Category: LRNT 523

LRNT523 Unit 1 Assignment 1

There are a few cases where it is important to do calculations by hand, but these are small fractions of cases. The rest of the time you should assume that students should use a computer just like everyone does in the real world – Conrad Wolfram

With a MA from Cambridge University in the field of physics, natural sciences and mathematics and founder and CEO of computerbasedmath.org & Wolfram Research Europe he is an activist and a pioneer in the reform of mathematics in education and the necessary rebuild of the math curriculum (“Conrad Wolfram,” n.d.).  He forces to break old habits of the traditional methods of teaching math and re-think, re-frame and re-engineer the way we train this compulsory curriculum in the 21^st century.

We need math for 3 reasons: (Wolfram, 2010)

1. For almost any job
2. Everyday life
3. Logical thinking

Stop teaching calculations and start teaching math – Conrad Wolfram 

I selected Conrad Wolfram for my assignment as an innovator in the field of education because of his drive and belief in that if math could be more practical and less mechanical, it would become more appealing to students. Wolfram has become a major advocate for the use of computers and calculators in k-12 classrooms.

As it was contradictory to my perspectives, I was fascinated on how this all could make sense as an educator, instructional designer, corporate trainer, recruiter, parent, and life long learner.

He claims that there is this myth around you need to know the basics to do math the right way and that if you just get a computer to do it, it is just mindless button pushing, but if you do it by hand it is intellectual. (Wolfram, 2010).  That’s exactly what I thought!

Now, there’s no denying getting to know the basics to give individuals working aptitude to do mental math is still important, however he claims the focus should not be around the calculation itself, as the calculation is simply the means to an end, and not the end.  He suggests that writing out the equation on paper to get the right answer isn’t the way to do math, rather using a computer for the computation, which it has been created for, is used and take the focus off the equation itself and refocus on what is the real-world problem we are trying to solve.

Doing math in 4 easy steps: (Wolfram, 2010)

1. Make sure to pose the right question; what is it we are tying to find out; what problem are we trying to solve?
2. Take this real-world problem and create a math formula
3. Allow the computer to compute the answer, rather than doing it manually on paper, get the computer to do it
4. Take the math formula and ask did it solve the real-world problem, did it answer the question, can it be verified?

We encourage and want students to be content creators, not just the consumers of content (Wolfram, 2010).  Math should be more practical and more conceptual and less mechanical and without the shift there will be deficiencies in the future skills of our workforce such as being imaginative, creative problem solvers, analytical and critical thinkers.

This is important as someone working in a corporate HR team not only recruiting, but implementing learning solutions to support the development of skills and knowledge to ensure a competitive and competent workforce.

Sites to visit for more information on Conrad Wolfram

• Conrad Wolfram Website
• Conrad Wolfram BLOG
• Wolfram U
• https://www.computerbasedmath.org/

 

References

Wolfram, C. (2010, November).  Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers.  Retrieved from https://youtu.be/60OVlfAUPJg

Conrad Wolfram.  (n.d.).  In Wikipedia.  Retrieved October 10, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Wolfram

 

 

LRNT523 Unit 3 Activity 7

 Authors: Chad FLINN, Beata KOZMA, Dorothy SIDHU, and Danielle STOKES.

Kozma cited Simon (1981) and Glaser (1976) and claims that educational technology is a design science (Simon, 1981, Glaser, 1976 as cited in Clark, 1994), not a natural science. Kozma (1994, p. 2) expresses that we, the people, the instructional designers need to ‘forge’ the connection between media and learning. If we don’t their educational contribution will be minimal at best.

In both his articles, Clark (1984, as cited in 1994, p. 2) claimed that “media not only fail to influence learning, they are also not directly responsible for motivating learning.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (“Influence | Definition of Influence by Merriam-Webster,” n.d.) defines ‘Influence’ as “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways”. Clark’s arguments seem to miss the meaning of ‘influence’ as our articles reveal.

