Chapter 3.1
ICT S upporting the Learning Process : Th e Premise , R eality, and P romise
Kwok-Wing Lai
University of Otago College of Education
Dunedin, New Zealand
Abstract : With the advent of information and communication technology (ICT) in the classroom how, and under what conditions, it can be successfully adopted to further enhance a student-cantered learning process in schools has become a key concern in educational research. This chapter provides a general overview of how ICT has been used to support learning, within the context of the changing conceptions of learning. A range of promising and effective applications and tools are described to provide examples of the different ways technology can be embedded in learning environments underpinned by learning principles drawn from learning sciences research. This chapter also provides a background for the discussion of the five specific areas of ICT supporting the learning process included in this section of the Handbook.
Key words : learning process; learning environment; ICT-supported learning environment; learning sciences
Introduction
How learning occurs has been re-conceptualized over the last few decades to recognize the social construction of knowledge and meaning in context. Learning is now perceived not so much as a passive activity with knowledge transmitted from the teacher to the learner, but with the learner actively constructing knowledge and solving problems individually or collaboratively in authentic contexts (Salomon & Almog, 1998). During this same period, there has also been a rapid advance of technology and a concurrent evolution of digital culture. The convergence of socio-technical initiatives has led to the development and expansion of a model of education through which learners are involved in information and communication technology (ICT) supported learning environments, as well as in learning communities (Pea, 2002). We have now amassed a wealth of research findings on the design and implementation of ICT supported learning environments, as well as its effects on learning. It is evident that while there are exemplar practices and benefits in the use of ICT in the learning process, there is no evidence to support its use in every learning context, in every learning area, or for every learner (International Society of Technology in Education, n.d.). In order to improve learning, technological applications have to be well designed, based on learning and pedagogical principles, used under appropriate conditions, and be well integrated into the school curriculum. How, and why, ICT can be successfully adopted to further enhance student-cantered learning processes in schools has become a key focus in educational research.
The purpose of this overview chapter is not to provide a comprehensive review of the use of ICT and its effects in the learning process, but to give a historical context of ICT use, placing it within an evolving conception of learning, and to discuss ICT-supported learning environments, based on a contemporary understanding of learning principles. This chapter thus provides a background for the discussion of the five specific areas of ICT supporting the learning process included in this section of the Handbook. The areas covered are the design of interactive learning environments, multimedia learning environments, metacognition, computer-supported collaborative learning, and learning communities. The examples provided in this chapter also give the reader some ideas regarding how effective computer-supported learning environments can be designed and used.
The L earning P rocess and ICT U se
The use of technology in the last few decades to a great extent reflects the changing understandings of how learning and teaching are conceptualized. Conventionally learning has been conceptualized as a passive activity, with knowledge being transmitted from someone who knows it to someone who does not. In this view learning is primarily understood as reproducing knowledge, and as a commodity that can be delivered to the learner and put into his or her head. Researchers thus use the knowledge acquisition metaphor to describe this learning process where learning is seen as individuals acquiring knowledge which is a concrete, transferable entity and the mind as a storage vessel (Sfard, 1998). The terms instructionist or transmission models are also used to describe this learning process. More recently, learning has been understood as a constructive process, where the learner actively participates in the construction of knowledge through situated and authentic tasks either as an individual or collaboratively to support deep, rather than surface, learning. Learning is thus more often viewed as a transformative process and metaphors of learning, such as “learning as process”, “learning as participation”, “learning as practice”, and “learning as knowledge creation”, are used to describe the process. This participatory approach is in sharp contrast with the traditional view of “learning as outcome or product” (Wilson, 1995). These different conceptions of learning to a large extent have determined how ICT may be designed to support and foster learning.
Alongside with the changing conceptions of learning, we see ‘waves’ of ICT supported applications in the classroom in the last thirty years. It began with computer-assisted instruction (CAI), in the late 1970s to 1980s, where students were encouraged to learn from drill and practice and tutorial software programs, as well as from simulation programs. In this period, the computer primarily served as a tutor or a ‘surrogate teacher’, to “drill, tutor, and test students and to manage instructional programs [and] to supplement or replace more conventional teaching methods” (Kulik & Kulik, 1991, p.75). Soon students were asked to learn to program the computer, using programming languages such as LogoTM and BASICTM, and the computer was conceptualized as a tutee. There is an expectation that programming would bring cognitive and metacognitive benefits to the learners, such as an improvement in problem solving and thinking skills (Papert, 1980). From the late 1980s, ICT has been predominantly used as a tool in the classroom, with word processing, database management, and spreadsheet software being used as open-ended applications to support writing, mathematics, and other curricular areas. This is sometimes called computer-enhanced instruction. In Becker’s (2000) most recent Teaching, Learning, and Computing Survey, conducted in 1998, word processing was reportedly the only software which had broad use (across school subjects) and frequent use. With the advent of the Internet to the classroom, from the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web (Web) has been used as information resources, as well as a communication, networking, and self-publishing tool. The Web has also facilitated the development of multimedia applications. As well, increasingly ICT has been used to support inquiry-based, problem-based, and knowledge-creating learning environments during this period. Since the 2000s, e-learning and mobile communication applications have gained popularity. These ICT applications are underpinned by different conceptions of the learning process. As suggested by Koschmann (1996), CAI is underpinned by a behaviourist approach and the intelligent tutoring system is based on a cognitivist philosophy. The Logo programming language is based on a constructivist approach while the computer-supported collaborative approaches are motivated by social constructivist theories (see also Dede, 2008, in this Handbook).
