elearningintheclassroom?

1
MrioRelvas
EscolaSuperiordeEducaodeLisboa

Abstract
Asteachers,wearechallengedeverydaytosolvepedagogicalproblemsandwehaveto fightforourstudentsattentioninamediarichworld.IwilltalkabouthowweuseICTin InitialTeacherTrainingandgiveyousomeinsightonwhatwearedoing. ThemostimportantbenefitofusingICTineducationisthatitmakesusreflectonour practice.Thereisnodoubtthatourclassroomsneedtobeupdated,butweneedtobe criticalabouteverypeaceofhardware,softwareorservicethatwebringintothem.Itis notonlybecauseourbudgetsareshort,butalsobecauseelearningisprimarilyabout learning,nottechnology.Therefore,weneedtohavetheknowledgeandskillsrequiredto actindifferentsituations,andchoosethebesttoolforthejob. 1Comunicaoapresentadana7ConfernciaInternacionalecoMEDIAeuropeeEducaoDesafios SociaiseTecnolgicos,realizadaemSintra,entre27e30demaiode2012.

Notallsubjectsaresuitableforelearning,nordoallstudentshavetheskillstoorganize themselvestheirownstudytimes.Alsonotallteacherswanttospendtimeprogramming orlearningaboutinstructionaldesignandmetadata.Thepromisedlandofeasyuseof authoringtools(e.g.eXeandReload)thatwillleadtoallteachersbecomeLearningObjects authorsandsharetheseLOinRepositories,allthisfailed,likepreviouslyHyperCard, Toolbookandothers. Weneedtoknowalittlebitofmanydifferenttechnologiessowecanmobilizethis knowledgewhenasituationrequiresit:integrateelearningtechnologiesintheclassroom, notaflippedclassroom,justsimpletools.Lecturecapture,mobilephonesand smartphones,pocketsizecamcorders,VoIP,VLE,livevideobroadcast,screensharing,free servicesforcollaborativework,save,shareandsyncyourfiles. Donotfeelstressedtouseeverything,everytime.Justbecausewehaveawhiteboarddoes notmeanwehavetomakeitthecentreoftheclassroom.Startfromwhereyouare,with yourpreferredsubjectandthetoolsyoumaster.Themgoslowlyandtrysomenewtoolin anonformalsituationandwithjustoneortwostudents.Andyoudontneedtobealone: subscribeamailinglistandshareyourthoughtswithotherteachersinadedicatedforum, evenbetterifbotharepartofacommunityofpractice,andshareresources.Wedidthat formusicteachersanditwasasuccess,intwoyearsarrivingat1.000members.Justdoit.

Introduction

TwoyearsagoIwasteachingthesameMusiccoursetosixdifferentclasses,onMonday, Tuesday,andWednesday.InDecember,the1standthe8tharebankholidayssotheclasses scheduledforthesedayswouldloosetwosessions.Inasmallcoursetwosessionsisalot oftimeandtherewasnowaytoaddextraones.HowdidIsolvethisproblem?Iusedan oldideafromdistancelearning,Ivideorecordedthesessionsfromotherclassesandsend ittotheonesthatweremissing.Anoldidea,butwithnewtechnologies:averysmalland simpledigitalvideocamera(Fig.1)onatripod,nocameraman,nospecialsetup,bythe endofeachsessionthevideowasimmediatelytransferredbyUSBtothecomputer,then uploadedtoafreevideosharingserviceintheweb(Fig.2),whereitispossibletoassigna uniquepassword,andsharethelinkandpasswordbyemailwiththestudents.

Fig.1Flipvideocamerahttp://support.theflip.com/enus/home

Fig.2Vimeohttp://vimeo.com/ Asteachers,wearechallengedeverydaytosolvepedagogicalproblemsandwehaveto fightforourstudentsattentioninamediarichworld.IwilltalkabouthowweatHigher SchoolofEducationofLisbonuseICTinInitialTeacherTrainingandgiveyousomeinsight onwhatwearedoing: 1. Integration 2. Onesizedoesnotfitall 3. Therighttoolforthejob

Topic1Integration
IbelievethisstoryencapsulatessomeofthemainideasthatIampresentingtoyoutoday. First,whatdrivesusispedagogy,nottechnology.Second,despitethat,weneedtobe knowledgeableandskilfulaboutmanydifferenttechnologiessowecanchoosethebest toolforthejob.Third,wealsoneedtobecriticalabouteverypeaceofhardware,software orservicethatwebringintotheclassroom.

