The Summary of Chapter 2 of Teaching Media Course

CHAPTER 2

TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING

 

         OUTLINE

1.      What Are Technologies for Learning?

2.      Cooperative Learning

3.      Games

4.      Simulations

5.      Simulation Games

6.      Learning Centers

7.      Programmed Instruction

8.      Programmed Tutoring

9.      Programmed Teaching

10.  Personalized System of Instruction.

1.     WHAT ARE TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING?

Technologies for Learning is a specific teaching-learning patterns that serve reliably as templates for achieving demonstrably effective learning. Successful instruction, regardless of the psychological perspective-behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist, or social-psychologist- includes a number of common features:

• Active participation and interaction

• Practice

• Individualized instruction

• Reinforcement or feedback

• Realistic context

• Cooperative groups 

We provided a definition of technology that differentiated between hard technology products such as computers and satellites, and soft technology processes or ways of thinking about problems. To be a "systematic application," the technique must have a carefully designed framework that provides a total system of teaching-learning application. 

2.     COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Cooperative learning involves small heterogeneous groups of students working together to achieve a common academic goal or task while working together to learn collaboration and social skills. Group members are interdependent that is, each is dependent on the others for achieving their goal.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Active learning. 

Ø  Social skills

Ø  Interdependence.

Ø  Individual accountability 

b.      Limitations

Ø  Student compatibility

Ø  Student dependency

Ø  Time consuming

Ø  Individualists

Ø  Logistical obstacles

c.       Integration

Students can learn cooperatively not only by being taught with materials but also by producing materials them- selves. We can define this new concept of cooperative learning as the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning.

d.      Learning Together Model

Johnson and Johnson's interdependent learning group, known as the Learning Together model, requires four basic elements:

Ø  Positive interdependence.

Ø  Face-to-face helping interaction.

Ø  Individual accountability

Ø  Teaching interpersonal and small-group skills

e.       Team-Assisted Individualization (TAI)

Robert Slavin (1985) and his colleagues have developed a different format for cooperative learning, Team-Assisted Individualization (TAI), which they developed for mathematics instruction in grades three to six. TAI follows this pattern:

Ø  Teaching groups.

Ø  Team formation

Ø  Self-instructional materials.

Ø  Team study.

Ø  Team scores and team recognition

f.        Computer-Based Cooperative Learning

Computer assistance can alleviate some of the logistical obstacles to using cooperative learning methods, particularly the tasks of managing information, allocating different individual responsibilities, presenting and monitoring instructional material, analyzing learner responses, administering tests, and scoring and providing remediation for those tests.

 

3.      GAMES

A game is an activity in which participants follow prescribed rules that differ from those of real life as they strive to attain a challenging goal.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Attractive;

Ø  Novel;

Ø  Atmosphere;

Ø  Time on task. 

b.      Limitations

Ø  Competition;

Ø  Distraction ;

Ø  Poor design. 

c.       Integration

Instructional games are particularly well suited to the following:

Ø  Attainment of cognitive objectives, particularly those involving recognition, discrimination, or memorization, such as grammar, phonics, spelling, arithmetic skills, formulas (in chemistry, physics, logic), basic science concepts, place names, terminology, and so on;

Ø  Adding motivation to topics that ordinarily attract little student interest, such as grammar rules, spelling, and math drills;

Ø  Small-group instruction, providing structured activities that students or trainees can conduct by them- selves without close instructor supervision;

Ø  Basic skills such as sequence, sense of direction, visual perception, number concepts, and following rules, which can be developed by means of card;

Ø  Vocabulary building. 

d.      Adapting the Content of Instructional Games

The original game is referred to as a frame game because its framework lends itself to multiple adaptations. Here are some sample adaptations:

Ø  Safety tic-tac-toe;

Ø  Spelling rummy;

Ø  Reading concentration;

Ø  Word bingo. Each player's card has a five-by-five grid with a vocabulary word (perhaps in a foreign language) in each square.