Research on “ICT E ffects”
Since the use of ICT in the classroom has been seen as inevitable in the knowledge society (Anderson, 2008), justified as a reaction to technological developments in the society, and as a preparation for future employment (Selwyn, 2007), the pressure to push the use of ICT in education has resulted in what Maddux (2003) has referred to as the “Everest syndrome”, with a general conception that “computers should be brought into educational settings simply because they are there” (p.5). As quick add-ons to the classroom, ICT use is often driven by a technology-cantered approach where technological innovations are adopted in the classroom to drive pedagogy without adequate research validation (Maddux & Cummings, 2004).
A large number of single and meta-analytic studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of computers on achievement. Most of these studies are media comparison studies, investigating the effects of the use of technology as a medium of instruction, compared to traditional teaching. They are usually conducted with classes divided into experimental and control groups, with the experimental group being ‘taught’ by computer-assisted instruction and the control group by a teacher. The findings of these studies generally show that CAI and CMI have a positive, but modest effect on achievement (e.g. Kulik & Kulik, 1991; Blok, Oostdam, Otter, & Overmaat’s, 2002). However, it should be noted that findings on the effects of CAI use are not always positive, and the overall results should be considered as inconclusive. For example, an earlier review by Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, and Kulik (1985) reported that simulation-based learning has no positive effect on achievement. Another example is the effect of Logo on learning. While more recent findings on the use of Logo have become more favourable, earlier studies have shown little cognitive benefits in its use (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1996). The more favourable results appear to be due to the attention paid to the teaching surrounded Logo use. Also, in Dillon and Gabbard’s (1998) detailed review of 30 studies focusing on the quantitative effects of hypermedia on learning outcomes, they concluded that as a form of information presentation, the value of hypermedia in pedagogy was limited and the educational benefits of hypermedia were more mythical than real.
In assessing the impact of the use of technology on learning, some researchers (e.g., Salomon, 2006) question the validity of separating out the technology from the teaching and learning context, as it is difficult, if impossible, to determine the extent to which technology, in and of itself, may lead to any improvement in learning. After all, the learning environment is a complex system where the interplay and interactions of a number of factors will impact on the learning process (Salomon, 2006). In the so called “Media Effects Debate”, triggered by Clark (1983), and continued well into the 2000s, Clark asserts that instructional methods cannot be separated from the media of instruction and it is the instructional method which affects learning as media “are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition. Basically, the choice of vehicle might influence the cost or extent of distributing instruction, but only the content of the vehicle can influence achievement” (p.445). Clark’s position is supported by Mayer (2003), who has conducted a series of multimedia learning studies using the same instructional method across different media environments to show that it is the instructional method, which promoted active cognitive process, that caused learning, not the media environments (i.e. technology). Similarly, research conducted by the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1996) supports the need to investigate the effectiveness of instructional designs rather than the technologies used to transmit content. Taking an opposing stance, Kozma (1994) argues that medium and method should have a more integral relationship and that both are part of the instructional design. Some technology may have certain attributes which can provide affordances to support instructional strategies that would not be possible without the technology.
With the shift of understanding of learning and the role of technology in the learning process, Mayer (1997) argues that research on media effects is based on an outmoded knowledge acquisition metaphor of learning, and with its replacement by the knowledge construction metaphor, and the shift from a techno-centric to a learner-cantered approach to learning, future research on technology and learning should be learner-cantered rather than media-cantered. It is thus time to shift the focus of research “from media as conveyors of methods to media and methods as facilitators of knowledge-construction and meaning-making on the part of learners” (Kozma, 1994, p.13).
ICT and Learning Environments
Recent research on technology and learning has paid greater attention to the integration of technology into the learning environment (Salomon, 1998). We now understand that it is the whole culture of the learning environment which will affect learning, rather than a technology or a single activity which involves the use of technology. It is thus more productive and promising to study the effects of ICT within the learning environment where it is embedded. Multiple definitions exist around the term “learning environment”, with researchers having diverse understandings of its scope. The term learning environment can be defined narrowly to refer to the computer software being created to support certain types of learning. A broader definition of a learning environment, as suggested by Sawyer (2006), would include the people (teachers, students, and other people in the environment), the computers and their roles, the architecture and the layout of the room, and other physical objects in the physical environment, as well as the psychological, social and cultural environment. Similarly, Salomon and Almog (1998) use the term learning environment to refer to the entirety of teaching and learning activities, in a particular context, along with any technology used. Considered as complex systems, Salomon (2006) maintains that there are three characteristics of learning environments. First, there are different components in a learning environment, such as student and teacher characteristics, student-student and student-teacher interactions, learning activities and materials, and rules and regulations. Second, these components interact with each other thus giving meaning to each other. Finally, the learning environment is not static, since the interactions and their consequences are constantly changing. Understanding the characteristics of learning environments will improve the way technology can be used to support learning in these environments.
A learning environment does not necessarily have a physical space. It can exist online. For example, many online courses have created a virtual environment to facilitate the learning process. These courses sometimes take place in a more formal structure using course management systems such as Blackboard or WebCT. Increasingly research has been conducted to understand the characteristics of virtual learning environments and how they affect learning. Learning environments can be designed and developed as learning communities. The study of learning communities has now become a growing research strand in the literature and are seen as an effective way of supporting both learning and knowledge creation. Tan, Seah, Yeo, and Hung (2008) in this Handbook provide a detailed discussion on the role of learning communities in the learning process.