Affordances of an Educational Technology Tool (Blogs) - Essay Example

Affordances of an Educational Technology Tool (Blogs) College or Introduction Educational technology is not only a need of the global indoor/outdoor and virtual classrooms; IT is a problem-solving solution to postmodern, authentic e-learning curriculum and environments. An authentic, information and communications technologies (ICT) classroom context and environment effectively provides teaching and learning opportunities that can be described as pedagogical, ICT constructivism. ICT tasks, resources, and support are created to produce interactive and integrative multimedia contexts or learning environments for both teachers and students. Such ICT environments tent to afford opportunities for collaborative and scaffolding educational contexts. “The use of new technologies in education and training is added value for qualitative and innovative learning and its contributions…” (EU, 2011, p. 7). In spite of progressive results from research studies conducted across Europe, “studies have shown that ICT has not yet had significant impacts as expected” (EU, 2011, p. 7). An example of implementation of integrative, educational technology and innovation in the mathematics classroom is “blogging” of instructional techniques and student collaborations. Constructing academic blogs often means “…posting, organizing, and consolidating mathematical thinking; communicating coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others; analyzing and discussing the thinking and strategies of others; using the language of math to express ideas. Why blogs? What are its strengths? It gives writing a purpose. It involves different learning styles. It can inspire students. Students can inspire other students who don’t talk in class or may be more willing to ‘talk’ online” (Meade, 2012, p. 1). Collaborative construction of knowledge Bogging as an ICT tool in the math classroom and other academic contexts, for that matter, has benefits as “a method of public discourse of the information society” (Lehtinen, 2003, p. 35). The “blog” as a tool of information and communication technology (ICT) exhibits strengths in “the innovative possibilities for interactive relationships between learner and the ICT system…the blog is a method of discourse and discussion which opens up new possibilities for illustrating instructional learning tasks and facilitating the understanding and comprehension of mathematical phenomena” (Lehtinen, 2003, p. 35). Participating in ‘collaborative construction of knowledge’ is an effective strength of blogging. The instructional method of ‘co-operative learning’ is often effectively demonstrated in the ICT learning environment. As E. Lehtinen (2003) points out, “…students are encouraged or required to work together on learning tasks” (p. 38). Blogging offers the opportunities for dialogue and discussion that are both motivational and social in educational context, including the mathematics classroom. Developmental and cognitive elaborations (from teachers and students) provide the opportunities and affordances of learning resources and support, i.e. The ICT collaborative learning camps (p. 35). Furthermore, ‘collaborative constructions of knowledge’ are the learning outcomes of deductive/inductive logic, blogging of math theories, blogging on cognitive perspectives. ICT, with use of blogging techniques, “focuses on collaboration through the computer or computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), assisted by different network-based collaborative tools, within the math classrooms” (p. 36). Opportunities for Reflection According to Lehtinen (2003), “scientific, and perhaps mathematical thinking, has traditionally been seen as a characteristic of an individual mind” (p. 40). ICT smart classrooms and blogging strategies provide teachers and students with the opportunities to integrate technology with cognitive reflection strategies. “Student blogs are blogs where the entries are created entirely by student. Examples of traditional, reflective virtual writing activities such as journals, learning logs, and math autobiographies are all possible logs that demonstrate the effectiveness of classroom blogs. Further advantages or strengths of classroom student blogs are the learning opportunities to incorporate links, images, audio, and video into virtual posts, increasing the potential for creative project-based learning” (Tubbs, 2004, p. 1). Opportunities for Reflection – Affordances of the Technology: Strengths and Weaknesses Types of Technology Strengths Weaknesses Computer w/ Internet access Allows for many methods None for blogging so that learning tasks, resources, and support can be accessed. Email Allows for continued discourse Breech of Privacy and collaborative knowledge Acts Online Websites Immediate discussion