Lessons Learned

In this course, I enjoyed playing with various tools such as blogs, wikis, games, simulation, podcast, vodcast, screencast and other web2.0 applications. The blogging activity was also helpful, and provided some experience how blogging can be used for educational purposes. I can also see the potential of the use of blog as marketing tool for educational institutions. In addition, this course help me to focus on how technologies can be integrated to foster effective learning environment.

Musabbir

Week 11 reflection

Last week we used Skype to discuss how great this course was and ways to improve this course. I came across this article “The Bachelor’s Degree Is Obsolete?” which some of you may find interesting. You can access it by visiting the following link:
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/05/13/sloane

Musabbir

My blogging experience

The blogging experience was great! This is the first time I actually maintained a blog for such a long time. It was great to share my ideas and thoughts with others. I will keep this blogs active and continue to post in coming days. I did little bit of research on blogging and now I can see the use of blog as a marketing tool both for educational institutions and other business. In order to take advantage of blog for teaching and learning, I can see its potential for collaborative task however it is need to be systematically integrated into curriculum.

Musabbir

Week 10 reflection

Last week we used Skype to discuss various topics related to this course, future dissertation, and final paper. This week I was browsing different sites related to game-based learning and I came across following sites that you may find interesting:

http://www.marcprensky.com/ - He is the author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill, 2001), the founder and CEO of Games2train.

This year in the FITC award show the following sites got nomination for flash-based games:

http://robobrawl.com/
http://30daysofnight.com/game/
http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/spiderman3/mp_game/
http://producten.hema.nl/

I also liked the http://thegoodfoodfight.com/ site, it was fun browsing it.

Musabbir

Week 9 reflection

Last week a few of us used Skype to discuss various topics related to new technology, websites, and final paper. This week, I wrote about WebQuest, which was originally developed my Bernie Dodge. It can be used as an effective tool to foster collaborative and authentic learning environment.

Musabbir

WebQuest

WebQuest is another web-based instructional and learning tool. Originally developed by Bernie Dodge, it has become a popular tool for many recent Constructivists as they can support constructivist learning. WebQuest is basically an inquiry-oriented activity that allows teachers to “choose web resources for students to use as information sources in activities designed to support analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.” Jonassen et al (2003) found, Dodge’s taxonomy of WebQuest lists 12 types of tasks and they are “retelling, compilation, mystery, journalistic, design, creative product, consensus, building, persuasion, self-knowledge, judgment, analytical, and scientific.” There are two types of WebQuests: short-term and long-term. Short-term WebQuests include “knowledge acquisition and integration among their goals (Dodge, 1997) while long term WebQuests are more suited for extending and refining knowledge” (Jonassen et al 2003). Short-term WebQuests can be the first step for “more cognitively stimulating activity,” and long term WebQuests “could stand alone as students analyze information, transform it, and create an original product.” Introduction, task, process, resources, and evaluation are the critical attributes of WebQuest. Johnson & Zufall (2004) found that introduction section prepare and hook the student, creates the learning situation, and engage them through a compelling and relevant question or problem; the task section describes the learning activities and what students have to do; the process section describes how the task need to be accomplished, includes steps and tools; the resources section provide relevant links to websites that would help accomplish the task; and the evaluation section provides the criteria and standards students need to meet and demonstrate.

It is a good practice to engage students with the introduction and use “assumption of roles.” Jonassen et al (2003) found, “engaging in a well-designed teacher-created WebQuest can be terrific learning experience, but student-created WebQuests can be even greater value.” In a project where “students actually create a WebQuest rather than simply participate in one, raises the WebQuest concept to a new level. The cognitive and social skills required to construct WebQuests offer a motivating, deep learning experience.” When students make connections between different topics or areas, they are intellectually challenged and gain experience with tools, as they have to use a software application to develop a WebQuest. A well-designed WebQuest can help students to engage in learning and also higher-level thinking. According to Jonassen et al (2003), “good WebQuests incorporate cooperative learning, consider of multiple perspectives, analysis and synthesis of information, and creation of original products that demonstrate knowledge gained.” The cooperative aspect of most WebQuests requires students to work as collaborators, presenting information they find and defending its value. As team members, they learn the benefit of pooling individual efforts and how to reach consensus. As producers, they are reflective in considering their goals and the audience for whom they are designing the WebQuest - an experience that puts them on the other side as a developer rather than a consumer of instructional material (Jonassen et al, 2003).

