Studio based learning

      Studio based learning emphasizes collaborative critiquing as a central activity.  One study looked at pedagogical code reviews in undergraduate computer science classes that bring together 3-5 students to review each other’s code.  This model of peer instruction and critique is based on a constructivist learning theory where students must manipulate, examine and construct their understanding of course content.  Peer instruction has been most thoroughly documented in physics, biology, chemistry, computer science and math.  Research shows that when studio based critiques in beginning level computer science classrooms provide students with collaborative opportunities to review each others code; students coding improved.  

      There are two main components of mobile device integration.  First, designing a structured pedagogical model to guide students through a lesson with a mobile device.  Second, creating a corresponding software application to support student engagement in steps.  Within the software application there are stages to support independent student engagement with a lesson and also a collaborative feature to share and review student generated content.  The educator finally assesses the achievement of the students to further inform how to further direct student engagement to reach the lesson objectives.

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture

     The article calls attention to participatory culture for user created media and content.  This emerging and contemporary participatory culture is a degree of digital literacy. The author advocates that we prepare our students for skill sets they will need in the future.  However, one way to facilitate a skill set for participatory culture is to focus on, in classroom collaboration that utilizes the real time communication potential of mobile devices for the application of critical thinking communications between students.  Mobile devices are inherently social collaboration and communication devices that provide powerful tools for enabling social constructivist pedagogy. Thus, projects focused upon student- generated content and collaboration rather than the delivery of teacher-generated content supports student practice at participatory culture. For example, mobile devices can be used in a structured constructivist application for the specific task of facilitating student generated responses on a social platform for peer and instructor review.  Classroom settings can benefit from a variety of media integration in student generated content, such as audio, video, picture, text links or original content.  

Wikis and forums for collaborative problem-based activity:

    A considerable component of online collaborative spaces for students is user experience and utility of the forums.  The article identifies an increase of student group contributions in the wiki forum as compared to the threaded discussion.  Further, there were more expansion, deletion and content-editing and formation in the wiki.  This observation suggests that wikis support co-writing.  Yet, groups produced more discussion postings in the forum, compared to the wiki.  However, the content of the students' discourse in terms of collaboration, complexity, monitoring and planning were similar.  The forum writers were more verbose and the wiki entries were more condensed.  Wiki Collaborative articles proved to be easier for students, seeing that they started days earlier than the forum.  The article concluded that wiki collaborative discussions were better at facilitating problem based discussions.  

     An important consideration for future scholastic discussion venues is to consider the psychology of making online forum writing useful and fun.  Gamification has caught the attention of education apps designers.  Gamification involves the integration of addictive game like elements into an app to make the user interface more engaging.  I think we need to reexamine how learning can happen on collaborative online forums integrated with gamified engagement components.  

Behavior Design - App Developers Secret Weapon

Behavior Design - App Developers Secret Weapon

BJ Fogg conducts research into behavior models with user experience.  His work suggesting that in order someone to participate in an action there are several factors that must be considered to act.  

First, there must be a clear motivation for the participant to perform the target behavior.  Second, the participant must have the ability to perform the target behavior.  Third, there must be a sufficient trigger or stimuli to perform the behavior.  This model of behavior design suggests that certain motivations, opportunities and triggers must be met in order for a participant to engage in a desired task.  

Current research into user interface, behavior design and components of gamification in software application design are necessary components to support structured mobile device integration in learning environments.  Gamification is the use of game design elements and game mechanics in non-game contexts.  Software applications for structured mobile device integration into classrooms need to be designed to engage and motivate student participants to manipulate course content in meaningful ways.  These dynamic application platforms are needed to support the individual student, in addition to collaborative and whole class engagement of course content material.  This new pedagogical context enables the educator to evaluate and facilitate digital class discussions from student generated output.

Nir Eyal has identified four steps to support behavior design with mobile device interface.  Eyal first identifies that a software application needs to have a trigger to prompt the target behavior.  Second there must be an action on behalf of the participant.  Third there participant must perceive a variable reward.  This variable reward in an academic setting can take on a social, scholastic or other kind of perceived value from their action.  Fourth, the participant feels invested in the action and ready for the next trigger to participate in the cycle once again.  However, if the behavior design of the user experience does not meet these steps, the application is not compelling and the user has little motivation or ability to participate in the application.

Two Behavior Design Guys

http://www.bjfogg.com/

http://www.nirandfar.com/

Pedagogical Shift for Mobile Device Integration

Pedagogical Shift for Mobile Device Integration

Traditional pedagogical models are in the process of appropriating new methodologies for instruction with the integration of mobile devices.  Research shows that when studio based critiques in beginning level computer science classrooms provide students with collaborative opportunities to review each others code; students coding improved.  There are two main components of mobile device integration.  First, designing a structured pedagogical model to guide students through a lesson with a mobile device.  Second, creating a corresponding software application to support student engagement in steps.  Within the software application there are stages to support independent student engagement with a lesson and also a collaborative feature to share and review student generated content.  The educator finally assesses the achievement of the students to further inform how to further direct student engagement to reach the lesson objectives.   

Mobile devices are inherently collaborative communication devices that enable social constructivist pedagogy. A Constructivist pedagogy for mobile devices focus on student generated content and collaboration rather than the delivery of teacher generated content with mobile devices.  Mobile devices participate in a variety of instructional activities.  Each of these activities need to be structured with specific learning outcomes to guide students and educators to have focused and measurable achievement outcomes. 

