Those would all be lies.
The simple truth is that I forgot. My bad, and I ask your forgiveness.
So, with penance out of the way, here are the notes from last week's class (9/6/07):
We discussed the blog, and Kim shared that we should treat it as we would a Wiki. Everyone contributes and edits the blog. No one is an expert at all subjects. Others may know more about a subject than I do. The blog, and most Wikis, allow us to learn from each other. This is an example of “Collaborative” learning based on social networking, which is supported by current learning theory.
We then ventured into how learning theory has evolved with each generation. This is often a function of current technology. The current technology is Web 2.0, characterized by highly mobile devices that focus on collaborative learning. Cellphones, PDAs, etc. all allow us to interact with each other instantaneously. In the late 1990s educators realized that current students were different than what they had taught before. Many professors and teachers are not trained to communicate with their students using the terms and tools that the students use. Different generations process information differently as a result. 2-year olds are using mice. They are “natural to computers, unlike their teachers. The Millennium generation is on the way. We will be their bosses!
As instructors, we need to learn:
- Computers
- Wiki
- Internet
- Etc.
- Idea sharing
- Self expression
- Collaboration
Moving on...
A Brief History of Instructional Development
First, let's define the difference between education and training:
- Education is the sum of what you learn.
- Training is more specific. Training is what you go through to receive education.
As a general rule, companies tend to pay for specific training for topics that will support the company. They do not generally support “education” as a whole, which may include topics unrelated to their business at hand.
- During tight times, corporate focus is on “training” specific skills
- During more profitable times, focus may shift to more broad, motivational “education”
We spent some time discussing “Instruction” versus “Learning”. We decided that instruction is a set of steps and goals; it is related specifically to getting from point A to point B. “Learning” on the other hand focuses more on the global and abstract. As learners, we need to know how to filter knowledge to weed out the unimportant chaff.
The ITEC program is more focused on teaching us to motivate learners to learn than it is teaching us to instruct!
Back to the history (brief as it is) of Instructional Development...
Around 1920, paradigm shift took place. The schools' task was shifted toward producing highly skilled workers, and away from simply pouring a list of arbitrary facts into students' heads. - This was the beginning of behaviorism.
In the 1950s ad 1960s, computers caused another paradigm shift toward cognitive learning.
The 1980s and 1990s brought the World Wide Web – Web based knowledge pushed constructivism. People construct knowledge from their own experiences. It became much easier to communicate over the Internet, giving people many new experiences with which to construct their knowledge. The web in turn fostered an exchange of ideas (email, bulletin boards, etc.), beginning “collaborative” learning.
Now in the 2000s, we are on the verge of another paradigm shift – We need to continue to be able to teach people how to learn in a new world. The new learning theories are known as “connectivism”. Learning according to the connectivist theories is based on making connections with others…blogs, Wikis, podcasts, etc. This is collaborative learning. One idea from one person posted so many can see then stimulates thoughts in others.
Now that we had digested a brief history, we moved on to look at Learning Management Systems (LMS or LTMS) such as Moodle (iLearn) LMSs are usually private systems available only to subscribers. They are generally similar to blogs, but limited in scope.
Many now believe that the LMS is “obsolete”. Web 2.0 is taking its place. In the Web 2.0 world, all you do is generate content. You then upload your content to a “gateway” that others can access. Let others host it and you use it.
Here's a definition for us - Web 2.0 = Interactive. It is characterized by two way communications (blogs, bbs, wikis, etc.). Web 1.0 was simply static webpages that gave you information, but did not allow you to talk back or participate.
At this point we took a little sidestep and viewed a Youtube video on web 2.0 titled “Web 2.0. The machine is Us/ing Us”.
This sparked a discussion on Youtube itself. With Youtube (and similar), we can spend a few minutes for “free” and entertain ourselves
Back to the timeline:
Behaviorism is still around. We don’t use it as widely as we used to, but we still need to use Behaviorist ideas in planning instruction.
We then broke up into groups of 3 for a class participation exercise. This allowed 6 groups, and we were assigned a time period as follows:
- Group 1 – pre-20s and 20s
- Group 2 – 30s and 40s
- Group 3 – 50s and 60s
- Group 4 – 70s and 80s
- Group 5 – 90s
- Group 6 – 2000s
Next week:
- Construct a matrix comparing and contrasting the three major theories…Behaviorist, Cognitivist, Constructionist.
- Look on page 36 of the handout for an example
- Add examples from your experience to each column at the bottom of the existing list on the matrix. Write it from the perspective of a teacher. The list should indicate how you would set up a learning environment for each of the theories.
- See iLearn for details.