and Limited access response RSS subscriptions High motivational discussions Paid subscriptions, and blogging with others; RSS not open access for (Really Simple Syndication) allows access to eBooks; plug-ins, blogging, website themes or services; access to writing and design services. Opportunities for Articulation The ICT learning technique of blogging effective assists in mathematical learning processes. “In a collaborative (blog) situation, individuals have to explain their ideas and conceptions to others, and through externalization processes, they also have to construct a better mental model about the issue, mathematical problem, or concept in question” (Lehtinen, 2003, p. 40). Explaining or articulating problems to oneself, peers, teachers via blog, with further elaboration or articulation by collaborators creates conceptual understanding and comprehension on the learning topic. “In order to explain one’s view to one’s peer (utilizing blog techniques and strategies), an individual student has to cognitively commit him or herself to understanding some ideas, to clarify beliefs, and also to organize an reorganize existing knowledge (Hatano & Inagaki, 1992, pp. 115-133). Hatano and Inagaki (1992) further point out “… deep conceptual understanding (enabling articulation) is foster through explaining a problem to other learners” (pp. 115-133). There is “cognitive value of externalization in social interaction (via ICT blogging). It is based on a process of making internal processes of thought (mathematical critical thinking) visible” (Collins & Brown, 1988, p. 1-18). Coaching and Scaffolding In the information and communication technology (ICT) learning contexts and environments, the instructional methods of ‘coaching and scaffolding’ play important roles in learning tasks, learning resources, and learning support. Both methods – coaching and scaffolding – “ involve development of the ability to apply the knowledge and skills in a context-appropriate manner” (Dennen, V. 2000, p. 815). Often the context-appropriate manner is via ICT or technology rich worksites. Scaffolding, as an instructional method that involves utilizing educational technology (in a mathematical smart classroom setting). “…In practice, scaffolding is a learner-centered strategy dependent on its adaptability to the learner’s needs. Scaffolding addresses student learning of concepts procedures, strategies, and metacognition skills” (Dennen, 2000, p. 815). The learning strategy allows the learner to construct further knowledge, built upon (platform structured) skills already learned. Likewise, academic coaching “is commonly heard in reference to technology, people who provide task-based assistance or goal-oriented tasks” (Dennen, 2000, p. 817). In the cases of coaching, “blogging” may assist as a means to define, interpret, and assess goal and task-based implementations. Conclusion The ICT learning environment is one in which “blogging” as an educational technique (a comprehensive strategy) and tool has become effective in the virtual mathematical classroom. There are affordances for collaboration, intelligent discussion, problem-solving, and interpersonal clarifications of ideas and perspectives. Virtual academic logs, journals, autobiographical portfolios, and instructional learning tasks and resources are accessible via ‘blog’ websites and multimedia. Collaborative constructivism, knowledge building, scaffolding, and coaching all play a role in the co-operative instruction and learning. These ICT strategies are what bring mathematical contexts to reality…a postmodern immersion into a theoretical context of motivation and learning. References Collins, A. & Brown, J. S. (1988). Computer as a tool for learning through reflection. Springer Inc.: New York, NY [PRINT] Dennen, V. (2000). Cognitive Apprenticeship in Educational Practice: Research on scaffolding, Modeling, mentoring, and coaching as instructional strategies. [Online Website]. Retrieved from http://www.aect.org/edteck/ed1/31.pdf. European Commission – EU and ICT Clusters (2010). Education and Training 2010 Programme. Learning Innovations and ICT: Lessons learned by the ICT cluster. KWAME (2012). Using your strengths and weaknesses to become a better blogger. Retrieved from http://www.blogussion.com/blogging-tips/become-better-blogger-strengths- Weaknesses [Online Website]. Lehtinen, E. (2003). Powerful Learning Environments: Unraveling basic compounds and Dimensions. Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Elsevier Science Ltd: Kidlington, Oxford UK. Meade, T. (2012) Blogging in the math classroom. [Online Website]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/tmeade/blogging-in-the-math-classroom. Tubbs, J. (2004). Future of Mathematics: The Blog. [Online Website]. Retrieved from http://futureofmath.misterteacher.com/about/html. Read More