Mobile device hardware is advancing faster than the pedagogical models or academic institution can effectively integrate them.  There is a growing deficit of knowledge about how educators and students can integrate mobile devices in the classroom to enhance constructivist learning in STEM education.  In a broader context, there are two aspects to mobile device design that this research informs.  Specific software applications that structure student centered, collaborative learning and user interface with the applications that draw from research around user motivations, behavior design and gamification which facilitate student engagement.

Implementing Web 2.0 technologies in higher education: A collective case study

Implementing Web 2.0 technologies in higher education: A collective case study

Bennet

Bennet did a great job experimenting with current 2011 technologies in the classroom.  I would even venture to state that his research ambitions though appropriate for the discipline were in some way precocious and ahead of his time.  I feel that the pedagogical models in education at the time of the study had not caught up with collaborative learning models for social technology integration. 

In another study, the author concludes that innovative pedagogical design of curricula using mobile devices and mobile applications are needed to increase learning outcomes as well as enhancing student engagement and experience.  Further, administrative policies for mobile device professional development and guidance for students will support educational technology adoption and integration.

Another author argues that it is not the technology that needs to change as much as it is the teaching styles, student teacher relations and what measurable student achievement looks like.  One argues that long-established instructional approaches such as constructivism, behaviourism, situated learning, project-based learning and collaborative learning lack pedagogic and didactic concepts on the usage of mobile devices for teaching and learning.   Mobile devices in the classroom are becoming increasingly sophisticated, enabling students to collect data via probe, visualize complex ideas and generate expressive representations to support STEM education.

Another article that advocates for new learning models reports that from the student perspective, the iPad was found to enhance the learning experience but not necessarily lead to better learning outcomes.  Educators found tablets supported electronic information dissemination and academic administration.  The study concluded that it is unclear how to align and integrate contemporary mobile devices within academic programs and workflows.  Higher education service providers are eager to adopt and try the new technologies, yet it is evident that a structured pedagogical approach is needed to align its use within academic STEM programs.

Theoretical perspectives influencing the use of information technology in teaching and learning -- Dede

Theoretical perspectives influencing the use of information technology in teaching and learning

C.  Dede

    Historically, educational technology and pedagogy are in a perpetual search for the "silver bullet" to solve education's problems.  The unshakable belief that each new interactive media is the solution, creates high hope in educators and students.  According to Dede the big hang up is that old content and pedagogy in new instructional technologies does not produce major gains in effectiveness.  Further, education is an organic person to person experience and the field of instructional design must recognize and integrate pedagogical models that apply technology with these considerations in mind.

     Constructivist learning styles utilize student centered activities that compel them to manipulate, process and actively create individual meaning from the content.  Mobile devices can be facilitated in such a way to support this kind of learning environment.  Teacher centered didactic learning models of direct instruction are not that compatible with fully utilizing the inherent potential of mobile device.  Mobile devices are very student centered devices.  Pedagogies can be crafted to make that student centered engagement with a device educationally beneficial, measurable and social to support group and whole class understanding.  I feel the initial stages of mobile device integration will supplement direct instruction and other traditional pedagogical models.

     Information and communication technologies (ICT) are best understand as a tool in the classroom to aid with student engagement, communicating content, exchanging ideas / information and assessing students.  ICT in classrooms today with the greatest benefit are mobile devices such as tablets, phones and laptops.  The inherent strength of these tools at this point are for information gathering and communication of ideas and content.  I believe that to effectively integrate mobile devices into the classroom a much more organic, student centered, investigative, open ended approach to classroom design must be made.  Educators can play off the strengths that contemporary mobil devices offer.  Which are collaborative, student centered yet socially engaged with course content.

Digital Literacy in Religious Studies

Digital Literacy in Religious Studies

Stefanie Sinclair

     The author identifies the role in which digital technology is influencing and informing Religious Studies.  The observation that digital technology is effectively used as part of a blended pedagogical practice illustrates that traditional learning still maintains a relevant place in higher education.  The author identifies the consideration that technology integration is more about how it can be used to enhance existing teaching and learning practices.  The paper considers the need for guiding students in developing a skill set that allows them to effectively access, evaluate, communicate information and collaborate to share the digital content.  I feel that one of the contemporary issues faced with technology integration into the classroom is how to use it beyond fact finding and social information exchange.

     The current technology is often seen as best serving the classroom to support traditional classroom pedagogies.  The article focuses on the scholarly challenges of students accessing and evaluating online information for scholarly applications.   For scholars in Religious studies the emphasis of the “ability to read and use texts both critically and empathetically, while addressing such questions as genre, content, context, perspective, purpose, [and] original and potential meaning” (Sinclair 2013) are analog skills that are being adapted and applied to digital literacy skills.  Digital literacy for scholars is one component to a larger pedagogical framework that involves technology.  The article neglects to fully develop how digital technology will inform pedagogical practices in religious studies classrooms.

Digital technology integration into the classroom, in particular mobile devices such as tablets, phones and laptops, can create new learning atmospheres that go beyond just scholarly digital literacy. Innovative and unconventional was to structure a lessons and learning environments are possible with mobile devices.  By integrating new pedagogical models for mobile device integration, student centered constructivist learning environments engage and encourage peer to peer collaboration.