Traditionally WebQuests are posted online and ask students to use the World Wide Web to acquire learning. It is also easy to share with people across the globe since it is available on the Internet. But WebQuests do not have to be posted online or be web-based, someone can present a WebQuest using any multimedia presentation software application such as PowerPoint, or Macomedia Flash. The quality of the WebQuest depends more on ideas and thoughts rather than visual design or multimedia presentation. Barach (2005) found that today the term WebQuest registered 664,000 page hits on Google. Dodge listed approximately 2000 WebQuest on his site (webquest.sdsu.edu) and he believes that there are ten of thousands of others on the Internet. March (2005) discussed how WebQuest support scaffolded learning, use Internet resources, and support authentic task. According to March (2005) WebQuests are not a tool to develop technology-enhanced product by student, rather a real WebQuest should help students to acquire knowledge through “transformative learning” and authentic learning. WebQuest uses Internet resources, scaffolded learning, and authentic task to motivate students to investigate an open-ended question, develop individual expertise, and work in a group environment. The entire process transforms acquired knowledge through these activities into “sophisticated understanding”, help students to see “thematic relationship”, “inspire them to contribute to the real world of leaning, and reflect on their own metacognitive process”. WebQuest integrates learning strategies with effective use of Internet to provide constructivist approaches such as differentiated learning, situated learning, thematic instruction and authentic assessment. Relevant and compelling authentic task and real world feedback from professional people from the industry motivate students, and inspire confidence. Open ended question help students to make connection between their prior knowledge and curiosity to investigate and find a better understanding of the material.

Week 8 reflection

Last week a few of us discussed the development of our presentation on Skype, in particular what technology and tools we used to development the presentation. This week I wrote about Cognitive load theory (CLT), which is originated by John Sweller and his colleagues. This theory is often used as an aid for instructional design (ID), so I though you may find it interesting.

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Cognitive Load Theory

Cognitive load theory (CLT) is originated by John Sweller and his colleagues, according to CLT the best form of learning takes place when it is associated with human cognitive architecture. Pascal (2006) found that, “CLT handles the limited capacity of modality-specific stores in working memory both by reducing extraneous or irrelevant cognitive load and by optimizing the level of germane or relevant cognitive load.” CLT not only helps to reduce the load on working memory but also helps to use the working memory in its full capacity. According to Pascal (2006), the dual capacity of CLT is very useful if “a) people do not yet posses domain-specific prior knowledge, b) the complexity of the task is high, and c) the capacity of working memory is particularly limited.”

Information that we deliver though instructional material is processed by the working memory of the learner. The CLT suggests that in order for schema acquisition to happen instruction can help to minimize the load of working memory, and CLT also suggests techniques to design instruction that will reduce the load of working memory and help with better schema acquisition. This theory is often used as an aid for instructional design (ID), and helps to design authentic examples and presentations that contain different types of information. CLT also gained popularity in the area of ID for the presentation of complex and technical information. As CLT helps to reduce the cognitive load of learners, the theory is now also widely used in designing language based instruction (Sweller, 1988). According to Cooper (1990), “Cognitive load theory suggests that effective instructional material promotes learning by directing cognitive resources towards activities that are relevant to learning rather than to processes that are an adjunct to learning.”

References

Cooper G. (1990). Cognitive load theory as an aid for instructional design. Australian Journal of Educational Technology. 1990, 6(2), 108-113.

Pascal, W. M., Van G., Fred P., Tabbers, H. K. (2006). Cognitive aging and computer-based instructional design: Where do we go from here? Educational Psychology Review, 18(2), 141-157.

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning, Cognitive Science, 12, 257-285 (1988).

Week 7 reflection

Last week many of us were busy developing the multimedia presentation, probably that’s why I didn’t see too many people available on Skype. This week I wrote about Cognitive theory of learning with media (CTLM), as educational technology specialist it is good to know this theory while developing multimedia presentation.

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Cognitive theory of learning with media (CTLM)

The CTLM theory explains how teaching and learning can be enhanced with the use of variety of media and multimedia methods. Moreno (2006) described the cognitive aspects of learning with media and proposed a framework for integrating media and methods in instructional technology based on empirical research evidence. The model proposed by Moreno (2006) is based on her cognitive theory of multimedia learning and follows these learning assumptions:

- Learning starts when information is processed in separate channels for different sensory modalities;
- Only a few pieces of information can be consciously processed at any one time in working memory;
- Long term memory consists of a vast number of organized schemas;
- Knowledge may be represented in long-term memory in verbal and nonverbal codes;
- After being sufficiently practiced, schemas can operate under automatic processing;
- Conscious effort needs to be spent in selecting, organizing, and integrating the new information with existing knowledge (i.e., active processing).

