Lesson 10: Computer as a Tutor

The computer as a tutor

            The computer is one of the wonders of human ingenuity even in its original design in the 1950’s to carry out complicated mathematical and logical  operations. With, the invention of microcomputer, the PC has become the tool for programmed instruction.

           

         Educators saw much use of the PC. They saw its potential for individualization in learning.

Computer-assisted Instruction (CAI)

            The computer can be a tutor in effect relieving the teacher of many activities in his/her personal role as classroom tutor. It should be made clear, however, that the computer cannot totally replace the teacher since  the teacher shall continue to play the major roles of information deliverer and learning environment controller.

The teacher must:

• Insure that students have the needed knowledge and skills for any computer activity.
• Decide the appropriate learning objectives.
• Plan the sequential and structured activities to achieve objectives.
• Evaluate the students’ achievement by ways of tests the specific expected outcomes.

The students in CAI play their own roles as learners as they :

• Receive information
• Understand instructions for the computer activity
• Retain in mind the information and rules for the computer activity
• Apply the knowledge and rules during the process of computer learning.

The computer, too,  play its roles as it:

• Acts as a sort of tutor
• Provides a learning environment
• Delivers learning instruction
• Reinforces learning trough drill-and-practice.
• Provides feedback.

CAI Integrated with Lessons

       CAI works best in reinforcing learning through repetitive exercises such that students can practice basic skills or knowledge in various subject areas. Common types of drill and practice programs include vocabulary building, math facts, basic sentence, and history or geography facts. 

When and how can teachers integrate drill and practices programs with their lessons? The following suggestions can be made:

• Use drill and practice programs for basic skills and knowledge that require rapid or automatic response by students.
• Ensure that drill and practice activities conform to the lesson plan/curriculum.
• Limit drill and practice to 20-30 minutes to avoid boredom.
• Use drill and practice to assists students with particular weakness in basic skills.

Lesson 9: Computers as Information and Communication Technology

In the Educational Technology course 1, the role of the computer in education was well discussed. It was pointed out that the advent of the computer is recognized as the third revolution in education.

• Printing press

• Libraries

• Computers

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

• It was introduced using the principle of individualized learning through a positive climate that includes realism and appeal with drill exercises that uses color, music, and animation.

USES OF THE COMPUTER AS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

The Personal Computers as ICT

• Instructional Media – Consist of audio-visual aids that served to enhance and enrich the teaching-learning process.

                    Examples: Blackboard, Photo, film and video

• Educational Communication Media – Comprise the media of communication to audiences including learners using the print, film, radio, television or satellite means of communication.

Programs normally installed in an ordinary modern PC:

• Microsoft Office – program for composing text, graphics, photos into letters, articles, reports, etc.

• Powerpoint – for preparing lecture presentations

• Excel – for spreadsheets and similar graphic sheets

• Internet Explorer - access to the internet

• Yahoo or Google - websites; e-mail, chat rooms, blog sites, news service, educational software, etc

• Adobe Reader – Graphs/photo composition and editing

• MSN – mail/chat messaging

• Windows Media Player – CD, VCD player; Editing film/video

• Cyberlink Power – DVD player

• Game House – video games

                                    

Lesson 8: Thinking Skills Through IT-Based Projects

I.  Resource-based Project

In these projects, the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being a content expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information. Only when necessary for the active learning process does the teacher step in to supply data or information. The general flow of events in resource based projects are:

• The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class.
• The teacher represents the problem to the class.
• The students find information on the problem or question.
• Students organize their information in response to the problem or question.

Traditional Learning Model	Resource-based Learning Model
Teacher is expert and information provider	Teacher is a guide and facilitator.
Textbook is key source of information	Sources are varied (print, video, internet, etc.)
Focus on facts Information is package. In neat parcels.	Focus on learning inquiry/ quest/ discovery
The product is the be all and end all of all learning.	Emphasis on process
Assessment is quantitative	Assessment is quantitative and qualitative

Webquest

• an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by the learners are drawn from the web
• designed to use learners’ time well, focus on information rather than looking for
• supports the learners’ thinking at the level of analysis, synthesis and evaluation

II.  Simple Creations

      Students can also be assigned to create their software materials to supplement the need for relevant and effective materials.

