Unit 1 Flashcards
Educational Technology:
The disciplined application of knowledge for the purpose of improving learning, instruction, and/or performance.
Educational Technology:
The study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.
1920’s Sidney Pressey’s Automated Teaching Machine:
Motivated by behaviourism, Pressey believed every student should be educated individually. His machine was an assessment machine based off of different types of learning behaviours.
B.F. Skinner’s Teaching Machine (1954):
Skinner aimed to improve teaching methods for spelling, math, and other school subjects by using a mechanical device that would surpass the usual classroom experience. The development of the machine was motivated by his theory of
behaviorism and concept of programming instruction.
What idea’s of Skinner’s influenced the design of teaching machines?
Skinner emphasized immediate knowledge, motivating effect, pace, programming instruction, mastery learning, and behavioural changes.
Immediate knowledge:
Learning the correct behaviour initially, rather than learning from mistakes.
Motivating effect:
The student is free of anxiety because they get quick feedback.
Programming Instruction:
The idea that students should be able to move at their own pace and follow a carefully constructed program, in small steps.
What occurs with drill-and-practice programs?
Behavioural changes are evident in drill-and-practice programs that use instant positive feedback, this reinforces the student to continue interacting with the instructional program.
PLATO (1960):
Programmed Logic Automated Teaching Operations were developed at the University of Illinois by Don Bitzer. U of A is one of the 8 Universities in 1979 to have a PLATO system; it stayed in service until the late 1980s. Dr. Szabo was hired to lead instructional development & research; Dr. Adams was part of the UofA’s original PLATO programming team. This led to innovations like the plasma screen, pixel-based
display, touch screen overlay, online forums, email, instant messaging, multiplayer games, and a course management system often called a Learning Management System (LMS).
How did technology learning shift in the late 1970s and early 1980s?
With the advent of microcomputers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as the Apple Personal Computer education that focused on teaching the nuts and bolts of technology shifted to the maker movement in Education like LEGO Robotics,
3D printer, and coding & computational thinking. How and why things work, (hardware and programming), was replaced by learning ABOUT Technology.
Mind tools:
Technological Tools that can support and enhance problem solving and critical thinking.
Learning with Technology:
This approach to technology integration started to appear in the late 1980s as microcomputers and software products became more sophisticated and could be used to help solve problems, and represent knowledge.
Why are mind tools so beneficial?
They provide active engagement, creative generativity, and student control.
Jean Piaget’s theory of Constructivism:
A learner must construct/build their own knowledge progressively through experiences. He was also a stage theorist believing that intellectual development & biological development are linked. Stage 1 consisted of the sensorimotor stage (birth-2) where children develop object permanence, and Stage 2 consisted of the pre-operational stage (2-7) where children use egocentric language. Stage 3 (7-12) consisted of concrete operational learning (the idea of physical objects conserving volume in different shapes. Stage 4 (12+) was the formal operational stage where children learn concepts.
Vygotsky: Social Constructivism
Whereas Piaget was more about the individual, Lev Vygotsky was more about the community. Children co-construct knowledge through interaction with others (peers, advanced peers, adults) He believed learning can lead development and development cannot be separated from its social context. Language development plays a central role in cognitive
development.
Bruner (building from Piaget): Constructivism:
He saw constructivism as a continuum of concrete and abstract thinking. Individuals start with enactive (doing) learning through actions with objects, then iconic (images) learning through actions with images, then symbolic learning through actions with symbolic.
Bruner’s promotion of Discovery Learning:
Bruner believed learning takes place best in problem solving situations, where the learner draws on past experiences and existing knowledge to discover facts and relationships. The learner interacts with the world by exploring and manipulating
objects, wrestling with questions, or performing experiments. The learner is more likely to remember concepts when knowledge is discovered.
Constructionism (Seymour Papert):
ConstructiVism expresses the theory that knowledge is built by the learner, not supplied by the teacher. ConstructioNism expresses the further idea that this happens most felicitously when the learner is engaged in the construction of something
external or at least sharable… a sand castle, a machine, a computer program, a book, a robot.
Cognitive Load:
Cognitive load refers to the effort used by our working or
immediate memory (as opposed to our long-term memory).
Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller):
Cognitive load theory has been designed to provide guidelines
intended to assist in the presentation of information in a manner that encourages learner activities that optimize intellectual performance.
What are the three types of cognitive load?
Intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load.
How do teachers treat the different forms of cognitive load?
They aim to manage intrinsic load, minimize extraneous load, and maximize germane load.
Cognitive Offloading:
The use of bodily actions and/or external devices to alter the information processing requirements of a task so as to reduce cognitive demand (e.g., counting on ones fingers, using pen and paper to make a list; using a calculator to figure out a sum, etc.)
