ICT in Education

915 Heuristic 3: Plan ahead for technology problems when using it in network based learning.

August 19, 2007

Information and communication technology (ICT) has made possible a radical reshaping of education design in the last few decades. Teaching and learning delivered online has become more flexible, more accessible, more interactive, more collaborative and more engaging. “A feature of online instruction over paper-based distance learning approaches is the ability to employ multiple media types to present ideas and concepts.” (Brown and Voltz, 2005)

While teachers and instructional/educational designers should avoid focusing on specific forms of technology while designing network based learning (Grubbs, 2006), it’s important to have (or have access to) knowledge about alternate options in case hardware or software fails or is inadequate. Grubbs (2006) suggests that to “ensure the greatest success, instructors may benefit by partnering with other faculty or staff with expertise in incorporating technology in the most effective ways possibly.”

Problems with ICT can prevent learners from accessing course content and resources, submitting assessment items or communicating and collaborating with fellow students and teachers. They could come in the form of hardware or software failures (e.g. the learning management system, streaming media server, learning objects), low bandwidth which makes accessing large data files (such as videos) impractical or even the design of the ICT systems being used themselves.

Oliver (2004) makes the point that “the courseware management systems that are currently being implemented (eg. WebCT and Blackboard) have been designed very much to support content oriented approaches” (p. 4) Admittedly this isn’t quite the same as the class email system going down however it still presents its own set of challenges to a teacher trying to develop a course which focuses on “performance and capabilities as intended learning outcomes” (p. 1)

In my work with the Flexible Learning Solutions team at CIT, part of my role is to support teachers and learners using our learning management system (WebCT) as well as the streaming media server and we also try to provide support with external social web tools such as blogs and wikis. The negative impact on learner motivation when ICT learning tools don’t work for them, particularly when they aren’t very technologically confident, can reach the point where the learner is prepared to give up entirely.

Many of these situations are unavoidable however there are more often than not easy work-arounds to problems when they occur as well as alternate strategies that can be put into place in advance to minimise disruption to learning activities.

• “A CD-ROM was prepared especially for students with a limited bandwidth Internet connection” (Grubbs 2006)

• Provide alternate contact details (e.g. Email or IM) for teachers and learners

• Use a Web 2.0 service such as YouTube or TeacherTube for video – being Flash-based it is more likely to be supported by learners individual computer set ups at home

• Many institutions have some kind of unit supporting educational technology.

Grubbs, J. Integrating Methods to Achieve an Effective Online Learning Environment. Illinois ONline Network Research Case Studies. Retrieved 10 July 2006 from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/casestudies/vol2num1/grubbs/index.asp

Brown A.R., & Voltz B.D. (2005) Elements of Effective e-Learning Design, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/217/300

Oliver, R. (2004). Moving beyond instructional comfort zones with online courses.. In R.Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 713-723). Perth, 5-8 December. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/oliver-r.html

Entry Filed under: 915, General, education design, technology. .