Figure: CTLM based model of learning.

This figure explains how explicit learning occurs according to CTLM, verbal explanations and nonverbal information created with different instructional media like narration, sound, music, text, animations, graphics enters learners auditory, visual, or tactile sensory memory. Learners then use their attention and perception to select, connect, and organize the information within the limited capacity and duration of their working memory. It is important to note that the limitations of working memory only allows learners to select certain amounts of information for further processing, connect and organize information with each other, and make connections with prior knowledge. The knowledge in the long term memory also guides the process, as learners need to make sense of the new information based on existing information in the long term memory. Once the new information is organized and integrated into long term memory, the leaner can retrieve the information in working memory for future learning. After a certain amount of practice the learner retrieves the information automatically and uses minimal working memory resources to do the job.

Multimedia Presentation

It is a website about Adobe/Macromedia Flash Basics. Click the following link to see the site: http://www.smarteduhelp.com/flash/index.html

Week 6 reflection

Last week Kent and discussed our presentation topic on Skype. We talked about our multimedia presentation, use of different multimedia software, and effectiveness of different course works. This week I wrote ten instructional design principles suggested by Moreno (2006) are originated from Cognitive theory of learning with media (CTLM). I also posted instructional design needs of elderly learners. Next week I will write more on CTLM.

Musabbir

Ten CTLM based ID Principles

Ten instructional design principles suggested by Moreno (2006) are originated from CTLM and associated theoretical rationales, the principles are known as: modality, verbal redundancy, temporal contiguity, spatial contiguity, coherence, multimedia, personalization, guidance, interactivity, and reflection. According to modality principles, audio narration is more effective than written text for explaining or describing visual presentations and students learn better because auditory channels are used to process audio narration, therefore visual channels process only graphics, which ultimately increases the capacity of working memory and makes it more effective. According to Connell (2006), “Tests have shown that subjects presented with animation and simultaneous narration generated from 41 to 114 percent more solutions than those presented with animation and onscreen text - even though the information presented was identical.” Audio is still not widely used for online courses as audio production can be more time consuming and expensive than using printed text.

Verbal redundancy suggests to not use words and graphics at the same time, as both words and graphics will require visual channels to process information, and the visual channel will be overloaded. Therefore, “students learn better from graphics and narration than from graphics and redundant narration and text” (Moreno, 2006). Principles of temporal-contiguity suggest that if graphics and spoken words need to be delivered at the same time, it will help the working memory to make a mental connection between those two articles of information. “According to the modality, redundancy, and temporal-contiguity principles, instructional technologies that include a combination of verbal explanations and nonverbal visual materials should present the explanations at the same time as the nonverbal and in the spoken modality alone” (Moreno, 2006).

Spatial contiguity suggests integrating multiple sources of visual information rather than delivering them separately, otherwise non-integrated information will be held in working memory while the leaner attends to a new piece of information, and it will be hard to make mental connections between different sources of information. Coherence principles suggest to not include irrelevant or unnecessary information in the lesson, as it may interrupt the organization process in the memory. According to multimedia principles, when relevant words and graphics are combined in instruction, it helps to construct a mental model more effectively than when only words are used in instruction. Personalization principles suggest that personalized messages or explanations increase the learners’ attention and they will learn better. According to guidance principles, new learners find learning more effective when explanations include “guiding schema,” as they lack automated schema to process the information. Interactive principles suggest that students learn better when they can interact with the material rather than just observe someone else interacting with the material. And finally reflection principles encourages giving students the opportunity to reflect, as “reflection promotes learning by encouraging more active organization and integration of new information with prior knowledge” (Moreno, 2006).

Instructional Design needs of elderly learners

As discussed previously, the issues and decline related to cognitive aging hampers the learning abilities of elderly students. The instructional needs of elderly people are different due to their cognitive limitations. Pascal et al (2006) discussed the ID needs of elderly learners in relation to computer tasks, and they proposed the use of design guidelines based on the instructional design theories of CTML and CLT. They suggested that multimedia learning environments are very suitable to support the needs of elderly learners, “the combination of the two theories yields a powerful tool for supporting skill acquisition in the elderly.”

Computers can support learning performance of older adults in at least two ways. First, they can manage the level of extraneous cognitive load by controlling the training format (e.g., modality). Second, they can control the level of germane cognitive load by determining the sequencing and goal specificity of training problems. The combination of these control opportunities should lead to improved learning in older adults without having to invest time and effort in the development of “age-specific” instructional formats.

