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Strategies
Using
Technology in the Classroom:
The Road towards a Successful Learning Environment
A report by Michelle Freddolino, Sandy Lawton,
Mery Molenaar, and Karen Rosen, educational web consultants
December 2000
Strategies
Strategies for Anchored Instruction
"Situated cognition recognizes the inextricability of thinking and
the contexts in which it occurs, and exploits the inherent significance
of real-life contexts in learning...Knowledge is assumed to be the dynamic
by-product of unique relationships between an individual and the environment;
learning, then, is a natural by-product of individuals engaged within
contexts in which knowledge is embedded naturally..." (Choi &
Hannafin, 1995).
Our proposed website will provide a problem representing an issue that the majority of the committee members could personalize. A detailed scenario is described in the Interactions section of this report.
Conceptual Design of the Site
Design description: traditional, welcoming, substantial, people-oriented.
Overall design considerations: muted warm colors, user-controlled pace,
not flashy, not techie, not loud, very intuitive interface.
Context
By situating visitors within a rich environment and posing problems that
they can solve by interacting with other persons and things (affordances)
embedded in the environment, visitors develop knowledge they can use.
In addition, the environment and the problems posed must be authentic.
"Authenticity has important motivational potential...", "Authentic
tasks are more likely to become self-referenced and purposefully engaged
by learners." (Choi & Hannafin, 1995)
Content
Visitors will be immersed in a macrocontext which they can explore as
they solve smaller problems in their quest to solve an overarching problem.
In our proposed website, visitors will be challenged to solve a complex
problem that relates to technology in the schools: "Your school system
been offered 5000 used but usable computers from a local corporation.
Members of the local Board of Education are asking you and other respected
folks in town for their opinions." Forming an opinion requires the
person to learn about the effectiveness, methods, cost, etc. of technology
integration.
The environment itself contains much embedded data, both relevant and irrelevant. Visitors generate the problems, which they answer by examining relevant and irrelevant data embedded in the environment. In addition, they can explore the content from various perspectives for the purpose of developing diversity of thinking. For instance, the visitor can choose to explore from the perspective of an Elementary Educator, a Parent, a Board of Education Member, etc.
The problem set includes challenges of dealing with dollar costs of technology, possible health risks associated with technology, sociological implications, learning benefits, cost-benefit analysis, etc. For example, in a Parent's perspective, the visitor deals with concern about children's health issues.
Facilitation
We will be using the principles of cognitive apprenticeships and anchored
instruction: modeling, scaffolding, coaching, guiding, collaborating,
fading, and using cognitive tools and resources. An on-screen coach models
(demonstrates) both how to traverse the environment as well as how to
think about posing problems and finding solutions as visitors progress
though various level of problems.
The project is a collaborative effort. As such, diverse groups will be invited to provide expertise, share research, pose challenges, and express their ideas. Visitors will be encouraged to navigate the site as they feel. Each path utilizes many of the same resources - video clips, links, etc.
The macrocontext provides a community environment in which people are in familiar surroundings, trying to decide what to do about a particular problem. The problem is presented in an engaging manner in an effort to have the reader further investigate the situation. Design considerations used to create this rich learning environment include (Choi & Hannafin, 1995, Young, 1993)
- offering many and varied affordances for both knowledge-sharing and facilitation;
- posing problems and allowing visitors to pose their own problems to solve;
- providing a significantly engaging experience;
- providing a realistic problem.
Strategies for Case-based Learning
In addition to the macrocontext of the problem described above, the website
will provide sample real-life, case-based problems that show interaction
with issues of concern to the committee members, links, websites, etc.
By using case studies, the website attempts to change the committee's
attitude toward technology by providing clear counter evidence in support
of technology in the schools.
There will be several empirical cases from which the readers can choose. These are actual cases that are proven to be effective in learning. Additional web pages provide the resources, discussions, and results of actual student work. These pages will present the counter evidence to specifically address the opponent's arguments.
The following are examples that will be included as evidence of successful use of constructive instructional strategies in the K-12 classroom:
- Virtual Autopsy -- http://www.le.ac.uk/pathology/teach/va2/index.html
- Interactive Patient -- http://cgi.media.hku.hk/interactivepatient/medicus.htm
- ChemCases -- http://www.chemcases.com/
- The GreenGene Case Study -- http://www.greengene.net/
- Fleaing Louisiana -- http://bioquest.org/flea.html Sickle Cell Anemia -- http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/sickle_cell1.html
- Animal Use Case Studies -- http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1992/animal_use.html
Framing the Argument
To persuade the committee members of the success of technology
implementation in the classroom, we will frame our message based on the
committee's needs and specifics of the situation. The frame orients the
committee members such that they perceive our message with a certain inclination.
Our strategy is to provide a learning environment in which readers are
exposed to different cases through a 'good-bad' filter. In developing
our frame, we have used the following steps (from 'How to Frame a Message:
The Art of Persuasion and Negotiation'):
- Objective of our message: change the committee's attitude toward technology and secure a significant part of the grant money for implementation of technology in the K-12 classroom.
- Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) analysis of
the committee's current status: The committee is made up of members
from all over the state, representing various constituents in the state,
such as educators, business people, and parents. We perceive this diverse
composition of the committee as a strength, since it provides a vast
range of experiences and invites significant discussion among its members.The
major weakness and external threat we observed, is that the committee
has recently been exposed to extensive negative campaigning by the opposition,
which diminishes the committee's ability to make an objective decision.
Based on these strengths and weaknesses, the goal of the website is to frame our message accordingly:- elimination of the external threat by personalizing the argument (i.e. how will the integration of technology directly impact the committee members and their communities) and by providing strong counter evidence to the negative undercurrent;
- leverage of the opportunities for the students and the communities,
such as:
- Our strong economy thrives on high-tech and computer business.
- An estimated 60% of today's jobs nationwide require computer skills (Oppenheimer, 1997) and for Colorado this number may be even higher---during a recent visit, Vice President Gore referred to Colorado as 'Silicon Mountain'. Consequently, if implemented correctly, our state can afford the integration of technology into the classroom.
- By using grant money to implement technology, Colorado will assure that regular programs, such as PE, art, and music, are not in danger of being eliminated. Technology should be implemented to complement the current learning environment, not supplement it.
- Lastly, many technology programs have been implemented successfully.
- Frame Statement: Use technology to complement, not supplement, the current learning environment.
We intend to provide the frame throughout the website. However, the frame will be more dominant during the initial stages of the site navigation, while the committee members are just beginning to explore the site, since the committee will be most resistant at that time. As the visitors enter one of the doors and continue their journey through the provided macrocontext, their perceptions will slowly change in support of our position and the frame needs to be less obvious.
Home | Purpose | Methodology | Strategies | Interactions | Conclusion | References
Using Technology in the Classroom
This site was developed by Michelle Freddolino, Sandy
Lawton, Mery Molenaar, and Karen Rosen as part of the online certification
program Designing
and Implementing Web-based Learning Environments
Design by Mery Molenaar ([email protected])
December 2000
URL: http://www.geocities.com/mery_molenaar/go_for_technology.html