CASE STUDY: An experience introducing a wiki in a course of Technology Education at the Faculty of Education. (Revised)
Beatriz
Fainholc
1-Describe the background to the development of
this e-learning practice or technology.
At a
revision and adjustment of the contextualization of the case study that I am
introducing now, I would like to make a short summary of the main concepts of
different aspects to be linked, applied, etc in our faculty practice, and also,
at the training of them, too. So to emphases for example, in define and apply
the affordances concepts to be developed by network tools to support users,
will contribute in discovering each other and so, working together in an active
engagement , with eradication of the eternal motivation, to a shift to an
intrinsic one , at diverse learning collaborative and community experiences, make
the students to be more aware to practice a critical analysis of the concepts
content, the methoidology of adding and discussing it, and the technologic
format of the wiki tool.
To my mind
the major affordances participative-social of the social networking web 2.0,
its tools and contexts are wiki, blogs, social tagging, web conferences,
moodle, etc. Then, as we can observe in this case study,- please read below,
the development – step to step -, of an idiosyncratic metacognition process,
connected to a self-regulated learning, has help the production of knowledge,
having the opportunity of growing an epistemology in learning.
The
concepts named above are a part of the description of the background to the
development of the e-learning practice of a wiki technology.
I was the
introducer of the wiki in my course of Educational Technology, at the Faculty
of Education, La Plata National University, Buenos Aires, a few years ago. At
the opposite side, my colleagues have continued working at a traditional
paradigm to plan their classes "using" internet,80% face to face, and
20% uploading text material that the students download it to read it, and do
the activities that the professor determines[1].
I implement
the wiki, -after the explanation of what a wiki is, and its different uses, for
us to invite the students to discuss the central concepts of the course, as a
practical and dialogic dictionary and to recreate it. Also to share the
meanings about the concepts, re-writing them, etc. The point was that they have
to read not only the bibliography and the syllabus recommended by a youtube ,
but mainly what their mates have written (have re construct).
2- What is the educational challenge that the
practice or technology is intended to address?
To activate
by a new mediated technologic experience , the grow of a deep comprehension and
a genuine/transformative/active process learning of the main concepts of
Educational Technology course, and at the same time to teach the meaning of the
concepts by the collaborative tool wiki. The hope was/is that the
users/students (students of Education) should transferred - both issues
concepts and wiki format -, to their classrooms, or educational programs,
looking for the open road to produce knowledge.
Also,
another challenge was/is to stimulate the active /transformative possibilities
by the development of different affordances[2]
and some of the new digital competences through those contexts.
3- How does the e-learning practice or
technology work? Explain its structure and function from the point of view of
teachers and learners.
My blended
learning proposal of teaching related to the articulation of the wiki software
(in a moodle platform) claimed for an explicit[3]
teaching strategy to prepare,- as a "take-off" -, the understanding
of the content and technologic tools (related to the E.T. field).
My strategy
: to incentive/motivated before the presentation of the software wiki and its
characteristics by explaining, and guide the comprehension (PDZ): to
help-follow the understanding of different concepts of the area, with the hope
that every students in, on line groups, will complete the them , through a
constant discussing. At the beginning they have reluctance on a 70% to engage
the new situation and , I had to guide again and again (explicit learning :
because wiki was a new environment and it was to be explained it. I also have
prepare a "simulation" (analogical knowledge) with other examples.
4- How does the way the practice or technology
works reflect its understanding of learning?
In a 30%
the students understood/understand the new mediations by EOR, to act, interact
with their mates, indeed, as a new way to learn, because they found, logically
a similarity with wikipedia, although I have deconstructed the Wales´s proposal
because of their strong critics,- that I share-, beyond their advantages.