 

4.      SIMULATION

A simulation is an abstraction or simplification of some real-life situation or process.

a.       Simulation and Problem-Based Learning

In problem-based learning, the learner is led toward understanding principles through grappling with a problem situation. Most simulations attempt to immerse participants in a problem.

b.      Simulators

Simple simulators are in widespread use in applications such as training workers in a range of manual skills from CPR to welding. One familiar example of a simulator is the flight trainer, a mock-up of the interior of the cockpit complete with controls and gauges.

c.       Advantages

Ø  Realistic;

Ø  Safe;

Ø  Simplified. 

d.      Limitations

Ø  Time consuming

Ø  Oversimplification. Constructivists argue that learning should take place in fully realistic situations, with all the complexity of real life. 

e.       Integration

Ø  Instructional simulations, including role plays, are particularly well suited for the following:

Ø  Training in motor skills, including athletic and mechanical skills, and complex skills that might otherwise be too hazardous or expensive in real-life settings

Ø  Instruction in social interaction and human relations. 

f.        Role Plays

Role play refers to a type of simulation in which the dominant feature is relatively open-ended interaction among people.

5.      SIMULATION GAMES

A simulation game combines the attributes of a simulation (role playing, a model of reality) with the attributes of a game (striving toward a goal, specific rules).

a.       Integration

In general, teachers frequently use instructional simulation games to provide an overview of a large, dynamic process.

b.      Cooperative Simulation Games

In recent years, sports psychologists and educational psychologists have developed new theories questioning the value and necessity of competition in human development.

 

6.      LEARNING CENTER

learning center, is self-contained environment designed to promote individual or small-group learning around a specific task.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Self-pacing;

Ø  Active learning;

Ø  Teacher role. 

b.      Limitations

Ø  Cost;

Ø  Management;

Ø  Student responsibility;

Ø  Student isolation.

c.       Integration

You can use learning centers for a number of specialized purposes.

d.      Skill Centers

Basic skills that are built up through drill-and- practice lend themselves to the skill center approach.

e.       Interest Centers

For example, you might set up a get-acquainted center on insect life in the classroom before actually beginning a unit on specific insects.

f.        Remedial Centers.

Remedial centers can help students who need additional assistance with a particular concept or skill.

 

7.      PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION

Programmed instruction was chronologically the first technology for learning and is an explicit application of principles of learning theory-operant conditioning or reinforcement theory.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Self-pacing, Programmed instruction allows individuals to learn at their own pace at a time and place of their choice;

Ø  Practice and feedback;

Ø  Reliable;

Ø  Effective.

b.      Limitations

Ø  Program design;

Ø  Tedious. The repetition of the same cycle and plowing through an endless series of small steps taxes the attention span and patience of many students;

Ø  Lack of social interaction.

c.       Integration

Programmed instruction is particularly useful as an enrichment activity.

 

8.      PROGRAMMED TUTORING

Programmed tutoring (also referred to as structured tutoring) is a one-to-one method of instruction in which the tutor's responses are programmed in advance in the form of carefully structured printed instructions.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Self-pacing;

Ø  Practice and feedback;

Ø  Reliable;

Ø  Effective.

b.      Limitations

Ø  Labor intensive. Programmed tutoring depends on the availability of volunteer tutors;

Ø  Development cost. The success of programmed tutoring depends on the design of the tutoring guides.

c.       Integration

Consider using tutoring to make productive use of high-absence days.

 

9.      PROGRAMMED TEACHING

Programmed teaching, also known as direct instruction, is an attempt to apply the principles of programmed instruction in a large-group setting. The critical features of these lessons include unison responding by learners to prompts (or cues) given by the instructor, rapid pacing, and procedures for reinforcement or correction.

 

10.  PERSONALIZED SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION

The final technology for learning that we will examine in this chapter is the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), sometimes referred to as the Keller Plan after Fred Keller, who developed it. It can be described as a template for managing instruction.

a.       Advantages

Ø  Self-pacing;

Ø  Mastery. The main claim of PSI is that it prevents the "accumulation of ignorance." Students are not allowed to go on to advanced units until they show that they have mastered the prerequisites.

Ø  Effective.

b.      Limitation

Ø  Development cost;

Ø  Behaviorist commitment;

Ø  Self-discipline.

c.       Integration

this technology for learning has been applied most frequently to postsecondary education, particularly at the community college level. More recently it has become a popular framework for structuring some computer-based courses and for distance education that relies on the World Wide Web for distribution.

 

Reference

Molenda, M., Russell, J. D., Heinich, R. (1993). Instructional Media and the New Technologies of Instruction. Britania Raya: Macmillan Publishing Company.