Lesson 12

    Information Technology in Support of Student-Centered Learning Classroom.

  Traditional Classroom

              Traditional Classroom is where the teacher is the center of the classroom. They are ones who have the authority to fill their pupils knowledge.  The students are just listener and all they have to do is to pay attention to what their teacher have always saying. 

Student-Centered Learning (SCL)

              The SCL is the opposite of the traditional classroom,  in this learning process the students are working in the classroom they have the authority to do what they want, and the teacher serves only ad a facilitator . The teacher let her student to discover things through interdependence or even through themselves individually. 

   In our modern world and with this type of learning process the ICT have a big factor in developing  one's skill and creativity in the way of what they want. 

    Generally the new school classroom environment is characterized by student individually or in a group:

-Performing computer world processing for text or graph presentation. 

-Searching for information on the internet 

-Brainstorming on ideas, problems and project plans 

-As needed, the teacher facilitating instruction,  also giving individual instruction to serve individual needs. 

           But even through SCL is much indeed, most of the teachers used a collaboration of traditional way of learning and the SCL, and so by this the teaching and learning process have much greater success.

Lesson 11

The Computer as the Teacher's tool.

    

                Constructivist was introduced by Piaget (1991) and Bruner (1990). They gave stress to knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning process. Various strategies have been suggested to foster knowledge discovery, among these, is making students engaged in gathering unorganized information from which they can induce ideas and principles. Students are also asked to apply discovered knowledge to new situations, a process for making their knowledge to real life situations.

                While knowledge is constructed by the individual learner in constructivism, knowledge can also be socially constructed. Social constructivism. This is an effort to show that the construction of knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts, in effect; this is to say that the learner who interprets knowledge has a predetermined point of view according to the social perspective of the community or society he lives in.

                The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social influences. He therefore suggested the interaction process in learning. The more capable adult (teacher or parent) or classmate can aid or complement what the learner sees in a given class project. In addition Dewey sees language as a medium for social coordination and adaptation. For Dewey human learning is really human language that occurs when students socially share, build and agree upon meaning and knowledge.

Learning framework	Constructivism	Social Constructivism
Assumption	Knowledge is constructed by the individual.	Knowledge is constructed within a social context.
Definition of Learning	Students build their own Learning.	Students build knowledge influenced by the social context.
Learning Strategies	Gather unorganized information to create new concept/principle.	Exchange and share form ideas, stimulates thinking.
General Orientation	Personal discovery of knowledge.	Students discuss and discover meanings.
Example	8*5-8+8+8+8+8	Two alternative job offers Option 1-8 hrs./day for 6 days/ week. Option 2- 9 hrs./day for 5 days/ week.

The Computer’s Capabilities

              

      Given its present-day speed, flexibility and sophistication, the computer can provide access to information, foster creative social knowledge- building, and enhance the communication of the achieved project package. Without the computer, today’s learners nay still be assuming the tedious tasks of low-level information gathering, building and new knowledge packaging. But this is not so, since the modern computer can help teacher- and – students to focus on more high level cognitive tasks.

                Based on the two learning theories, the teacher can employ the computer as an:

Informative Tool

 The computer can provide vast amounts of information in various forms, such as text, graphics, sound, and video. Even multimedia encyclopedias are today available on the Internet.

The Internet itself provides an enormous database from which user can access global information resources that includes the latest news, weather forecasts, airline schedule, sports development, entertainment news and features, as well as educational information directly useful to learners. The Internet on education can be sourced for kinds of educational resources on the Internet.

Along the constructivist point of view, it is not enough for learners to download relevant information using the computer as an information tool. Students can used gathered information for composition or presentation projects as may be assigned by the teacher. Given the  fact that the Internet can serve as a channel for global communication, the computer can very well be the key tool for  video telecon ferencing sessions.

Communication Tool

The computer has been used in communication as evident by social networking sites as to facebook, twitter and friendster. We can even chat/talk friends and families anywhere in the globe through yahoo messenger or the one in facebook or view them through the webcam. We can send messages and information through the internet in just seconds or minutes.

Constructive tool

    The computer itself can be used for manipulating  information,visualizing one's understanding, and building new knowledge. the Microsoft word computer program itself is a desktop publishing software that allows users to organize and present their dies in attractive formats.

Co-constructive tools. 

  Students can use constructive tools to wwork. cooperatively and construct a shared understanding of new knowledge. one way of co-construction is the use of the electronic whitebaord where students may post notices to a shared document/ whitebaord. students may also co-edit the same document from thier homes.The computer-supported intentional learning environments (CSILE) is an example of an integrated environment developed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. within CSILE, students can enter their ideas in notes and respond to each others ideas. Manifest in the the student-generated database are higher level thinking processes-explaining, problem so living/finding, expertise and development, literacy improvement.

Situating tool 

          By means of virtual reality (RS) extension system, the computer can create 3-D images on display to give the user the feeling that are situated in a virtual environment. A flight simulation program is an example of a situating tool which places the user in a simulated flying environment. Mulch-User Domains or Dungeons (MUDs), MUD object-oriented (MOOs), and Multi-User Shared hallucinations (MUSHs) are example os situating systems. MUDs and MOOs are mainly text\based virtual reality environments on the internet. When users log on to a MOO environment, they may interact with the virtual reality(such as by writing on a notice board) through simple text-based commands. A school-to-school or clasroom-tocalsrrom environment is possible whereby the user can choose to walk around the campus talk with other users who are logged to the same site to caution users, the computer as a situating tool is news and still undergoing further research and development.

