E-learning Synopsis

"We must educate the students we have, not the student we used to have, nor the student we wished we had. We must adapt to today's student, not them adapting to us. We must adapt to their world of today's 21st century technology. We cannot teach like we've taught forever anymore. We must change ourselves to adapt to their world." (Sharing Technology, 2009)



Students these days are in way or another are actively and enthusiastically involved in technology in their out of school, leisurely environment for example when they participate in playing videogames, downloading music or making movies. Prensky (2009) agrees with this when he states that ‘all the students we teach have something in their lives that’s really engaging—something that they do and those they are good at, something that has an engaging, creative component to it.’



It is in our best interests as Learning Managers to construct effective instructional pedogogical design within learning experiences to engage and enthuse our students. How do we do this? I believe the answer is right at our fingertips. Research relating to current pop culture describes the way in which technology such as videogames are marketed to children. The words “Explore…” “Take on your friends.” “Exciting!”“Challenging!” “Master…”“Amass…” “Build…” “Perform…” “Research…”“Lead…” “Don’t work alone” are used to engage children (Prensky, 2009). I believe these words underpin the e-learning tools and programs which are freely available on the World Wide Web as well as the potential learning experiences that Learning Managers can design for their students.



I believe that YouTube (2009) is fantastic tool to engage learners within the classroom and if used in a meaningful approach can be ultimately effective for students to reach desired outcomes in a wide range of KLA's. YouTube is a free video-sharing website, it has quickly become a popular way to upload, share, view, and comment on video clips. These clips range from self-produced short films and performance videos to portions of mainstream film and TV. YouTube can offer immeasurable pedagogical learning opportunities for students of varying abilities and disabilities, learning styles and personalities in a wide variety of KLA's within the classroom. WorldWideLearn (2009) highlight this idea when they state that “Learning is self-directed, allowing students to choose content and tools appropriate to their differing interests, needs, and skill levels” .For example, YouTube encompasses masses of educationally valuable learning tools, activities and tasks for EAL and ESL students. Beare (1997) highlights this idea when he explains that 'these sites provide English learners and classes with a new tool to improve listening skills as well as offering authentic examples of everyday English used by everyday people'.


Sprenger (1999) tells us that emotional memory strategies are by far the most effective and insists that music in particularly can be very powerful in gaining emotional memory. Music can be incorporated into learning experiences to assist students in making meaning of content. Music can be accessed from various online learning applications such as Incompetech and YouTube but can also be incorporated into numerous other applications such as PowerPoint, Interactive Smart Boards and Animations and Simulations to hook in and increase student engagement. For example, when constructing and transferring content to students on the 'Diggers' and Australian War History the Learning Manager could play 'I was only 19’ by Redgum. This is in aid of provoking feeling and emotion and can result in the students becoming more engaged, making connections and using their emotional memory to learn and retain information. Music can also be used routinely for more simple tasks such as in student’s free time and when transitioning into new tasks.




At the beginning of my e-learning journey I felt I was a competent user of the World Wide Web and possessed considerable knowledge of what it had to offer in terms of educational purpose. Throughout working my way through the Course Module I found that I was quite the opposite and the skills and knowledge which I had were only minimal in comparison to the myriads of e-learning tools and applications that are available on the internet. The majority of e-learning tools and applications that we were to explore, I was entirely unfamiliar with. It became apparent that the utilisation of these tools within learning experiences underpins smart, efficient, engaging and futuristic teaching which results in effective learning. The journey was supported by a sense of collaboration where opportunities were available to communicate with peers and educators. The concept of e-learning within the classroom and my journey in this e-learning task are both intrinsically linked to the ‘Engagement Theory’. Kearsly & Shneiderman (1999) explain that the ‘engagement theory is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom’. Even though the assessment task was to be completed individually, it enabled us to some extent to co-operatively and collaboratively learn within our peer community via communication technologies such as forums, email and phone calls, all of which I was actively involved in. Our professional blogs enabled ourselves and our peers to leave thoughtful and relative comments surrounding content posted on blogs. This offered a sense of motivation, encouragement and overall engagement within the student cohort and gave opportunities for higher level learning. E-learning within the classroom gives students opportunities to experience authentic, engaging and innovative learning experiences in a collaborative and co-operative student- structured environment. It also develops lifelong transferable learning skills. Marzano & Pickering (1997) agree that Learning Managers should use a variety of ways to engage students as well as structuring opportunities for students to work with peers. In saying this, by constructing authentic- based and peer- structured experiences using online applications and tools that students are able to clearly see the relevance and use and therefore are more likely to become engaged.




The 21st century and the technology it has produced has given educators opportunities to become involved in the wide world of e-learning and where possible to step away from the traditional style of teaching. Zang & Nunamaker (2003) continue with this idea when they explain that with the information technology revolution that traditional classroom education does not always satisfy all the needs of the new world of a lifelong learning. Armed with the advanced information and communication technologies, e-Learning is having a far-reaching impact on learning in the new millennium.




Reference List

Beare. K. (1997) YouTube in the classroom. Retrieved 16 August, 2009 from http://esl.about.com/b/2008/07/29/youtube-in-the-classroom.htm

Given, B. (2002). Teaching to the Brain's Natural Learning Systems. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Kearsley, G & Shneiderman, B. (1999) Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved 16 August, 2009 from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm


Prensky. M (2006) Engage or Enrage me. Educause Review, October, 2006

Sharing Technology (2009). Using YouTube in the classroom. Retrieved 16 August, 2009 from http://teacherlingo.com/blogs/sharingtechnology/archive/2008/02/23/using-youtube-in-the-classroom.aspx

Sprenger. M (1999). Learning and Memory: The brain in action. Retrieved 15 August, 2009 from
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OjZR



WorldWideLearn (2009) E-Learning Essentials: What is e-learning? Retrieved 17 August, 2009 from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-essentials/elearning-benefits.htm




YouTube (2009) Retrieved 16 August ,2009 from
www.YouTube.com.au


Zang. D, Nunamaker. J (2003) Powering E-Learning In the New Millennium: An Overview of E-Learning and Enabling Technology. Retrieved 15 August, 2009 from www.springerlink.com/content/x2jv277358503x28/ Volume 5, Number 2 / April, 2003