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Activity 3 - Roles of learners learning with ICT

Reading and Reflection: 3 hrs
Group activity: 2 hrs
Reflection: 30 mins

 

5 hrs 30 mins



 

In examining how ICT can change and enhance teaching and learning we have to analyse the roles of both the learners and the teachers. In analysing the roles of learners we should focus on what kinds of learning activities are taking place and how active the learners are in that process. In a later activity, when we analyse the role of the teacher, we will focus on the actions of the teachers, how they plan ICT integration and the kinds of opportunities that they create for learning with ICT.

In Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technologies the authors examine the four fundamental characteristics that make learning most effective.

  1. Learning through active engagement
  2. Learning through participation in groups
  3. Learning through frequent interaction and feedback
  4. Learning through connections to real-world contexts

Notice how the role of the learner focuses on a) how involved they are in leanring, b) how well-supported they are and c) how meaningful their learning is to them. You would be quite correct to observe that these are just elements of plain good teaching practice (and wonder why more teachers do not do this). Is ICT therefore really necessary? You be the judge. Read the paper and consider how ICT can enhance these processes.

Click here to see the hyperlinked (HTML/Web) version of Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technologies

Click here to see the Acrobat format of the whole document

In The Teacher as Learning Guide Bonnie Bracey reflects on her changing role as a teacher, but notice how almost inseparable it is from the roles that the learners are expected to assume. How do these roles relate to the definition of e-learning in the White Paper and the fundamental characteristics for effective learning?

Click here to read The Teacher as Learning Guide

Margaret Riel's Learning Circles online collaborative learning model has been very successfully implemented worldwide. As you read about Learning Circles, identify all the effective learning factors that are present in the model, with special emphasis on the roles of the learner.

Click here to read Learning Circles: Virtual Communities for Elementary and Secondary Schools

Group Activity 3 - Learners' Charter - a collaborative exercise

In this activity you will experience the power of collaboration by developing a Learners' Charter with your group. You will produce one collaborative online document. Follow these guidelines to complete this activity.

  1. Your brief is, through the use of an online collaborstive document, to develop a Learners' Charter. Imagine that this Charter is developed by learners who wish to assert their rights to learn effectively with ICT integration.
  2. First brainstorm the issues that should be raised in the Charter i.e. what are learners' rights to effective teaching and learning with ICT? Using the brainstorm tool that your tutor has set up for you, list the rights that you think learners should have to effective teaching with ICT.

  3. After about 2 days of receiving brainstorm updates, evaluate the contributions and sponsor one item to the charter - one sentence that makes a statement.

  4. Now go to the online collaborative document that your tutor has set up. Write your Learners' Charter sentence. There should be as many sentences in the Charter as there are members in your group - each member should take "ownership" of one sentence. This happens on a "first-come-first-served basis". For instance, if someone else in your group has sponsored a sentence about access to ICT, you should choose a different issue.

  5. As the process unfolds reflect on the process and, if necessary, discuss with the group how the process can be improved. You are a collaborative group, so you have to solve problems collaboratively as well.

  6. Provide input to each sponsored sentence and try to improve it and make it more effective and correct as a sentence that describes the rights of learners who learn with ICT. Be critical and positive in your comment. Make sure that everyone understands the issues the way that you do.

  7. Your tutor will facilitate this process as necessary and provide a timeframe for this activity.

  8. Complete this activity by making reflective comments in your e-diary about the onlline collaborative exercise as well as the Learners' Charter.
 

NEXT

Click here to go to Activity 4 - Is their a need for teachers?

 
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