Thereisanevergrowingtrendwhereelearningteachingstrategiesandtechnologiesare movingintotheclassroom.Alastyearreport2showedfortydiverseexamplesofblended learning.FromOnlineDriver,withjustonefacetofacesessioninthebeginning,toFace tofaceDriver,wherealmostallcurriculawastaughtintheclassroomwiththeonlinepart onlyasasupplementorsupportforstudentswhoaskedforhelp.Forinstance,fiveyears agoIusedeXetodevelopsomeLearningObjects(Fig.3)thatwereavailableonlinetomy MusicandTechnologystudentswhoaccessedtheminthecomputerlabandgettingfaceto facesupportfromme.eLearningintheclassroom.

Fig.3ALearningObjectdevelopedwitheXehttp://exelearning.org/wiki

Topic2Onesizedoesnotfitall

Notallsubjectsaresuitableforelearning,nordoallstudentshavetheskillstoorganize theirownstudytimes.Alsonotallteacherswanttospendtimeprogrammingorlearning aboutinstructionaldesign,DublinCoremetadata,SCORMandIMSformats.Thepromised landofeasyuseofauthoringtoolslikeeXeandReload(Fig.4)thatwillleadtoallteachers becomeLearningObjectsauthorsandsharetheseLOinRepositories,allthisfailed,like previouslyHyperCard,Toolbook,andAuthorware.Idonotthinkthesetoolsareforthe restofus.Letusmakeaquicksurvey: Howmanyofyouhaveeverusedoneoftheseoldtools(HyperCard,Toolbook,and Authorware)? HowmanyofyouhaveeverusedonetoollikeeXeorReloadtobuildandplay LearningObjects?

2eSchoolNews2011.Reportcites40diverseexamplesofblendedlearning.May,the4th http://www.eclassroomnews.com/2011/05/04/reportcites40diverseexamplesofblendedlearning/ (accessed2011.05.16)

 Fig.4ReloadSCORMPlayerhttp://www.reload.ac.uk/scormplayer.html

Topic3Therighttoolforthejob:someexamples
ThestorythatItoldyouinthebeginningofmypresentationusedsomethingthatisnow calledlecturecapture.Youcanfinddedicatedhardwareandsoftwareforthispurpose, butIusedasimpleMoodleplugincalledAutoview(Fig.5)andthewebcamfrommy laptop.ItletussynchroniseaPowerPointpresentationwithavideofile.Iuseitinmy classestointroducesometopicsandleaveitavailableonlineforstudentstoreviewitlater on.Iamnotpromotingheretheflippedclassroomconcept,wherestudentswatchlecture captureathomeandthefacetofaceclassroomisusedastutorialtime.No,Iamjust suggestingthatthiselearningtechnologycanbeveryusefulasatoolforreviewing contenttaughtintheclassroom.

Fig.5Autoviewhttp://autoview.autotrain.org/

 Ininitialteachertrainingwehaveblocksofschoolexperience,andsometimesIneedto showsomethingtothestudentsbuttherearenovideoprojectorsorisjusttoomuchwork forthepurpose.Becauseallofmystudentshavelaptopsandtheschoolshavewireless networks,Icansharemyscreenasifwewereallapart,usingafreeandnoinstallation requiredtoolcalledjoin.me(Fig.6).

Fig.6Join.mehttps://join.me/ Inmusic,likeinotherperformingarts,weimprovebyassessingourownperformance. Somestudentsneedhelpwiththistaskofselfassessment,soIusuallysuggestthemto videorecordtheirperformancewiththeirownmobilephones.Othertimes,IusetheFlip videocameraorthecamerafrommymobilephoneandthensharethevideoswiththem troughaDropboxlink(Fig.7)sentbyemailduringtheclass.Nomorecopyingfilesto studentspens.

Fig.7Dropboxhttps://www.dropbox.com/home

Summary
Nowadays,onthemasterlevelallofmystudentshavenetbooksornotebooks.Athome theyhaveLCDorLEDTVs,gameconsoles,andsoon.Weneedtoupdateourclassrooms, andelearningtechnologieswillhelpussolvemanypedagogicalproblems,aslongaswe reflectonourteachingpracticeandknowhowtochooseandusetherighttoolforthejob. Iwillnowtakesomequestions,andafterIwillhaveonelastwordtosay. Q&A Donotfeelstressedtouseeverything,everytime.Justbecausewehaveawhiteboarddoes notmeanwehavetomakeitthecentreoftheclassroom.Startfromwhereyouare,with yourpreferredsubjectandthetoolsyoumaster.Thengoslowlyandtrysomenewtoolin anonformalsituationandwithjustoneortwostudents.Andyoudontneedtobealone: subscribeamailinglistandshareyourthoughtswithotherteachersinadedicatedforum, evenbetterifbotharepartofacommunityofpractice,andshareresources.Wedidthat formusicteachersanditwasasuccess,intwoyearsarrivingat1.000members.Justdoit.