This presentation takes both a retrospective and a prospective look at the use of technology for learning through the last century and into the remaining decades of the 21st Century. I believe that we can learn from the lessons of the past, both from what has and perhaps more importantly what hasn’t worked. The evidence clearly shows that it is the pedagogy of use and the skills of the teacher in supporting and enabling learners through technology and through learning design which makes the difference. I argue that this can help us to integrate new technologies as they emerge to create new approaches for teaching and learning, but that the fundamentals of teaching and learning don't change.
Technology trends for language teaching: looking back and to the future
1. Technology trends for
language teaching: looking
back and to the future.
Prof Steve Higgins,
School of Education,
Durham University,
s.e.higgins@durham.ac.uk
@stig_01
Learning and Teaching English
in the Digital Age: Policy and
Practice in Europe
4th December, 2013
Barcelona
2. Overview
Technology and
learning in the last
century
What hasn’t worked
The importance of
pedagogy
A look towards the
future
In 1935, at New York University, Professor
C. C. Clark conducted a class remotely
using shortwave radio.
Short Wave Craft April 1935
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/05/predictions-for-educational-tv-in-the-1930s/
3. A short history of educational
technology: nihil sub sole novum?
Film
Radio
Television
Tape recorders and language labs
Podcasts and blogs
Tablets and iPads
LMS, VLEs, MOOCs, mobile devices
Augmented Reality, Voice recognition, Cloud
4. 1913: Film
(Thomas Edison, reported in
The New York Dramatic Mirror in July 1913)
“Books,” declared the inventor with decision,
“will soon be obsolete in the public schools.
Scholars will be instructed through the eye. It is
possible to teach every branch of human
knowledge with the motion picture. Our school
system will be completely changed inside of
ten years.”
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/02/15/books-obsolete/ Picture source: Google Images
12. Technology and formal learning
Education is:
Universal AND
Problematic
Belief it can be improved
Technology provides promise
13. The UK context
Huge investments in ICT in schools from
1980s
World leader on IWB uptake
Learning platforms/ VLEs common in schools
Gaming approaches promoted with (past)
government support
New computing curriculum
Tablet mania
14. Research
evidence
What’s ‘worked’ in
the past
What hasn’t worked
The importance of
pedagogy
A look towards the
future
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/
15. Evidence from correlational studies
“Studies linking provision and use of
technology in schools ...find small positive
associations with educational outcomes but it
is not clear that this is always a causal link” (e.g.
Harrison et al. 2004)
Good schools may invest more in technology (Moseley et
al. 1999)
When socio-economic factors are controlled for -
no effect (Fuchs and Woessmann 2004)
The link is not a simple linear one – optimal use
may be a better concept (e.g. OECD 2006)
16. Experimental studies
“Evidence from experimental and quasi-
experimental designs indicates consistent
moderate benefit” (e.g. Sipe and Curlette 1997; Pearson, 2005)
Comparison with other researched
interventions suggests technology-based
interventions tend to produce average gains
(e.g. Hattie, 2009; Higgins et al. 2012)
18. Key question
Are you convinced, as a result of new
technologies, learners are now learning
English
Faster?
More easily?
More fluently?
Better?
19. Six myths about digital technology
1. The ‘Future Facing’ Fallacy
“New technologies are being developed all the time, the past
history of the impact of technology is irrelevant to what we
have now or will be available tomorrow.”
2. The ‘Different Learners’ Myth
“Today’s children are digital natives and the ‘net generation –
they learn differently from older people”.
3. A Confusion of ‘Information’ and ‘Knowledge’
“Learning has changed now we have access to knowledge
through the internet, today’s children don’t need to know
stuff, they just need to know where to find it.”
20. Six myths about digital technology
4. The ‘Motivation Mistake’
“Students are motivated by technology so they must learn
better when they use it.”
5. The ‘Mount Everest’ Fallacy
“We must use technology because it is there!”
6. The ‘More is Better’ Mythology
“If some technology is a good thing, then more must be
better.”
21. Evidence from digital technology
meta-analyses
Collaborative use (pairs/ small groups)
more effective than individual use
Effective as short but focussed
interventions
Remedial / tutorial use can be particularly
effective as catch-up
Greater gains when it supplements rather
than replaces normal teaching.
Training and professional development
are essential
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/apply-for-funding/digital-technology-round/impact-of-digital-technology-on-learning-report
22. What hasn’t ‘worked’…
LOGO
Integrated learning systems
One-to-one laptops
Talking books
Interactive whiteboards
No ‘magic bullets’
Source: Google Images
23. Getting the most from technology
Innovators & early adopters
choose digital technology to do
something differently – as a
solution to a problem
When adopted by the majority,
focus is on the technology, but
not as a solution
The laggards use the technology
to replicate what they were
already doing without ICT
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations. Simon and Schuster.
24. Issues
How well you use it is more important than
whether you use it or not
Pedagogy trumps technology
Consider cost effectiveness?
So…should we beware of geeks bearing gifts?
Source: Google Images
25. Quality matters…
Good teaching and learning activities
At the right level of challenge
With opportunities for feedback
Provide opportunities for self-regulation
Help learners to plan, monitor and evaluate their
own learning (meta-cognition)
Move the learner on
From the task (skills, knowledge, understanding)
In their learning (attitudes, dispositions, meta-cognition)
36. Jack: Who done... Who's green? Jiminy…
That's quite smart! [the calculations have a colour border
indicating the table where they were created, so Jack is asking
which is the green table, and so who was responsible for the
calculation]
Adam: Oh look at that! 10 times 10 that
equals 100, add 50! Now that's clever,
whoever did that! I'm doing that…
37. Once the teacher turns on the number pads,
Jack goes on to adapt the calculations he has
seen, creating the calculations 10*10+51-1, and
drawing Adam’s attention to it:
Jack: Haha! Adam, look at the size of that!
Adam: Oh yes, did it... 1... 5...
Jack: ‘Cause 10 times 10 is 100, add 51 is 151
and take away 1 is 150... bingo!
Adam: Bingo!
38. What was effective?
High level of (accepted) challenge
Feedback from table, from peers, from
teacher (and to teacher via iPad)
Supported group regulation
Intra-group collaboration
Inter-group competition
Learning across groups
Indirectly (from ‘inherited’ calculations)
Directly (through whole class demonstration and discussion
41. Digital technology and learning
Adopt technology as a solution to a teaching
and learning challenge or problem
Check that technical or basic skills issues
won’t get in the way of the learning
Should help learners accept challenge
Look for evidence of improvement
Evaluate the impact
Goldilocks’ Principle – have to get it ‘just right’
43. Key questions
What are the teaching and learning challenges
digital technologies can help you solve?
What will the technology replace?
What will you stop doing?
How will you know it is better?
Will the teacher be more effective/efficient?
Will the pupils learn quicker, for longer, more deeply,
think harder?
Will you see more feedback, more self-regualtion,
more meta-cognition?
44. Local ecology
Start from where you are
Needs infrastructure
Technical support
Wifi access
Needs support
Skills training AND
CDP for pedagogy
45. For every complex
problem there is a
solution that is simple,
neat…
and WRONG!
H.L. Mencken 1880-1956
46. References and links
EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit: http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/
SynergyNet videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLD9v6UP5vU
Digital technologies report: http://bit.ly/1hxVEKP
Pictures from Google Images and Pinterest (thanks to Juan Antonio
Ortiz)http://www.pinterest.com/caturani/paleofuture-education-technology/