Week 5 refection

Last week I had a good discussion with Pamela and Kent on Skype. We talked about our multimedia presentation, use of different multimedia software, and effectiveness of different course works. In addition, we discussed the dissertation process and different methodologies. This week I wrote about cognative aging, some of you may find it interesting. I posted the photos of my two daughters, Emma is two years now and she is recovering after surgery. Enya is alrealy three weeks old, and she hardly opens her eyes. :)
Musabbir

Cognitive aging

Over the years scientists have discovered a strong relationship between age and cognitive decline, and the effect on sensory ability. Cognitive aging is the changes in cognition and how it relates to age, or how age may affect cognitive function. Pascal et al (2006) referred cognitive aging as a “decline of processes that contribute to the efficiency of information processing.” In their research, they discovered that the decline process related to cognitive aging is related to the decline in “metabolic efficiency,” for instance it may cause ineffective signal transmission or communication.

Cognitive speed and cognitive control are particularly affected by age-related declines. The cognitive speed phenomenon affects the “level of processing” and slows it down significantly. In terms of cognitive tasks that are related to speed, Pascal et al (2006) found that “the reaction times of the elderly are between 1.4 to 2.0 times slower than the reaction times of the young.” There are two major problems with these slower reaction times: “limited-time mechanism” and “simultaneity mechanism.” Limited-time mechanism means that more time is required for initial cognitive process and less time left for afterward process, so it become challenging when there is a time restriction to the task. Simultaneity mechanism on the other hand implies that, different sub-processes in our working memory are not active simultaneously and therefore we cannot combine all the outcomes to process it as a whole. For instance, someone is reading a long sentence and the first word can be decayed by the time he/she arrives at the end of the sentence, which will make it difficult for him/her to understand the actual sentence.

Cognitive control is the other major affect of cognitive aging, and it is associated with multiple mechanisms such as task coordination, integration, selection, search, update, and switch. Among all these mechanisms coordination is particularly affected. The findings from the study of cognitive aging helps instructional designers understand the needs of elderly learners; later in this post I will discuss the ID needs for elderly learners.

Week 4 refection

Last week I had a good discussion with Dr. Toledo and Debora on skype. We talked about issues related to educational technology, and also get to know each other’s interests and expertise in terms of technology and multimedia. I also offered help to my classmates, if anyone needs technical help with graphics or multimedia applications. I was little busy with the baby, she is two weeks now. And I am looking forward to another fruitful week.

Musabbir

WebQuest, Constructivism, and Meaningful Learning

There are many theories about learning phenomena. Jonassen et al. (2003) described learning as biochemical activity in the brain, a relatively permanent change in behavior, information processing, the process of knowledge acquisition, social negotiation, thinking skills, knowledge construction, conceptual change, contextual change, activity and consciousness, and so on. It is difficult to explain all learning phenomena with one single theory, and constructivism posits that we construct our own theories about how learning occurs. According to Glasserfeld (1995), “From the constructivist point of view, the behaviorist’ notion of ‘stimulus’ and ‘reinforcement’ are naive and misleading” (p.178). Constructivist theorists have found that education needs to engage students in meaningful learning, something that occurs only when students are able to make meaning of the content. Using instructional technologies, educators can foster meaningful learning by engaging students in “active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning” (Jonassen et al., p. 6). These are the five main attributes of meaningful learning: active, intentional, constructive, authentic, and cooperative. Each attribute can be fostered with the help of instructional technologies.


According to Jonassen et al. (2003), when learning about things in natural contexts, human beings interact with the environment and manipulate the objects in that environment, observing the effects of their interventions and constructing their own interpretation of the phenomena and the results of the manipulation (see Figure 1). Constructivists believe that to acquire meaningful learning, learners need to actively engage in meaningful tasks, and while they are engaged, they will manipulate the tasks, including the object and parameters of the tasks and observe the result of the manipulation. Activity is important, but not enough by itself for meaningful learning. WebQuest also supports the notion of engaging learners actively though its critical attributes and motivational elements (Dodge, 1995).
















