2. In those schools and teacher education
institutions in the region that have fully
embraced e-learning, continuing new
developments in ICT are bringing about
yet further changes in delivery of
education, in pedagogy and student
approaches to learning
3.
4. Figure
11.1 depicts this learning environment of today in
educational institutions that are well
advanced along the pathway of ICT integration
Communication between tutor and student,
between student and tutor, and between student
and student is a combination of online and face-to-
face, whichever is the more appropriate for
particular occasions.
The learning environment is characterized as
“wired” with students accessing workstations in
generally fixed locations, within educational
institutions and at home, in both cases with fixed
links to internet service providers
5.
6. depicted in
Figure 11.2, has a richer mix
Overlaid on all that is occurring today is a
proliferation of mobile learning-enabled
technologies
In some educational institutions in the Asia-
Pacific region, the picture of tomorrow shown
in Figure 11.2 is already happening
The learning environment here is
characterized as wireless, as students access
learning materials from the web and other
sources, and communicate with tutors and
fellow students from wherever they happen to
be and at whatever times they wish.
7. IN THE SECTIONS BELOW, WE DESCRIBE
ASPECTS OF THE CONTINUALLY CHANGING
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT BROUGHT ABOUT BY NEW
DEVELOPMENTS IN ICT AND CHANGING
PEDAGOGICAL
PRACTICES, CONCLUDING WITH OUR VIEW OF
WHAT IS REQUIRED TO TRANSFORM
CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL
PRACTICE.
8. Interactive learning with
whiteboards
Blackboards have been a standard feature in
classrooms since they were invented in 1801.
Then the whiteboard was introduced with its
marker pens that eliminated messy chalk.
Classrooms of tomorrow are installing
interactive whiteboards, connected to a
computer and projector (see clipped insert).
These new ICT tools allow further kinds of
interactive learning.
9. Interactive whiteboards
As the adoption of interactive whiteboards increases,
teachers are exploring imaginative ways to use them.
For instance, they are used to teach vocabulary with
students matching pictures and words; in language
classes by showing news in the foreign language; to hold
videoconferences with students in other countries; and
in a multitude of other ways.
A website called Interactive Whiteboard Sites contains
links to many further sites with suggestions for using
interactive whiteboards, complete with lesson plans,
teacher activities, games and resources covering all
curriculum areas and all school levels
10. One of the major benefits of using IWB is that it
increases interaction throughout the class.
the IWB teaching style better enhances interactive
learning between students, and between students
and teachers.
Time management in class is much better, too,
allowing more time for discussions and creative
thinking.
A visual demonstration of abstract concepts, for
instance, helps students more quickly understand
what’s involved so they can more easily apply
theory to a real example.
increased flexibility and convenience inherent in
IWB make it easier for teachers to develop networks
with other teachers.
11. Virtual excursions
Now, with the aid of ICT, students can go on virtual
excursions or virtual field trips to explore actual sites or
those from the past, to investigate particular topics or
view specimens and artefacts, all without leaving the
classroom
12. Virtual excursions, virtual field
trips, web tours
Virtual excursions, virtual field trips, and web tours
are various terms used to describe organized
student online learning experiences around visits
to different places or different time periods. As
part of a guided exploration activity, students
commonly connect with other places and people,
collect information and report their findings in
electronic form using text and images. Sometimes
such virtual learning explorations and
investigations are conducted in real time with the
aid of audioconferencing or videoconferencing
facilities that allow students in one location to
meet with and hold discussions with others in a
remote location
13. Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the use of computer
hardware and software to enable
individuals in separate locations to see and
hear one another as in a conference
setting. A form of videoconferencing,
sometimes called desktop conferencing,
can be carried out using a webcam and PC
with software such as Skype
14. Videoconferencing and virtual
excursions
As videoconferencing has entered schools and classrooms of
the 21st century, a unique opportunity for new learning
experiences, previously out of reach, has arrived.
Virtual excursions involve students visiting locations via an
internet link using videoconferencing systems, and are becoming
increasingly available in major locations of interest worldwide.
Someaims of the use of this new technology in schools are to:
assist geographically dispersed, and often isolated, schools
and their teachers to offer students experiential education
activities;
facilitate the teaching of curriculum previously constrained
by distance and time; and
connect learning communities with events, activities and
places of significance.
15. M-learning and u-learning
The mobile learning-enabled technologies that characterize
wireless learning environments are brought about by a new
communications device that is widely accepted and is being
taken up at a faster rate than occurred with the PC.
As users embrace this new, highly popular device, it appears
to offer potential for education.
The new portable tool is, of course, the mobile or cellular
phone. Vinci and Cucchi (2007, p. 1) say that the mobile
phone “represents a revolution in education as it gives the
opportunity to learn ‘in motion’, making the learning process
more appealing, interesting and motivating”.
The mobility provided by hand-held, portable devices like
smart mobile phones and other mobile technologies removes
some of the limitations of learning in fixed locations. This
increased mobility for learners gives rise to yet another term,
ubiquitous learning or u-learning, where opportunities for
learning are expanded even further
16. M-learning for distance
education
Mobile learning, or m-learning, is novel in that it facilitates delivery of
learning to the right person, at the right time, in the right place, using
portable electronic devices.
In the near future, m-learning could become a normal part of open and
distance learning for lifelong education and self-directed learning.
M-learning is a ubiquitous learning system for distance education where
anyone
who wants to study can study anywhere, anytime, with the internet and
multimedia.
Mobile learning was introduced as a more advanced system of learning
after several projects were under taken to evaluate the efficiency of e-
learning courses and to suggest a future of more ubiquitous learning.
In future knowledge based societies where educational circumstances
and paradigms change rapidly, distance education using ICT technology
can satisfy the educational desires of various levels of learners.