We have done a very
small qualitative -action- research - , with a few questions to think with the
students, to analyze what happen during the mediated interaction, why they have
reluctances to work in this collaborative way, and many others topics that they
added : they are not used to work, and that time, it was the first moment to
articulate wiki. At the action-research[4]
, the practice of virtual ethnography, questionnaires of the wiki use, personal
and group sensations, communication impacts for their future virtual classes,
to imagine some adaptation to transfer the tool to diverse disciplines and
contents , through a connected global/local network of people/groups, etc-, for
example by appropriating the historial which has the wikispaces site,-have
conducted to develop the affordance of ubiquitous learning . Anyway the view of
the historial of wikispaces site that we have used, show us, the increasing
or/and descending student´s participation during the course:
The preliminary results of this
small educational experience, - very strong since they were/are students of
Education-,shows us that the development of the affordance of meta-cognition,
by a reflective learning practice -, would be a genuine possibility towards the
remotion of anachonic traditional educational conceptions and methodologies.
Although the precarious context of the experience, the main point were/is that
the students ( and me: I have learnt different points not only from this
experience but also, from the students feedback), live the affordances of an
active/transformative learning, to share knowledge, and to develop
metacognition.
5-What is the
underlying theory of learning that this educational practice technology reflects?
The socio constructivism , interactionist,
connectivism, post-structuralism, in a systemic- holistic networked approach.
6-Use the seven affordances framework to
analyze this e-learning environment or technology.
Basically
the affordances , many of them that we develop (and have learnt during my
training and the university practice , named above) are applied and are
develop, in a continuous progress. Also, show us that a methodological and
conceptual student work by a collaborative task, is growing and growing in a
progressive way as time goes by: but for a profound or superficial learning? .
The virtual
orientation strategy for the students interaction , towards an aware of the
production of knowledge points out the multimodal meaning, as another
affordance that was/is achieved, step by step, or by insight, recursively, etc,
- depending the external stimulus, their cognitive styles, their mental
representations, their culture, and so on.
Anyway that
development will be done in a long term, in our opinion, because the learning
process need a log time and depends on complex variables. Also a
progressiveness towards to configurate and consolidate an “invisible learning”.
According
to the question of Dr Cope: “does the learning affordances are an
"invisible learning"? a kind of tacit/implicit knowledge? that the
students have to develop for a practice to produce an imaginative , autonomous
and collective knowledge? I say: yes.
The
invisible learning is the result “under construction” of an integration of
diverse focuses as an umbrella, which cover the learning of the new competences
to interact with the new digital processes within the new phenomena of a fluid
meta-spaces, “fuzzy logic” , etc . Also it is a result of the computing
ubiquity that push to the invention, research, economic production and
distribution of advanced intelligent technological devices . They exists at
everyday place of formal and informal life, and immerses it very subtly in the
people socialization[5].
Related to
these reflections, we could say that the invisible learning, and the
development/ achievement of affordances are a show of tacit/implicit knowledge.
It is a kind of knowledge which I person has and practices but he/she only can
partially explain or communicate it. It is also, more implicit than explicit[6],
result of the informal, personal o social interaction , hard to express it, and
little visible .Then we can say as a consequence, that the three learning
phenomena are integrated and in interaction.
To
summarize the different affordances that we choose for their development in the
context of the wiki experience:
-a
development of an active knowledge elaboration, -
-in an
ubiquitous virtual spaces of learning, not only in schools and universities,
but also at diverse public or/and spaces , work, their lives, etc.
The
interaction and the collaborative processes of a production of knowledge by
different formats, supports, trans-mediatic, symbolic codes, etc,
-in a collective writing environment,
to contribute to configurate a collective writing, and - the practice a
critical reading of their own written interventions (meta-cognition) together
with the group mates, such a community practice of a peer to peer learning and
evaluation,
- reviewing and discussing them to
increase ,without repeating definition´s concepts, explanations and
exemplification-, the comprehension of the main ideas of the course, by virtual
interaction, peer evaluation, etc. The progressive educational achievement of
the students, was through a designed project-based learning mediated by a wiki,
- and other web2.o tools-, will improve the quality of the learning and
teaching processes, within an authentic and participative pedagogy /new
and/transformative learning, always with the guide of the professor.
