5.3.4: Learner Engagement with Technology.

What is the Essence of Engaged Learning?

How Nellie created this venn diagram and how Nellie STRUGGLED to have it onto her blog answers the question on engaged learning:

My involvement with the CCTI course is the example per excellence in the delivery of engaged learning. Today I am able to use technology to suit both my social and my learning needs. I save all my work in the Google drive and I can retrieve it any time to continue from where I stopped previously anywhere any time at my own volition. Nellie is self-regulated.

Since I am responsible for my own learning, I have a functional smart phone (Microsoft) because of it I am able to benefit from all the tools that Microsoft Office has to offer. I also have a router from Africel and can use my MTN network through my phone through which I connect to my laptop via Wifi and I have data all the time. I load my data on a monthly basis to make sure I am able to log on to the CCTI course anytime. I make a sacrifice to manage my lessons and I go to bed   at 2:00am nearly every day. Nellie is energised by her learning and because of this I do lots of research; curate my resources in a repository, save some e books that I find relevant to which I can refer anytime. Nellie knows how to learn.

 Since the CCTI family is always connected through Email,Telephone, Whatsupp group, Blogging, etc I take advantage of this by consulting or working together with my colleagues to solve a problem. I value the members of my group therefore, I collaborate with them. The ideas we share helps build my knowledge and skills which I use to solve problems in the office. My colleagues know that if there is anything to do with digital technology, they consult Nellie. In this regard, I can evaluate my progress and tell that I am a formidable force in the use of technology in learning.

The tutor (Senzo) is an apt facilitator and guide. He gives the sense of direction but leaves Nellie to chart out the path on her own. Thus Nellie is always challenged and forced to learn.The modules provide the rich environments and learning experiences needed for collaborative study. The nature of these materials turns Nellie into an explorer through research, and into a critical thinker through having to draw conclusions after reading from various sources. The tasks are challenging, authentic, complex and multidisciplinary: Take how to constructively come up with a the venn diagram, how to find one’s way round kahoot and  clickers- Nellie was forced into collaboration and into asking the right questions. Nellie had to work with her  peers collaboratively.

Instruction encourages Nellie to construct and produce knowledge in meaningful ways –again, the example of constructing and feeding in the salient ideas in the  venn diagram –promoting engaged learning. 

Now I have to reflect here on my blog. This reflective practice galvanises my learning. What question runs through my mind? Is there something that defines this family? Whenever we engage in a conversation, the first question always is: ‘How is CCTI?’

Is technology a critical role-player in engaging learners?

Because technology is both highly customizable and intrinsically motivating to students, it is particularly well-suited to expand the learning experience. Technology highly supports learning by providing engaging environments and tools for understanding and remembering content. For example, game-based courses use features familiar to game players to teach core subject content, such as history. The model below illustrates this:

Technology provides access to a much wider and more flexible set of learning resources than is available in classrooms and connections to a wider and more flexible set of “educators,” including teachers, parents, experts, and mentors outside the classroom. Engaging and effective learning experiences can be individualized or differentiated for particular learners (either paced or tailored to fit their learning needs) or personalized, which combines paced and tailored learning with flexibility in content or theme to fit the interests and prior experience of each learner.

Using technology for purposes, such as writing, research and analysis—rather than simply drills and practice— engages learners and can enhance student competencies that surpass the knowledge and skills typically measured in achievement tests. These competencies include problem solving, creativity, collaboration, data management and communication.

I will illustrate my idea further by referring to the Xbox 360 gaming console whose role I evaluated as a tool for learner engagement. I choose to use a general term - games.

Digital games can be computer-, game console- (XBox, PS3), or handheld-based (Nintendo DS, iPhone), and are defined by two key elements: an interactive virtual playing environment and the player pursuing a win-state (Salen &  Zimmerman, 2003). Games are virtual worlds in which learners “play at” some role as they solve problems and make connections by learning to “think like” scientists, historians, journalists, soldiers, diplomats, or any other group that employs systematic methods of inquiry and problem framing in order to investigate the world. Games also provide a way for teachers to meet students where they are.

Games do not necessarily teach content. However, Gee (2005a) has proposed that games can provide kids with experiences that teach them valuable higher order thinking skills and some habits of mind that are very valuable in today’s post-industrial society. Groff, Haas, Klopfer, & Osterweil (2009) have observed teachers using games to get students to take on the role of scientist, engineer, mathematician, journalist, etc., and found that students developed the higher order thinking skills associated with those professions. Gee (2005b) has demonstrated that game playing can help to develop users’ thinking skills, such as the ability to quickly process information, to review information and decide what is relevant and irrelevant, to process information concurrently from a variety of sources, to explore content in non-linear fashion, to become familiar with digital collaboration networks, to take a relaxed approach to play and problem solve by exploring, to form hypotheses, and to experiment.

Digital games infuse teaching with energy, spark innovative thinking and provide diversity in teaching methods. Games make learning concepts more palatable for learners and supply learners with a platform for their creative thoughts to bounce around. Games encourage creative behaviour and divergent thought. (Fuszard, 2001) and are excellent ice breakers. Games will often act as learning triggers inducing lively discussion on learning concepts amongst students following game play.                

Research concedes that games can be powerful educational tools when they are used as a springboard for engaging in critical thought and play.

What are the limitations of technology in engaging learners?

In Uganda today, the School culture and structure do not  support specific uses of technology. Often, technology is not aligned with the school s’ vision, mission and curriculum. As a result, there is no foundation in place to provide consistent access to—and use of—technology throughout the years of schooling.

Also, most teachers lack confidence in technology as well as their technology skills. They feel unprepared to integrate technology into their instruction. Those who use technology do so primarily to present information rather than to provide hands-on learning for students. Some are unclear about policies governing the use of technology. Others are uncomfortable with investing instructional time to deal with possible equipment failures or slow Internet access.