Great Analysis Pamela! As a part of my volunteer work with schools and children, specially hearing impaired ones, I find the impact of Computer based education is huge.
I also found out that using Movies with sub-titles is a great way for them to learn not only how to understand the words and but also recognise and pronounce them in a real-life noise environment. It also helps teach complex concepts (showing the right movies - quite a motivation!) which are almost impossible to teach otherwise. Using MSN Chat the child is not only unchained from his or her limitations but overcomes several hurdles in communications. One of the teachers has been able to motivate the students (Pamela's statement is right on target) is by getting on the Chat in the evenings and has all her slow learners on the buddy list and takes time out to explain several things in a relative 'privacy' of the one to one text dialog. I find the discussions in the DDN quite interesting, especially in seeing how the same problems of the so called Digital divide is present in different societies regardless of its wealth, demographics and state of development. In working in developing countries (Cambodia, Pakistan, Samoa, Sri Lanka) as a Telecom and IT Consultant, I have found that ICT can really be harnessed very effectively to enable societies to overcome many barriers the least of being intolerance and helplessness in trying to get the right information. Salman Ansari -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Pamela McLean Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 2:46 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] personal vis social and the academic It is encouraging to see the debate that started with a focus on one piece of equipment widening out, first to issues of social versus private computing then to academic issues. I suggest there are certain elements of successful study - which hold true at all stages of education (formal and informal), which merit consideration in a debate on ICTs and things academic. I shall explain what I mean and illustrate with examples from personal experience. They are - Assessment/Accreditation - Study skills - Motivation - Access - Content # Assessment/Accreditation ~ I am starting with assessment/accreditation, because I am including formal and informal study and the issue of assessment/accreditation highlights the difference. ~ For informal study, there is no accreditation, the assessment is informal and can simply be a personal decision regarding the question - "Can I now do/understand what I set out to do/understand?" ~ For formal study there is probably formal accreditation. The process of accreditation may or may not have an ICT based component. ~ Example - this DDN list. I would guess many people are here to learn, and that some will have arrived here because it is a useful resource for their formal studies. I would guess that others, like me, are here as informal students. No one is guiding my study, or assessing it and it is not directed to any accreditation. I see myself as an L3 student (Life Long Learner) studying ICT4D (ICT for development). I am currently involved in project based learning. I am finding out how to use ICTs on "my side" of the digital divide (the bandwidth-rich side) to support community development projects in rural Nigeria on "the other side" of the digital divide. This list helps me to learn what I need to know. # Study skills ~ An important area to consider and one which sometimes contributes to confused discussion regarding the role of the teacher and the place of ICTs. Study skills tie in with issues of discipline and management. ~ Classroom teachers are well aware of the issues of class-management - and how good class management contributes to effective study. To oversimplify - class management has to do with appropriate discipline and with matching the work to be done with the skills and abilities of the students. ~ Different students have different levels of self-discipline regarding their studies ~ Where the set work is a poor match for the student's abilities more support is needed. ~ Young or immature learners need more support in tackling their work than is needed by mature experienced students. ~ ICTs may or may not be able to contribute in some way to these elements of support. ~ Example - My own experience as an undergraduate was with the Open University in the UK. The OU uses Distance Learning materials, including ICTs, and also makes a point of teaching its new students study skills. ~ Example - Education includes a wide range of ages and abilities - people learning in very different ways and needing different study skills and levels of teacher intervention and support. Just running through some of my own varied work experience illustrates this point - from pre-school to adult and including mixed ability, Emotional and Behavioural Disorders (EBD), severe physical disabilities, prisoners, learning difficulties, teacher training, adult education, courses for gas fitters, civil servants, senior management - all sorts. I say this simply to illustrate that words like "teaching" and "learning" are wide ranging - so that broad generalisations can be misleading and it is helpful if statements are placed in context. # Motivation ~ An important element in successful study. All teachers and students know the difference that motivation plays in effective study. ~ Increased motivation is sometimes given as a reason for using ICTs. It is always important to recognise why ICTs are having a motivating effect. Some ICT applications motivate because they genuinely help or inspire the students in their studies, and are likely to have long term motivational value. Others rely more on the novelty of using the technology and should be viewed with some caution regarding motivation beyond the short term. # Access ~ ICTs have a huge role to play as a delivery mechanism increasing access ~ They have the potential to overcome:problems of physical separation between potential students and places where study opportunities are located. ~ They can offer flexibility regarding times of study so that people are not excluded because of other demands on their time during "traditional hours of face to face study". ~ They can offer all kinds of mix-and-match study opportunities made up of wider ranges of smaller modules than is possible though traditional F2F study programmes. ~ The technology can be shared ~ Increasingly we are seeing the development of ICTs - such as the Simputer and the Solo- specially designed to make ICT use more accessible in places where traditional PCs were never designed to function. ~ Personal example of access - I was a "second chance" undergraduate, and my chance came through Open and Distance learning via the OU when I was the mother of two children (primary school age) working full time, living "in the middle of nowhere" in rural Cornwall. I could not have accessed higher education through traditional channels. With hindsight it was as if I had been intellectually starved and the OU ideas and information were the intellectual food that I needed.. ~ My personal vision with ICTs in education is to expand the opportunities that I was offered - to share "second chance" and L3 opportunities with the communities that I know in rural Nigeria and with other communities like them - especially for people who are in the situation of "intellectual starvation" that I was in as a young mother. But I am not only interested in undergraduate studies, we can deliver practical life skills too, including adult literacy where relevant - whatever people want and need. Technically its "not that difficult" and in terms of investment its "not that expensive" especially if the content is relevant to local capacity building rather than certification leading to population drift. But it does require an integrated holistic approach. # Content ~ Obviously the whole thing is a complete waste of time if there is no appropriate content. That is simply a matter of collaboration and resources. That's not difficult either - if people really want it to happen. None of this is pie in the sky - I could illustrate all the different elements from projects I know - but it needs resources to pull all the pieces together. Although the elements need to be pulled together for implementation, for discussion ti may be best to separate them out. To explore the potential benefits of ICTs it helps to be clear which elements we are considering -hence this list I offer:. - Assessment/Accreditation - Study skills - Motivation - Access - Content Pam Pamela McLean [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