At the
contrary that we had expected, an oscillation of a little participation , and
after more lower one,- individually and collectively-, the team begin to show.
At this precise moment, a constant implication and students commitment really,
does not exists: we think that it is one of the more difficult affordance to be
consolidated towards a collaborative intelligence.
7- Is the operation of the technology in
practice and associated learning practices adequately described in the case
study? Are concrete examples provided?
This
experience in a very short term was presented and described in this Case Study.
More data we could see in a comparison between before and after the experience:
Several
concrete examples we have and will provided during the case study report.
8-Do they illustrate the way the environment's
underlying theory of learning translates into practice?
A strong
planning by an Advanced Organizer (Ausubel), and educational (not only
didactic) structure of contents, activities, topics (that the course team
professors prepared in advance for the web), was an opportunity to construct
meanings by interacting in a formative proposal, in the wiki environment, first
for us, and afterwards , by the student part.
Nevertheless,
at the beginning of the experience, the informal communication , shows a
diffuse and still now, low level of collective conceptual participation, by
doing questions and answers.
The
socio-constructive work proposes and stimulates a new practice , in conjunction
of the wiki virtual procedures, that we know that it will improve their
cognitive skills and to transfer to another formative situation. But the
practice don’t shows this idyllic performance.
Some examples
shows us data by the following reactive:
- the wiki
was useful in your learning? In what areas?
9-What are the relative strengths and
weaknesses of the technology or practice from the perspectives of teaching and
learning?
Doing a
critical reflections we could see different strengths and limitations.
Strengths:
the majority of the students perceived and live the value of collaboration (not
only read it in theory) related to a wiki, but mainly having the opportunity to
communicate each other, within a space of virtual social interaction and co-
creation of knowledge. As time goes by, we hope that they will be more
confident to understand the resource and the affordance of an active
/transformative learning exploiting the information for a co construction, and
their participation in this firm way .Then , we can see an increasing at their
contributions.
The
limitations were:
-The
repetitive software design of the wiki, and the mechanical edition procedures
make to the students a lack of enthusiasm, beyond they reckon the wiki
flexibility .
It is an
epistemological reflection: such is the lineal context that an algorithmic software
functions, and constitutes its environment. And the need to appropriated them
developing diverse designs is a challenge to make the affordance grow and
blossom.
In a
learning way , sometime it results to an informational disorganization , risks
to copy and paste, and to think without a conceptual hierarquization, to repeat
what another writes because nobody have read what he/she wrote, etc.
- By the
part of the university system/institution in general, which is dying and
outdated system founded on a fragmented and classified data totally unsuited to
the needs of the students lives, it is seen: an anachronism of the
infra-structure ,- without taking care of it, in general, to an inexistence of
interests in technologic innovations, etc , -beyond it is said that they are
fantastic-, it doesn´t produce positive impacts to mobilize and a compromises
to lead a transition to a new learning model.
-By the
part of the professors we could see a generation gap which separate two age
groups and divergent cultures, and different mentalities. In thru, they speak
that they are socio-constructivist, but in the practice they are behaviorists.
So, in general, the lack of new visions of learning and teaching, need a
different and transformative training of the professors. If not, it would make
a negative ferment to institutions and the students. So, towards a development
of affordances, it will take a long time , to understand the meaning of the
tool, because the subjacent rationality is only technical-instrumental, in terms
of Habermas, J. Mainly because in general terms, the educational training of
the professors is unsuited to the needs and lives of the students and the
informational society of the XXI century: they duplicate anachronic learning
and teaching paradigms.
Do the conclusions and recommendations follow
from the information and reasoning provided in the case study?
The use of
the software wiki, do not produce, by its own, the knowledge construction in a
collaborative way, if there are not diverse prerequisites. It is software for a
social interaction and collaborative writing, in order to elaborate collective
documents. It consists in a kind of some social practices of exchanging around
different topics, from the workers to the students. But a socio-cultural
context and psycho sociological atmosphere, shows different profiles, times and
ways to the achievement of the affordance named above.
