This week I have read a multitude of papers addressing the impact of ICT on teaching and learning in the classroom; from McCormick & Scrimshaw's paper emphasising that it is how ICT is used in accordance with the other elements of classroom learning that determines its success; to Buckingham & McFarlene debating a 'digitally driven curriculum'.
In considering the integration of ICT into current learning approaches, it is worthwhile noting that this is the first module on my MEd for which it has been a requirement for me to keep an online learning journal. I would personally argue the case for it being compulsary for every course - I have been keeping written notes and thoughts for other modules, but the simple transferral of this to an online format immediately enables my wider learning community to access it, and to likewise share their own knowledge and ideas. It is this collaboration and creation of a learning community that seems so much easier with some of the Web 2.0 tools I have read about.
We have been asked to consider how the curriculum and learning may change in the next ten years. Given that, as a 27 year old, my first experience of a computer was playing with Logo on our single, classroom computer that emerged in Year 5 - it is fair to say that digital technology is slightly more progressed in contemporary education. In terms of what technology might be present in ten years' time, my advice would be to look at what new technology exists today - and to try and imagine how this might progress in a decade. However, in terms of the role digital technology will play in schools and the curriculum in ten years' time, this may not equate to what technology exists - as is the case today.
The reading has led me to understand that it is not just the content of today's teaching and learning that is being challenged by new technologies, but it is the very methods and frameworks of our learning institutions. I would hope that the development of collaboration and community-based learning (something that is very encouraged by the popular digital culture I, and many young people, are engaged in in our spare time) has an impact on how learning is valued in schools, and thus assessment and teaching. As Ken Robinson points out in this animation, in the workplace, working together is called 'collaboration', and in the exam room, it is called 'cheating'. Whilst I may be deemed more traditionally 'intelligent' if I can recall the first 10 digits of Pi, what use does it have to me when, in 10 years' time, I will almost certainly be walking around with an internet-connected device that can tell me this almost as quickly as my brain? If this is accessible to most people, I will be no 'different' to them - and why do I need to be? A debate on the relevance of learning leads us to consider what skills it is important for young people to learn. In turn, this can only lead to a wider debate of what aspects of society deem these skills important (eg. the economy, employment, etc) - and can we even know what society will look like in ten years' time?
In considering the integration of ICT into current learning approaches, it is worthwhile noting that this is the first module on my MEd for which it has been a requirement for me to keep an online learning journal. I would personally argue the case for it being compulsary for every course - I have been keeping written notes and thoughts for other modules, but the simple transferral of this to an online format immediately enables my wider learning community to access it, and to likewise share their own knowledge and ideas. It is this collaboration and creation of a learning community that seems so much easier with some of the Web 2.0 tools I have read about.
The reading has led me to understand that it is not just the content of today's teaching and learning that is being challenged by new technologies, but it is the very methods and frameworks of our learning institutions. I would hope that the development of collaboration and community-based learning (something that is very encouraged by the popular digital culture I, and many young people, are engaged in in our spare time) has an impact on how learning is valued in schools, and thus assessment and teaching. As Ken Robinson points out in this animation, in the workplace, working together is called 'collaboration', and in the exam room, it is called 'cheating'. Whilst I may be deemed more traditionally 'intelligent' if I can recall the first 10 digits of Pi, what use does it have to me when, in 10 years' time, I will almost certainly be walking around with an internet-connected device that can tell me this almost as quickly as my brain? If this is accessible to most people, I will be no 'different' to them - and why do I need to be? A debate on the relevance of learning leads us to consider what skills it is important for young people to learn. In turn, this can only lead to a wider debate of what aspects of society deem these skills important (eg. the economy, employment, etc) - and can we even know what society will look like in ten years' time?
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