       In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity of high intelligence. Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or building. Creativity is said to combine three kinds of skills/abilities, namely:

• Analyzing – distinguishing similarities and differences or seeing the project as a problem to be solved
• Synthesizing – making spontaneous connections among ideas, thus generating interesting or new ideas.
• Promoting – selling new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas themselves

The Five Key Tasks

1. Define the task – clarify the goal of the completed project to the students
2. Brainstorm – the students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas on the project. Rather than shoot down the ideas, the teacher encourages idea exchange.
3. Judge the idea – the students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea. Only when students are completely off track should the teacher intervene.
4. Act – the students do their own work with the teacher as facilitator
5. Adopt flexibility – the students should allow to shift gears and not to follow an action path rigidly.

III.  Guided Hypermedia Projects

The production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached in two different ways:

• As an instructive tool, such as in the production by students of a powerpoint presentation of a selected topic.
• As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia presentation (with text, graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc) to simulate a television news show.

IV.  Web-based Projects

     Students can be made to create and post webpages on a given topic. But creating webpages, even single page webpages, may be too sophisticated and time consuming for the average student.

          It should be said, however, that posting of webpages in the Internet allows the students a wider audience. They can also be linked with other related sites in the Internet.

Lesson 7: Evaluation of Technology Learning

            The standard student evaluation of learning must change. This is justifies by the fact that not only has the new generation changed into digital learners, but the traditional world has metamorphosed into a digital world.

            Assessment needs to confirm, not with literacy of the past century but the new literacy in 21^st century. This literacy uses digital tools in preparing students to face high-tech world.

            The comparison is made with the Swiss watch-makers which failed to adapt digital watch-making. The Swiss watch lost its prime position in less than 2 years of neglect to the need to go digital.

            Evaluation must be geared to assessment of essential knowledge and skills so that learners can function effectively, productively, and creativity in a new world.

            It must evaluate tools that measure the new basic skills of the 21^st century digital culture, namely:

• solution fluency
• information fluency
• collaboration fluency
• creative fluency
• media fluency
• digital citizenship

For example, in reading, single text becomes less important compared with empowerment process of being imbibed by varied informative, educational and recreational literature-textual, audio-visual, digital. Apart from reading, learners are asked to engage in the process of writing reports, essays, articles, stories, power-point presentations, video scripts, drama skills, etc. The standard paper tests will prove inadequate in assessing new learning.

            As students engage in the problem solving process, assessment will also need to focus on 4Ds (Define, design, do, debrief) that empower students to solve problems using higher-level theoretical and practical thinking.

            As product-outcome learning changes from verbal-textual to textual to digital expressions (research-based outputs in various forms such as audio, video, power-point, multimedia, etc.) evaluation must also change.

Mass Amateurization

            A term which implies a mass reach of students’ output. The personal and group creative activities in school should aim in bridging the gap between amateur creators of output to professional creators of future outcomes and products in the real world.

Lesson 6: Developing Basic Skills

3Rs

LITERACY SKILLS/ FLUENCY SKILLS

1.  Solution Fluency

This refers to the capacity and creativity in problem solving

2.  Information Fluency

This involves 3 subsets of skills, namely:

• an ability to access information
• an ability to retrieve information
• an ability to reflect on

3.  Collaboration Fluency

This refers to teamwork with virtual or real partners in the online environment

4.  Media Fluency

This refers to the channels of mass communication (radio, television, magazine, advertising, graphic arts) or digital sources.

5.  Creativity Fluency

An artistic proficiency adds meaning by way of design, art, and storytelling to package a message.

         Elements of Creative Fluency 

• font
• color
• patterns
• layout

6.  Digital Ethics

The digital citizen is guided by the principles of leadership, goal responsibility, environmental awareness, global citizenship, and personal accountability.

4Ds – structures problem solving

• define the problem
• design the solution
• do the work
• debrief on the outcome

HIGHER-THINKING SKILLS