Since the
learning process is a progressive one, the socio-cognitive and meta-cognitive
strategies of/for (a critical) thinking, the acquisition of digital competences
, flexible attitudes, etc, will be developed within the affordances named, in order to learn more and
for a better teaching with quality. But only in my opinion, if the planners,
professors, designers, etc, take care and are respectful of contexts of the
different cultures and subcultures, languages, values, mentalities, etc. In
this way, surely, the learning makes a deep difference in students’ lives, to
access to a deep knowledge , not peripheral, simply to be forgotten. In this
context the network communities , and many strategies that were named above-,
will promote a significative and productive interaction, within the formal
education system and non formal programs.
Then the
social, cultural, psychological, academic, local management,
contextual/situated/distributed issues, the up-dating of the training of the
professors, the technical and administrative support of the institution, the
care of the equipment, good connectivity , etc, are critic variables to
influence not only the knowledge construction, but a transition of educational
models. Such is the inequity between developed regions, countries, social
organizations, people, etc will continue.
The
recommendation of the introduction of a wiki and many web2.0 technological
tools, lead us to deepen the understanding about the opportunity and the
meaning about the collaborative dynamic work, in an anthropologic and cultural
framework. That is basically, an epistemological discussion about subjacent conceptions
related to the production of knowledge . Also it is a connected topic to the
virtual educational environment which propose different values and the point is
to appropriate the diverse perspectives for a construction or reformulation of
a new/specific, open and not finished knowledge .
The
professors are not used to interact in general, between them and a little with
their students in a network, doing reflections of the epistemological roads of
the disciplinary content, methodologies, etc, as far I can see in my country,
and others . Then, the socialization delays more than the expected time for a
social change and a transformative learning. As time goes by, step by step they
the students at the presented experience were/will overcome low scores and configurate
not only learning communities ,- an affordance to be develop through
interacting-, but mainly a new paradigm of education.
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[1] As E. Losch states in
"Education’s war on millennials.... Excerpted from “The War on Learning:
Gaining Ground in the Digital University” , that "both reformers and
traditionalists view technology as a way to control students "....I could
explained as a consequence, that the conception that my colleagues have and,
work was: not to change and don´t permit to change. But at the same time,
although I was the introducer of the new format, maybe I was part of the
"control technology society"?. At some way, I taught them to
participate by wiki but maybe I imposed them to do so? to use it? She
continues: "Our entire educational system is reactionary, oriented to past
values and past technologies, and will likely continue so until the old
generation relinquishes power". In general, that occur with the faculty in
a 70%, in my Dept: in my opinion hidden
ideological reasons not permit to experiment new virtual environments, and if
they use it in only to a mechanical interaction establish by the softwear (for
instance Moodle).
[4] The general objective were: to understand in a
cognitive and sociocultural focus the ICT mediated influence in education; to
analyze in and interdependent relation the new theories of learning and
teaching, and the network communication model, to deepen their participation
propose by the wiki tool
The specific objective were to explain what is and works a wiki; justify
what for its use in education; to reckon the strengths and weaknesses of the
wiki; to observe the progressive collaborative construction of knowledge
mediated by a wiki , and what sociocognitive (mindware)where applied/develop in
the elaboration of the main concepts of An Educational technology appropriate
and critic; to recognize some reasons which limit the commitment and the
students participation.
[5] But take into account that in
emergent countries it is not always in this way.
[6] Polanyi, M. (1996) "The Tacit
Dimension". First published Doubleday & Co, 1966. Reprinted Peter
Smith, Gloucester, Mass, 1983. Chapter 1: "Tacit Knowing".
Reber, Arthur S. 1993. Implicit learning and tacit
knowledge: an essay on the corgnitive unconscious. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-510658-X
Sanders, A. F. (1988). Michael Polanyi's post critical
epistemology, a reconstruction of some aspects of 'tacit knowing'. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
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