Figure 1. Five attributes of meaningful learning.
Source. Jonassen et al. (2003)

The second attribute of meaningful learning is constructive, which is articulative and reflective. When learners experience something new, they find a discrepancy or a gap between the new observation and existing knowledge that can make them curious or puzzled about the new observation. Jonassen et al. (2003) found that puzzlement is the catalyst for meaning making. By reflecting on the puzzling experience, learners integrate their new experience with their prior knowledge about the world, or they establish goals regarding what they need to learn to make sense of what they observe. Learners begin constructing their own simple mental models to explain their worlds, and with experience, support, and more reflection, their mental models become increasingly complex. The active and constructive attributes of meaningful learning processes are symbiotic because they depend on the other to make the meaning. WebQuest uses open-ended questions to “activate learners’ prior knowledge and create a personal curiosity that inspires investigation and brings about a more robust understanding of the material” (March, 2003, p. 4).

The third attribute is intentional, meaning that behavior is usually goal oriented and that people intend to reach a goal that can be simple or complex. Driving a car to get to the office is an example of a simple goal, whereas studying for a doctorate is considered a complex goal. “When learners are actively and willfully trying to achieve a cognitive goal, they think and learn more because they are fulfilling an intention” (Jonassen et al., 2003, p. 8). WebQuest supports goal-oriented activity by guiding learners though five critical constructs: introduction, task, process, resources, and evaluation are the critical constructs of a WebQuest. Johnson and Zufall (2004) found that the introduction prepares and captures the interest of the students, creates the learning situation, and engages the students through a compelling and relevant question or problem. The task describes the learning activities and explains what students have to do. The process describes how the task needs to be accomplished, which includes the steps and tools. The resources provide relevant links to Web sites that help to accomplish the task, and the evaluation provides the criteria and the standards that students have to meet and demonstrate.


The fourth attribute is authentic, which can be complex and contextualized. Constructivists believe that teachers should not oversimplify or remove ideas from original context, that is, they should not strip and distill ideas to their simplest forms so that students can learn quickly. Teaching or leaning such types of knowledge would be far from reality. It is important to make a connection between how the learners acquire knowledge in the classroom and how they relate that knowledge to real-world settings. Jonassen et al. (2003) commented:

Learning tasks that are situated in some meaningful real-world task or simulated in some case-based or problem based learning environment are not only better understood, but also are more consistently transferred to new situations. Rather than abstracting ideas in rules that are memorized and then applied to the canned problems, we need to teach knowledge and skills in real-life, useful context and provide new and different context for learners to practice using those ideas. And we need to engage students in solving complex and ill-structured problems as well as simple, well structured problems. (p. 8)

WebQuests also support authentic learning. March (2005) explained that WebQuests support scaffolded learning, use Internet resources, and support authentic tasks. According to March, WebQuests are not a tool to develop technology-enhanced products by students; rather, a real WebQuest should help students to acquire knowledge through transformative learning and authentic learning. The final attribute of this learning theory is cooperative, which can also be collaborative and conversational. In the real world, people help each other to solve problems and perform tasks. In the academic environment, learning cannot always be effective as an independent process. According to Jonassen et al. (2003), “Good WebQuests incorporate cooperative learning, consider of multiple perspectives, analysis and synthesis of information, and creation of original products that demonstrate knowledge gained” (p. 47). WebQuest uses Internet resources, scaffolded learning, and authentic tasks to motivate students to investigate an open-ended question, develop individual expertise, and work in a group environment. The cooperative aspect of most WebQuests requires students to work as collaborators in presenting the information that they find and defending its value. As team members, they learn the benefit of pooling individual efforts and reaching a consensus. As producers, they are reflective in considering their goals and the audience for whom they are designing the WebQuest, an experience that makes them the developers as well as the consumers of instructional material. (Jonassen et al., 2003)

Constructivist theorists believe that collaborative learning activities need to be included in the classroom. Conversation among the learners is an important attribute in the collaborative learning process. Jonassen et al. (2003) found that “learners working in groups must socially negotiate a common understanding of the task and the methods they will use to accomplish it. That is, given a problem or task, people naturally seek out opinions and ideas from others” (p. 9). ICT can be used to support the attributes of meaningful learning. Technologies such as simulators and IMM applications can support active learning by allowing learners to manipulate the objective and parameters of the task and observe the results; Internet and communication technologies can be used to connect people across the globe to facilitate the conversational process and create a collaborative learning environment; ICT can be used to support role-play simulation and allow students to have access in real-world settings to support authentic learning; ICT can also be used for knowledge hunting, time management, data collection, and evaluation to support intentional and constructive learning. According to Jonassen et al. (2003), “Learning and instructional activities should engage and support combinations of active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning” (p. 9). They also believed that all five attributes of meaningful learning are “synergic” because “learning activities that represent a combination of these characteristics result in even more meaningful learning than the individual characteristics would in isolation” (p. 9).

