emerging media and technologies that enable distributed learning chris dede harvard university...
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Emerging Mediaand Technologies
That EnableDistributed Learning
Chris DedeHarvard [email protected]/~dedech/
Presentational/Assimilative Model of Instruction
• Loss of natural curiosity and motivation• Superficial comprehension of
low-level content and skills• Limited retention• Inability to transfer or generalize• Students with other learning styles
left behind
Substituting Efficiency for Effectiveness
Powerful Pedagogical Models
guided inquiry learning withactive construction of knowledge
apprenticeship/mentoring relationshipslearning communities:
social exploration of multiple perspectives
How People Learn (National Academy Press, 1999)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309070368/html
The Challenge of Educatingfor the 21st Century
Mastering a broader range of knowledgeDecision making given
incomplete informationand uncertain goals
TeamworkFiltering rather than finding
in contrast to “industrial era” education
The Partnershipfor 21st Century Skills
Six Key Elements of 21st Century LearningICT Literacy Framework Linking
21st Century Tools to Learning Skills21st Century ContentMilestones for Improving
21st Century LearningNine Steps to Build Momentum
www.21stcenturyskills.org
Educational Implications ofA Flattened World
Emerging interactive media now empower not only countries and companies, but also individuals to collaborate, to accomplish, and to learn in new and powerful ways
The Role of Media in“Next Generation” Education
channels for sending contentanyplace, on demand
“representational containers”for new types of messages
contexts that empower collaboration
evolving new kinds of meaning aswe sense and act and learn
across barriers of distance and time
Evolving towardDistributed Learning
Sophisticated Methods of Learning and Teachingguided construction of knowledge and meaningapprenticeships and mentoringinfusion of research into teaching
Orchestrated across classrooms, homes, workplaces, community settings
On demand, just-in-timeCollaborative
distributed across space, time, media
My Distributed Learning Course
http://my.gse.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?course=gse-t502
face-to-face interactionvideoconferencingwireless, handheld devicessmall group collaboration via groupwaresynchronous interaction in virtual environmentasynchronous, threaded discussioninformal website-based learning experiencesshells for course authoring
New Forms of Rhetoric
Lessons Learned
• Richer, deeper learning from mixturethan from any subset• Participants “Find Their Voice”• Time for Communication and Reflection• Peer Mentoring and Collaboration
• Very different individual patterns of preference for mixture of media
• Instructional design complex mixof cognitive, affective, psychosocial
learning styles
What is a MUVE?
A representational container that enables multiple simultaneous participants to access virtual spaces configured for learning.
A place where learners represent themselves through graphical avatars (persona)to communicate with others’ avatars and computer-based agents, as well as to interact with digital artifacts and virtual contexts.
A learning experience that provides diverse activities in support of classroom curriculum.
Synchronous Learning Environments (MUVEs)
Facilitate brainstorming and social interaction Encourage shy students to participate Enable “authentic” presentation of the self
by some learners Alter the pattern of intercommunication Allow covert and meta-communication Foster convenient access Require mastering a new type of rhetoric Require rapid reading and typing skills Require novel forms of instructional design
Enhance student participation face-to-face
Tapped In: www.tappedin.org
Learning Community
A culture of learning, in which everyone is involvedin a collective effort of understanding
Shares and develops a repertoire of resources: experiences, tools, stories,ways of addressing recurring problems
Allows a close connectionbetween learning and doing
Addresses the informal and tacit aspectsof knowledge creation and sharing
an alternative means of teaching/learningand of professional development
Distributed-Learning Communities
Range of participants’ skills and interestsgoes beyond geographic boundariesand face-to-face opportunities
Asynchronous media enable convenient participation, deeper reflection,and archiving of insights
Emotional and social dimensions rely on synchronous virtual interchanges
Broader range of participants willactively engage in dialogue
Compared to face-to-face communities,more investment required to participate
Synchronous Learning Environments (Groupware) Facilitate small-group collaboration,
brainstorming, and expression Foster convenient access Help some students to “find their voices” Enable sharing and annotating
complex artifacts and products Require mastering a new type of rhetoric Require collective time management Require rapid reading and typing Require recognition of time and effort Require time and effort to install and master
Enhance student participation face-to-face
http://moonedit.com/
Distributed Cognition
• “dispersal of intellectual functioning across physical, social, and symbolic supports” – graphing– word processing
• Vygotskyan mentoring• Handheld devices and ubiquitous
computing
Why Ubiquitous Computing
• One-to-One Student to Tool Ratio• Wireless Handheld Devices (WHD) offer
approximately 60% of the computing powerof laptops of a few years ago
• One WHD is approximately 10% of the costof one modern laptop
• Handheld ubiquitous computing – instant on, anytime, everywhere, and in the hand of the user
Emerging Digital Media MayPervade All Aspects of Life
MWDs access every type of data service anywhere (banking and stock market information, weather, tickets/reservations, transport schedules)
MWDs access data connected to locations (street signs linked to online maps), objects (books linked to online reviews), and locations (restaurants linked to ratings by their customers)
MWDs locate strangers nearby who have identified themselves as having common interests (friends of friends, fans of an actor or author)
Rheingold, Smart Mobs (‘02); W. Mitchell, Me + + (’03)
Requisite Information Infrastructure is Emerging
One-third of U.S. households now have broadband access to the Internet.
In the past three years, 14 million U.S. families have linked their computers withwireless home networks.
Some 55% of Americans now carrycell phones
The first WMD data services--radio, photos, and short videoclips--are starting to take off
Harvard’s Handheld Devicesfor Ubiquitous Learning Project
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~hdul/
Findings from HDUL
Wireless Handheld Devices can serve as:
o Portable research assistantso Assess what people knowo Collect people’s opinionso Digitally record interviews and capture digital imageso Collect real-time data via probeware and calculation softwareo Aggregate individual datasets
o Traveling conduits for online learningo Vehicles for participatory simulationso Artifacts that enhance thinkingo Means for locating learning resources
Media-Driven Learning Styles
Asynchronous Learning Environments (Threaded Dscssns)
Allow time for reflection and expression Enabled flexibility in participation patterns and
in provision of aid Increase the total amount of communication Alter the pattern of intercommunication Help some learners to “find their voices” Convey a sense of “publishing” Require mastering a new type of rhetoric Require management of time Require filtering skills and novel instructional designs Require recognition of time and effort
Enhance student participation face-to-face
http://concord.org/elearningmodel
Emerging Interactive Media
Podcastinghttp://epnweb.org/
RSS Feeds and Accumulatorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)
Blogginghttp://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=126
Conditions for Successin Technological Innovation
High-quality learning tools and materialsExtensive professional developmentStrong technical infrastructureOrganizational shifts to enable
deeper content, powerful pedagogiesEquity in Content and Services
as well as Access and LiteracyStakeholder Involvement
Meeting the Challenge ofTransformation via “Unlearning”
Developing fluency in usingemerging interactive media
Complementing presentational instructionwith collaborative inquiry-based learning
Unlearning almost unconscious assumptions and beliefs and values about the nature of teaching, learning, and schooling
crucial issue for professional development
Four Levels ofLearning Technologies
Device (cell phone, HDTV,personal digital assistant)
Application (word processors, intelligent tutoring systems, educational simulations)
Medium (shared virtual environments, interactive television, worldwide web)
Infrastructure (Internet, telephone system, cable and broadcast television, cyberspace)
Beyond McLuhan
Media shape their messages
Media shape their participants
Infrastructures shape civilization