Pedagogy & pedagogical approach
Pedagogy has been called "the art and science of teaching," the "knowledge and skills that practitioners of the profession of teaching employ in performing their duties of facilitating desired learning’s in others" (Dunkin, 1987, p. 319) cited in Fisser, P.(2010) . As Fisser, P. (2010) added that, the increasing use of technology in education has also led to a rethinking of current pedagogical approaches. In the past educational institutions have provided little choice for students in terms of the method and manner in which programs have been delivered. Now a day as Boer (2004) indicated, ICT applications provide many options and choices and many institutions are now creating competitive edges for themselves through the choices they are offering students. These choices extend from when students can choose to learn to where they learn. In this topic, five different kinds of pedagogical approaches and the way how to support them by Course Management System (CMS) explained.
A Tip to Course Management System (CMS)
A Course Management System (CMS) is a tool that allows an instructor to post information on the web without that instructor having to know or understand HTML or other computer languages(Meerts, J. 2003). A more complete definition of a CMS is that it provides an instructor with a set of tools and a frame work that allows the relatively easy creation of online course content and the subsequently teaching and management of that course including various interactions with students taking the course. More…
Important elements in the models of Mason and of Bourne, McMaster, Rieger, and Campbell are self-study, discussions, authentic activities, collaborative learning, and resource-based learning. These elements can be explained as follows according to Boer (2004):
Self-study. When learners can make choices with regards to their learning route as well as their place and pace of learning (King 1993; Parsloe, 1986;), self-study is often the resulting approach. This type of learning is mostly designed for individual students and focuses on reading. Assessment can be self-organized via Web-based tests. Communication with other students, and/or instructors is limited. Courses can be delivered to learners in pre-packaged forms (Pickles, 2001).
Discussions. Learning through discussion and debate is a popular way of using Web technology within education. Gilbert and Moore (1998) make it clear that interaction is of great importance within education, and discussion and debate involve peer interaction. Oliver, Omari, and Herrington (1998) report that Web-supported learning environments for on- and off-campus students often focus on particular communication approaches, such as discussion groups, use of chat rooms, and document sharing.
Authentic activities. Gay (1997) sees that Web technology can offer an ideal venue for practicing constructivist principles. Reeves (2002) and Herrington (2002) argue that in Web-supported learning environments it should be “the task that matters most” rather than content transmission. Tasks should and can be more authentic, instead of academic. Other researchers support this emphasis on authentic and active pedagogy. Sfard (1998) speaks about the change from a dominance on a knowledge acquisition approach toward a focus on a participative approach. The students’ role can be either focused on acquisition or shift toward contribution (Collis &Moonen, 2001), where the students will actively contribute to the learning materials and discussions within a course in a way that their contributions become part of the learning materials for other students, in their own cohort and future cohorts.
Collaborative learning. The term "collaborative learning" refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal (Anuradha A. Gokhal,2005). The students are responsible for one another's learning as well as their own. Thus, the success of one student helps other students to be successful. According to Johnson and Johnson (1986), there is persuasive evidence that cooperative teams achieve at higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who work quietly as individuals(cited in Anuradha A. Gokhal,2005) . The shared learning system gives students an opportunity to come together for discussion, take responsibility, and thus become critical thinkers. In addition, these approaches encourage questions-and-answers among the students.
For such kind of learning, a web based approach i.e, an online group discussion forum or in the form of chat can be applied. Green, Eckel, and Barblan (2002) mentioned the use of Web technology to foster active and group learning both in and out of the classroom. Sfard (1998) also supports this approach.
Resource-based learning: Ling (1997) sees that the student can be more active as pedagogy moves towards resource-based learning supported by Web technology. This means that delivery of information can be more teacher-independent than in conventional face-to-face teaching.
To Sum up:
As we can see from the explanation , all listed approaches can be addressed to the learner through integrated web technology system, which leads the education to more flexible way of learning approach. However, to make it practical the instructors should think in depth about the redesign of their courses, the goal, content design approach, organization, methods, strategies and emphasize more authentic, complex, and collaborative tasks. In addition, both the teachers as well as students need to be familiar with it. As Boer (2004) clearly explained, a blend of traditional teaching delivery and the use of Web technology, as well as a blend between traditional teaching pedagogies and new pedagogies, would integrate the best of two worlds. Finally, the availability of a well designed technology, very less complex, easy to adapt and user friendly interface or CMS in the school leads to a better accomplishment of those pedagogical approaches.
Important !!
How CMS is used ?
When the CMS is used to guide the students’ learning by making them aware of the learning objectives of the course, the outline and schedule for the lessons, important dates especially those for tests and assignments, summaries of important content, examples of credible resources, and opportunities for review and practice; it is not only convenient, but it helps them to manage, organize and keep tract of information; it helps them to learn (Valerie Lopes, 2008). To see more please Click here
References
Anuradha A. Gokhal.( 2005, November1). Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking, Vol.7. Virginia: Virginia Tec. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/jte-v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html
Boer. (2004). Pedagogical-flexible models for CMSs.
Fisser, P. (2009). Lecture of September 29, 2009. Pedagogies for flexible learning supported by technology.
Lopes, V. (2009, December). Course Management Systems and Campus-Based Learning, No.29. Canada: Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education Retrived from http://www.csshe-scees.ca/pf/PF_29_Lopes.pdf
Meerts, J.(2003, October 20). Course Management System (CMS). EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee, Wesleyan University Retrieved from http://www.google.nl/#sclient=psy&hl=nl&rlz=1R2SUNC_enNL397&q=Course+managment+system.pdf&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=afc721cb2df68bb7
21 st Century Pedagogy
A vision of K-12 Student Today
Nice (short) overview of the different pedagogical approaches with some additional references. I expected a little bit more detail about the support that technology can offer. For instance, what do you mean when you say that the use of Web technology can foster active and group learning both in and out of the classroom. How can this be organised in such a way that it really fosters active learning for instance?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Petra.
ReplyDeleteI am actually focused on the main points & to address them in a short way to my readers. I fully agree with your idea atleast to make a bit detail on areas which are more important.
If I use this chance, at least to give clarity on the raised issue regarding the collaborative learning approach, it is meant when the students are in class and out of class doing their work within a group. In this case the Web can serve them as a resource since it is available everywhere. As Smith and MacGregor (1992)explained, Collaborative learning covers a broad territory of approaches with wide variability in the amount of in-class or out-of-class time built around group work.In our case for example, there are a lot of group works which we are doing in class & out of class and in all cases we are using any appropriate web sources like blackboard and others.
I also need to advice my readers to see more on the following reference if interested:
Smith and MacGregor’s. (1992). What is Collaborative Learning?
I hope I will take care of that next.