Thank you for the invite

I look forward to sharing many interesting and thoughtful exchanges on your blog. I enjoy reading your posts on the weekly posts.

WebQuests

Another popular and powerful web-based teaching and learning tool is WebQuests, which was created by Bernie Dodge and Tom March of San Diego State University. Today the term WebQuest registers 664,000 page hits on Google. Dodge listed approximately 2000 WebQuests on his site (webquest.sdsu.edu) and he believes that there are tens of thousands of others on the Internet. Tom March discussed how WebQuest supports scaffolded learning, uses Internet resources, and supports authentic tasks. According to March, WebQuests are not a tool to develop technology-enhanced products by students, rather a real WebQuest should help students to acquire knowledge through “transformative learning” and authentic learning. WebQuest uses Internet resources, scaffolded learning, and authentic tasks to motivate students to investigate an open-ended question, develop individual expertise, and work in a group environment. The entire process transforms acquired knowledge through these activities into “sophisticated understanding,” helping students to see “thematic relationships,” “(inspiring) them to contribute to the real world of learning, and reflect on their own metacognitive process.” WebQuest integrates learning strategies with effective use of the Internet to provide constructivist approaches such as differentiated learning, situated learning, thematic instruction and authentic assessment. Relevant and compelling authentic tasks and real world feedback from professional people from the industry motivate students, and inspire confidence. Open ended questions help students to make connections between their prior knowledge and curiosity to investigate and find a better understanding of the material.

Introduction, task, process, resources, and evaluation are the critical attributes of a WebQuest. Introduction section prepares and hooks the student, creates the learning situation, and engages them through a compelling and relevant question or problem. The task section describes the learning activities and what students have to do; the process section describes how the task needs to be accomplished, and includes steps and tools. The resource section provides relevant links to websites that would help accomplish the task; and the evaluation section provides the criteria and standards students need to meet and demonstrate. There are usually two different kind of WebQuests: short-term and long-term. Short-term WebQuests may take one to three sessions and long-term WebQuests may take one week to one month. Short-term WebQuests mainly involve students in knowledge acquisition and focuses on the integration of new knowledge with prior knowledge, whereas long-term WebQuests help the learner extend and refine their knowledge and information through analysis and demonstration.

Teacher’s Role

The constructivist learning environment and integration of Information and communication technologies are changing the role of the teacher in the classroom. Teachers are now expected to learn new skills in order to incorporate new technologies in their classroom, keep pace with new technologies, be flexible and above all, teachers have to know how to use new ICT in teaching and learning environments, not just as a teacher but also as a guide, tutor, and facilitator. The art of teaching and learning is now influenced by modern ICT. A teacher shouldn’t just focus on the operational use of the instructional tool but really needs to have an understanding of high order use of the instructional technology. The high order use of ICT promotes cooperative learning, role playing, simulation, problem solving activities, and authentic task. Teachers need to keep up with the advancement of the ICT to promote quality education in constructivist environments, the concept of using online shared resources, share learning spaces, opening up the classroom, collaborative learning, and electronic management of learning environments are impossible without the knowledge of ICT. Therefore it is crucial for teachers to learn and understand technology in order to foster learning in technology-led classrooms.

Use of BLOG in education

Blogs can be used as powerful instructional tool and can be incorporated into curriculum. However teachers have to be enthusiastic about blogging and know how to integrate into teaching and learning activities to support different instructional and learning theories.

According to Richardson (2006), “Thousands of teachers and students have already incorporated Weblogs into their classroom and into their practice. Blogs, as they are known, are easily created, easily updateable Websites that allow an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection” (p. 8). Further, he reported that according to Fernette and Brock Eide’s research blogs can:- Promote critical and analytical thinking- Be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking- Promote analogical thinking- Be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information- Combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction (Eide Neurolearning Blog, 2005) (p.20)I think it is important to note blogs are not just communication or web publishing tool. High order use of blog for academic purpose can also support scaffolding and collaborative learning. Blogs can also be very useful tool for reflective journals, networking, share resources, share ideas, and content creation. Richardson (2006) stated that, “Blogging can teach critical reading and writing skills, and it can lead to greater information management skills” (p.38). In an online or blended learning environment I see that blogs can be use to support various activities such as networking, knowledge management, content creation, knowledge sharing, course announcements, reflective journals, e-portfolios, share resources and so on. Blog can be used to create constructivist conditions for learning such as social negotiation, collaborative learning, multiple perspectives and multiple modes of learning.


Reference

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.