spend more time on learning outside the classroom with the help of cloud computing; students are more interested in both their and classmates’ study through cloud-based activities; and cloud-based file sharing with students helps teachers to provide more specific and relevant comments on their work.
3. Blended Learning However, all the three characteristics mentioned above require new learning approaches out which the best seems blended learning (cf. Sorden, 2012). As Sorden (2012) states, blended learning is not a mere combination of face-toface and online learning. It is a combination of training methodologies, which uses the best delivery method for the successful achievement of the learning objective. It requires not only a flexible and experienced teacher/ tutor, but also a self-regulated/ autonomous learner (cf. Frydrychova Klimova and Poulova, 2011; Paris and Paris, 2001). Based on the literature review (Graham, 2005; or Khan, 2005), there have been identified four main principles of the blended learning methodology so far: x x x x
a thoughtful integration of face-to-face and fully online instructional components; innovative use of technology; reconceptualization of the learning paradigm; and sustained assessment and evaluation of blended learning.
1. The first principle attempts to enrich the benefits of both environments and successfully meet the diverse students’ needs and preferences. 2. The second principle means that any technology should be applied in a pedagogically appropriate way and used for creating and maintaining socially situated and highly interactive learning (Vaughan, 2007). 3. The third principle tries to incorporate new emerging pedagogies and learning theories such as constructivism or activity theory, together with the new challenging roles of students and teachers in the process of acquiring knowledge and its understanding, such as the Community of Inquiry concept. 4. The fourth principle of the blended learning methodology should ensure the quality and effectiveness of education. The main reasons why blended learning should be employed in teaching is as follows: x x x
it contributes to pedagogy because it supports more interactive strategies, not only face-to-face teaching (Graham et al, 2003); it thus encourages collaborative learning; students or educators can work together on some projects from anywhere and at any time (Bruffee, 1993); it deepens intercultural awareness since it puts together researchers, educators, and students from anywhere in the world;
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it reduces costs of teaching and learning since students do not have to undertake so many frequent travels to complete their education (Graham et al., 2003); and it might match student’s learning style although there is no clear consensus on this issue (Coffield, 2004; Gregorc, 1979; Poulova and Simonova, 2012).
However, there are also drawbacks of blended learning (see, for example, Cech & Klimova, 2003). Blended learning is time-consuming and demanding in terms of creating materials and preparation and evaluation. Furthermore, both students and teachers sometimes have limited knowledge regarding the use of technology, and technical glitches are liable to happen at any moment. Finally, students’ study skills are often not sufficiently developed to enable them to benefit maximally from blended learning. 4. Conclusion Thus teachers inevitably must adjust their teaching to these new challenging computer-mediated teaching conditions and explicitly instruct their students how to make their learning most effective with the help of ICT. Therefore teachers should provide their students with a study guide which would explain to them how to proceed in their studies. Furthermore, teachers should show their students that it is them who are responsible for their studies in this new computer-mediated environment and who can enormously profit from networking with their peer and their teacher/ tutor. References A Model of Community of Inquiry. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from https://www.google.cz/search?q=community+of+inquiry+model+garrison&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pLZkU6ysMs2S7AbvnID YCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=652#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=CFMW_qOEsBAMOM%253A%3BKBmvtDEYu3AMxM%3 Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flaw.niu.edu%252Ftaconnections%252Fimages%252Farticles%252Fcoi model.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flaw.niu.edu%252Ftaconnections%252F2009%252Fspring%252Faudio.shtml%3B584%3B567 Activity theory n. d. Retrieved July 14, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_theory. Bednarikova, I. (2013). Tutor a jeho role v distancnim vzdelavani a v e-learningu. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackeho. Bonk, C. J. (2011). The world is open: how web technology is revolutionizing education. USA: Jossey-Bass. Bruffee, K. (1993). Collaborative learning. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Cech, P.& Klimova, B. (2003) Kurz Teaching Written Business English (TWBE). In J. Sedlacek (Ed.), Sbornik prispevku ze seminare a souteze e-learning 2003, (pp. 23-26). Hradec Kralove: Gaudeamus,. Coffield, F. et al. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review. Newcatle University report on learning styles. Retrieved July 3, 2012, from http://www.Isda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdf learning through the cloud. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from Cui, W. (2014). Enhancing http://blogs.msdn.com/b/msr_er/archive/2014/04/24/enhancing-learning-through-the-cloud.aspx. Frydrychova Klimova, B. & Poulova, P. (2011). University teacher as an on-line tutor. In 14th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL2011), (pp. 357-361). Bratislava : Slovenska technicka univerzita. Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Garrison, D. R. & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education. Framework, principles and guidelines. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Graham, C.R. (2005). Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends, and future directions. In C. J. Bonk and C. R. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of blended learning:global perspectives, local designs. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publishing. Graham, C. R. et al. (2003). Benefits and Challenges of Blended Learning Environments. In: M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology I-V. Hershey, PA: idea Group Inc. Gregorc, A. F. (1979). Learning/teaching styles: potent forces behind them. Educational Leadership, 36, 234-238. Ishihara, T. and Ham, J. (2012). Foreign language learning enhanced with cloud computing and mobile devices. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on E-learning. The Chinese University of Honk Kong, 158-161. Jung, I., Choi, S., Lim, C., & Leem, J. (2002). Effects of different types of interaction on learning achievement, satisfaction and participation in web-based instruction. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 39(2), 153-162. Khan, B. H. (2005). E-learning quick checklist. London. Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in education. Cambridge: CUP. Paris, S. & Paris, A. (2001). Classroom applications of research on self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 36(2), 89-101. Shneiderman, B. (2003). Leonardo’s laptop: human needs and the new computing technologies. MIT.
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Blanka Frydrychova Klimova / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 186 (2015) 898 – 902 Poulova, P. & Simonova, I. (2012). Flexible e-learning: online courses tailored to student’s needs. Proceedings of the 9th International Scientific Conference on Distance Learning in Applied Informatics (DIVAI 2012), (pp. 251-260). Nitra: UKF. Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.ingedewaard.net/papers/connectivism/2005_siemens_ALearningTheoryForTheDigitalAge.pdf Sorden, S. (2012). Emerging trends in foreign language teaching with information and communication technologies. Retrieved May 3, 2014,from http://www.slideshare.net/ssorden/emerging-trends-in-foreign-language-teaching-with-ict Swan, K. & Ice, P. (2010). The Community of Inquiry framework ten years later: introduction to the special issue. Internet and Higher Education, 13(1-2), 1-4. Vaughan, N. (2007). Perspectives on blended learning in higher education. International Journal on E-Learning, 6(1), 81-94.
