VIEWS ON LEARNING: How are teachers’ views of learning reflected in their technological choices?

Added value:

A wider view of learning can help develop digital tools that extend beyond the immediate course environment [1],[2].
More collaboration between experts of content, pedagogy and technology has the potential to lead to more new innovations [1],[2].
A shift where educators see themselves as colearners might create better opportunities to apply new ideas to classroom practices [2], [3].
A focus on didactics and pedagogy can help us make better decisions for what kind of digital solutions are worth developing [4].

Costs:

For more comprehensive learning paths, the structuring of teaching may need to veer away from an overly modular design of isolated courses, and specific learning outcomes [5].
A more integrated approach to designing learning environments can be seen to erode some of the current strong autonomy of teachers [6].
Proper incentives and support for networking and collaboration with content and technology experts are needed [7].
Teacher training needs to be developed to support pedagogical design as a process, not a set of practices [8].
To maximize the opportunities that technology can offer, teachers need encouragement to transform their approaches to helping students learn in a digital environment. That’s why appropriate institutional support for teachers is necessary as they learn to utilize learning environments, and to try out new methods and tools in a pedagogically meaningful way. Using new tools is not enough; they must also be justified in terms of their purpose in helping students to learn. [9]

References

[1] O. Erstad, “Citizens navigating in literate worlds: The case of digital literacy,” in Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology and the new literacies, M. Thomas (Ed.), New York, Routledge, 2011, pp. 99–118.

[2] J. Jalkanen, “Development of pedagogical design in technology-rich environments for language teaching and learning,” PhD dissertation, Language Center, Faculty of the Humanities, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2015.

[3] C. Lankshear and M. Knobel, New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, 2011.

[4] F. Blin and J. Jalkanen, “Designing for language learning: Agency and languaging in hybrid environments,” Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 147-170, 2014.

[5] H. Lotherington and J. Jenson. “Teaching multimodal and digital literacy in L2 settings: New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies,” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, vol. 31, pp. 226-246, 2011.

[6] G. Rae, “BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and its impact on teacher pedagogy: a New Zealand case study,” MEd thesis, College of Education, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2017.

[7] I. Leppisaari and L. Vainio, “Digital leap of teachers: two Finnish examples of rethinking teacher professional development for the digital age,” in Proc. Ascilite2015: Australasian Society for Computers in Learning and Tertiary Education, November/December, pp. 168-179.

[8] C. Kivunja, “Embedding digital pedagogy in pre-service higher education, to better prepare teachers for the Digital Generation,” International Journal of Higher Education, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 131-142, 2013.

[9] A. Al-Hunaiyyan, S. Al-Sharhan and R. Alhajri, “A new mobile learning model in the context of the smart classrooms environment: A holistic approach,” International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 39-56, 2017.