Both Clark (1994) and Kozma (1994) acknowledge that instructional methods and the chosen media must be aligned to facilitate meaningful learning. In the summaries of the articles below, it can be seen that both Clark and Kozma have valid arguments in the field of pedagogy.  As we see, the evolution of media (Virtual and Augmented Reality) has shifted its use and potentially a shift in the authors’ views. While there was a time when media may have been no more than a glorified video lecture we are now seeing media influencing assessments, connections, personalized learning, and construction of knowledge.

The following four articles support and question Clark and Kozma’s arguments and lead to a continued debate on the use of technology and learning and what the future may bring in this field.

Is Digital Technology Changing Learning & Teaching?  The Big Debate from Digifest 2017

With clear opposing viewpoints and strong positional stances between Clark (1994) and Kozma (1994) on the debate of independence versus interdependence amongst learning and media Clark has claimed, “30 percent sample of the studies he used and found that when the same instructional design group produces Computer Based Training (CBT) and presents the live instruction with which it is compared in many studies, there is no achievement difference between CBT and live conditions” (1994, p. 23). Kozma responded with, “knowledge and learning are neither solely a property of the individual or the environment and rather they are the reciprocal interaction between the learner’s cognitive resources and aspects of the external environment (Greeno, 1988 et al. as cited in Kozma, 1994, p. 9) and this interaction is strongly influenced by the extent to which internal and external resources fit together” (Snow 1992 as cited in Kozma, 1994, p. 9).

In the article, Is Digital Technology Changing Learning & Teaching, a similar debate continues a decade and a half later in 2017 between Neil Morris, who argues FOR that digital technology is fundamentally changing learning and teaching and Amber Thomas, who argues AGAINST the motion.

The three main points included by Morris in favor of learning and teaching are changing due to technology are the flexibility and accessibility of learning, way learners gain knowledge, and interaction with others. Morris suggests, “None of these were even imaginable before we started to integrate digital technology into education” (Morris, 2017, p. 4). Morris sees these three points as interconnected to digital technology changes in learning and teaching. In Morris’s first point on flexibility, he describes how learners are able to access learning from anywhere, anytime and any pace. The options between blended, hybrid and fully online allow learners to have a choice and they can integrate it as seen best into their lives.  This, in turn, sees several benefits which could include; increases in enrollment, greater participation, higher motivation and satisfaction. His second point explains how learners are gaining competencies through the use of technology, where they are expected to not only use technology but as well as hone in on skills around massive amounts of information and ability to search, refine, categorize and understand (Morris, 2017). These are all directly useful for future employment, as these are some of the skill seeked out for tomorrow’s workforce. The third point Morris discusses is how learners are able to interact with peers and teachers residing globally, in turn enabling advocacy around inclusion and diversity, cultural awareness, and globalization.

Furthermore, Morris describes these changes give educators more diversity in their approach to support learners and provide more opportunities to be more inclusive in their teaching methods. Additional benefits raised by Morris is with digital technology, educators can create more interactive, engaging, flexible learning materials in a variety of digital and multimedia formats, as well as make them online and compatible with mobile devices. Finally, the ability to communicate as educators through the use of digital technology allows for higher and greater interaction with learners, communicating in more ways and not limited to classroom and meetings face to face.

Amber Thomas sees things in a similar viewpoint as Clark. She expresses that, “drivers for change in teaching and learning in higher education are socio-economic, related to the way student fees are funded, changes in the job market, the currency of a degree and the skills people need.  As a result of those drivers, we see technologies used in particular ways” (Thomas, 2017, p. 8). Thomas takes a pretty clear stance that digital is the endpoint and the real efforts are within the design and development by instructional designers and architects of the content to create a great digital course, emphasizing it’s about the real structures in the learning designs, course objectives, and learning outcomes.

She continues to emphasize that the learning is about conversations with academics and educators around what the course is about, how the learning is designed, what is it designed to do, how teams will be structured and allocation of time put aside for running an activity. Thomas explicitly went on to say, “Those are not technical concerns and can be quite disappointing for those who believe that we have the magical pixie dust of technology to scatter of their courses for them” (Thomas, 2017, p. 12).

