Are you For or Against Technology in Learning?

Technology has become typical in our schools, work, and home. Adult learners have come to expect PowerPoint slides during training. The following blog is a summary of an excellent article from Training Magazine November 2003.

The author starts with an intriguing comment "technology can be our greatest challenge, most practical solution, or biggest headache." We have come to learn that the learning theories we have learned can and have utilized various technologies to implement their lessons. Technology has become the replica of "Clap On, Clap Off" for turning on and off the lights of learning.

According to Stephan Downes, a senior research office with the National Research Council of Canada, technology has created a multitude of new problems that we are glad to have. For instance, we moved from concerns regarding teaching unskilled labor to which technology method would best be suited for maximum ROI. Clearly, technology has enabled the students with various outlets for knowledge. On the other side of the spectrum, you have cynics who decree that the use of technology lacks the elements of Vygotsky's social learning. Comments such as the internet do not allow the student time to reflect and construct deep knowledge (p.54).

Vygotsky's learning theory was built on the concept that the learner requires an animated teacher and the existence of a social network to build deep knowledge. Technology has enabled the learner to respond and adapt to their culture in methods that were not fathomable at earlier times. Whereby knowledge may have been outdated by the time, the learner has seen it. Now the knowledge is continuously evolving and the learner is up to speed on any topic that they find of interest.

In conclusion, Technology is a magnificent tool and is adaptable to any learning theory you wish to utilize (Behaviorist, Cognitivist, or Constructivist). The key message for instructors and learner is Technology is most effective when you are its master. Caution to those of us who jump from one new technology method to another in the never-ending search of utopia. The base of the learning pyramid lies in our learning theories and technology is just a tool in our gearbox.
Reference: Barbian, J. (2003).High-tech times.TRAINING.52-55.

Use of PowerPoint in Learning

Multimedia is the use of various tools to appeal to the student attention. The use of video, tape recorders, music instruments, flipcharts, crayons, PowerPoint, simulations, games etc... Are all example of multimedia. The purpose of multimedia in education is not to entertain but to allow the students to engage the learners.

The use of PowerPoint may be an excellent tool to meet the different learning styles of our students. For instance, the kinesthetic learner may benefit from the creation of the slides and the use of the provided handouts to add their personal notes. The Auditory learner would enjoy the sounds and visual transitions embedded within PowerPoint. Finally, the visual learner's interest is peeked with the proper use of visuals on the PowerPoint.

"Ivers and Barron (2002) propose the DDD-E model." DDD-E stands for Decide, Design, Develop, and Evaluate. This process is similar to the common ADDIE model. Decide: The first step is to determine what your objective is. Brainstorming sessions are good tools to determine what the final use of this product is. This phase should also include content research and collecting the various media tools you wish to incorporate. Design: During this phase, you would identify the metaphor you wish to use throughout the project. It is highly recommended to provide the learner with the ability to start and stop the training based on their needs. Creating flowcharts or storyboards would assist you in putting the pieces together. Develop: During this phase, you start to build the PowerPoint. Evaluate: There are two type of evaluations, Formative and Summative. The formative evaluation should take place at every step of the process (D, D, D) and once the product is completed and rolled out, it is important to complete a summative evaluation.

Resources
Ivers,K.S. & Barron, A.E. (2002). Multimedia projects in education: Designing, producing and assessing (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited
Marcovitz, D. (2004).Powerful PowerPoint for educators: using Visual Basic for applications to make PowerPoint interactive.Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited

Mindmanager tool for Instructional Websites

Mindmanager tool to create instructional design websites


Mindmanager is a visual tool developed by a company called mindjet. The author of this article uses Mindmanager at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

The purpose of the article is to discuss the use of Mindmanager in the design and implementation of an instructional website. The author suggests a five steps model to create a website using Mindmanager.

Step 1: Schematic design of the course or unit
The author starts with clear objectives, content, resources, and interaction strategy.

Step 2: Conceptual map of the learning object
Mindmanager is utilized to document the various sections of the course, for instance, introduction, Objective 1, Objective 2 etc…
The training content is added to each of the sections.

Step 3: Write a detailed script of motion media
Provide detailed instruction for any multimedia feature you wish your developers to utilize. In this case, you may need to develop audio or short film to emphasize critical points.

Step 4: Compose the Webpage
Mindmanager has a feature that allows you to export your mindmap into a pre-defined template. Additional work on the html code may be required.

I have had the pleasure of using Mindmanager for several years now and although my use has always been centered on writing papers, project planning and creative log. The use of Mindmanager as a simple tool for non-technical Instructional designers seems to fit the need. M. David Merrill suggested that most of the current development tools usually require advanced skills that most instructional designer might lack (p.1). Mindmanager is a friendly tool that is easy to learn and has the potential of turning courses into a WebPages with minimal efforts.

Resource: Chac’on, F.Mind-Mapping for Web Instruction and Learning.

ARCS and PowerPoint

Would Keller use PowerPoint for ARCS model for motivation?

A former Berkeley PhD student, Bob Gaskins, created software called Presenter. The name Presenter changed to PowerPoint due to a trademark problem. The first version of PowerPoint was released in 1987 for Apple Macintosh. It only supported black and white slides, which were then photocopied to create overhead slides. Microsoft bought the company Forethought and eventually released the first Microsoft and DOS versions of PowerPoint in 1988. PowerPoint joined the Microsoft Office suite in 1990.

Keller’s ARCS model of motivation includes the A for attention, R for relevance, C for confidence and S for satisfaction. PowerPoint comes to mind as the ultimate tool to provide the ARCS motivation to our students. Or is it?

PowerPoint will only entertain, rather than educate, students (Szabo, p.187). Szabo et al. presented information from three (3) different studies around the benefits of PowerPoint and learning. The timelines were from 1996 to 1999.

PowerPoint provided a stimulation of attention with colors, chunked information via bullet points, pre-organization of the information and the use of fonts (Szabo, p.177). Considering this information, the researches deduced that replacing the blackboards with PowerPoint would be the appropriate action. However, after looking at the results of tests that were conducted between two groups, the test differences were not statistically significant.

Nevertheless, 85% of the students confirmed that using PowerPoint in lectures is more interesting (relevant, satisfaction) than ordinary lectures (Szabo, p.179).

It is now 2005 and counting; PowerPoint had become the mainstream tool for corporate education. These studies were done in the late 90’s when overhead lecturing was the norm.

The use of PowerPoint is clearly not the only tool to educate. The ultimate tool for motivating students is to use a variety of teaching techniques that would meet the various learning styles of the students.

References:
Wikipedia. Microsoft PowerPoint [On-line]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPoint

Szabo,A.,7&Hastings,N.(2000). Using IT in the undergraduate classroom: should we replace the blackboard with PowerPoint?.Computers & Education 35(2000),175-187.