Lesson 10

The Computer as a Tutor

      The computer is one of the wonders of human ingenuity, even in its original design in the 1950's to carry out complicated mathematical and logical operations. With the invention of the microcomputer (now also commonly referred to PCs or personal computers), the PC has become the tool for programmed instruction.

          Educators saw much use of the PC. It has become affordable to small business, industries and homes. They saw its potential for individualization in learning, especially as individualized learning is a problem since teachers usually with a class of forty or more learners. They therefore devised strategies to use the computer to break the barriers to individualized instruction.

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

          The computer can be a tutor in effect relieving the teacher of many activities in his personal role as a classroom tutor. It should be made clear, however, that the computer cannot totally replace the teacher since the teacher shall continue to play major roles of information deliverer and learning environment controller. Even with the available computer and CAI software, the teacher must:

·         Insure that the students have the needed knowledge and skills for any computer activity.

·         Decide the appropriate learning objectives

·         Plan the sequential and structured activities to achieve objectives.

 Evaluate the students’ achievement by ways of tests of the specific expected outcomes.

Today, educators accept the fact that the computer has indeed succeeded in providing an individualized learning environment so difficult for a teacher handling whole class. This is so, since the computer is able to allow individual students to learn at their own pace, motivate learning through a challenging virtual learning environment, and assist students through information needed during the learning process.

lesson 9

Computer as Information and Communication Technology

      Through computer technology, educators saw the amplification of learning along with computer literacy. Much Like reading, the modern student can now interact with computer messages; even respond to questions or to computer commands. Again like writing, the learner can form messages using computer language or program.

  Some computer-assisted instruction (CAI) was introduced using the principle of individualized learning through a positive climate that includes realism and appeal with drill, exercises that uses color, music and animation. The novelty of CAI has not waned to this day especially in the basic education level as this is offered by computer-equipped private schools. But the evolving pace of innovation in today’s Information Age is so dynamic that within the first decade of the 21^st century, computer technology in education has matured to transform into an educative information and communication technology (ICT) in education.

The Personal Computer (PC) as ICT

          Until the nineties, it was still possible to distinguish between instructional media and the educational communication media.

          Instructional media consist of audio-visual aids that served to enhanced and enrich the teaching-learning process. Examples are the blackboard, photo, film and video.

          On the other hand, educational communication media comprise the media of communication. For example, the distance learning was implemented using correspondence, radio, television, or the computer satellite system.

          Close to the turn of the 21^st century, however, such a distinction merged owing to the advent of the microprocessor, also known as the personal computer (PC). This is due to the fact that the PC user at home, office and school has before him a tool for both audio-visual creations and media communication.

Lesson 8

          Higher Thinking Skills through IT-Based Projects

In this lesson, we shall discuss four types of IT-based projects which can effectively be used in order to engage students in activities of a higher plane of thinking. To be noted id the fact that these projects differ in the specific process and skills employed, also in the ultimate activity or platform used to communicate completed products to others.

            It is to be understood that these projects do not address all of the thinking skills shown previously in the Thinking Skills Framework. But these projects represent constructivist project.

Key Elements of a constructivist approach:

        a) The teacher creating the learning environment.

b)      The teacher giving students the tool

c)      The teacher facilitating learning.

   Now let us see four IT-based projects conducive to develop higher thinking skills and creativity among learners.

I.   RESOURCE-BASED PROJECTS

  The teacher steps out of the traditional role of being an context expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information.

The general flows of events in resource-based projects are:

1. The teacher determines the topic for the examination of class.
2. The teacher presents the problem to the class.
3. The students find information on the problem/questions.
4. Students organize their information in response to the problem/questions.

TRADITIONAL AND RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING

II.   SIMPLE CREATIONS

In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity or high intelligence. Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing or building.

Three kinds of skills/abilities:

1.Analyzing- distinguishing similarities and differences/ seeing the project as a problem to be 

2.  Synthesizing- making spontaneous connections among ideas, does generating interesting or new ideas.·

3. Promoting- selling of a new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas themselves

The five key task to develop creativity:

1.Define the task- clarify the goal of the completed project to the students.

2.Brainstorm- the students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas on the project. Rather than shoot down ideas, the teacher encourages ideas exchange.

3.Judge the ideas- the students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea. Only when students are completely off check should the teacher intervene.

4.Act- the students do their work with the teacher a facilitator.

5.Adopt flexibility- the students should be allowed to shift gears and not follow an action path rigidly.

1. III. GUIDED HYPERMEDIA PROJECTS
2.      The production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached into different ways:
3.  
4. As an Instructive tool - such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of a selective topic.

1. As a Communication tool - such as when students do a multi- media presentation (with text, graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc. ).

1. IV. WEB-BASED PROJECTS   
2. 
   
3.       Students can be made to create and post web pages on a given topic. But creating new pages, even single page web pages, maybe tool sophisticated and time consuming for the average student. 
4.      It should be said, however, that posting of web pages in the Internet allows the students (now the web page creator) a wider audience. They can also be linked with other related sites in the Internet.
5.