The tensions between interconnectedness and interdependence between technology, media, digital and learning versus them as stand-alone and a silo pillar continue to be debated a decade later. As we continue to see greater exposure with technology in the space of learning, more demands for mobile learning, personalized learning plans, alongside with artificial intelligence and classrooms and training facilities outfitted with advanced systems and technologies for learning, it will be interesting to see if this necessary and inevitable relationship finds a cohesiveness where designing and developing great learning goes hand in hand with digital technology.

LRNT523 Unit 3 Assignment 2

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been part of mainstream adoption for the past decade by many higher education institutions and organizations with professional industry training.  A decade may not seem that long, however the build up to what we know LMSs to be today goes way back in time.

Looking back in history, 1906 University of Wisconsin established the first distance learning institution in the world education scenario.  Fast forwarding a half century later to 1960 University of Illinois developed PLATO – Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations.

LMSs have evolved spanning the divide in the space of Proprietary LMS to Open Source LMS to Cloud Based LMS.  Consumers continue to push the limits for more added functionality,  users now see content creation, communication, assessment and administration as table stakes.  The future of making it learning more convenient and easier, alongside personalized learning, social media, and portability continues to edge us forward in the upcoming decade and LMS 2.0.

As part one of assignment 2, I’ve been tasked to review several papers on the topic of LMS evolution, select 5 articles and provide a quick overview on the following areas: concept, main thesis, evidence, key points and critique.

Below you will find my annotations on the LMS evolution. Stay tuned for part two of my annotated bibliography assignment which will have a full synthesis of these 5 readings.

Dorothy Sidhu LRNT523 Assignment 2 – Annotated Bibliography Part ONE

As a continuation to assignment 2 below is part 2 of my assignment.  Please see my attached assignment synthesizing my findings.

Assignment 2 Part 2 – Dorothy Sidhu

“Soccer Ball in a Yard” by Ryan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

LRNT523 Unit 2 Activity 6

“Google CEO Eric Schmidt claims that society produces more information in two days than was created from the beginning of human history until 2003” (Weller, 2011, p. 234).

As we set out to accomplish Activity 6, and investigate the abundance of information on a topic, we first had to decide on something we felt we can learn more about, had little knowledge of, and gain new perspectives on. We started to talk about our different hobbies, and soccer was quickly part of our mainstream conversation. As current (Dorothy) and past (Amanda) soccer players, we were both familiar with the iconic soccer ball, but knew little about the ball’s history. This lead us on our google adventure of the soccer ball. As we knew there would be an inordinate amount of information we narrowed our curiosity to, why does the soccer ball look the way it does? Focusing on the tradition black and white hexagonal/pentagonal pattern, and what has caused it to change throughout the years?

Our Findings

• Soccer balls has evolved from humble beginnings, “inflated pigs bladders wrapper in leather” (Biggs, n.d., para 1.). Through the years, the science of the material has improved. The leather and rubber have been perfected to allow for better ball play, and product lifespan.
• Updates to the soccer ball were made due to the leather becoming waterlogged during games. The added weight caused head and neck injuries when players headed the ball (Rigsby, n.d.). These injuries have now been linked to dementia in previous players (Bazian, 2017).
• The iconic black and white pattern was done so the ball could be more visible on television and so that players could more easily track its curve. (Biggs, n.d.; Rigsby, n.d)
• The pattern of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons makes of a buckminster or buckyball- a truncated icosahedron pattern. It was used as it is the closet to a true sphere that they could create with sewn leather. It first appeared in the 1950s (Rigsby, n.d.).

Our confidence on whether abundant content around our topic exists to enable us to learn about it.

• We are confident that there is an abundant amount of content on the topic. This is due to not just the volume of content, but the diversity of who is publishing the content. This confirms one of Weller’s (2011) assumptions that “content is abundant” (p. 230) due to easy sharing platforms, such as blogs, personal websites, and social media.
• It is important to remember that the soccer ball belongs to a global market and industry that has been commoditized selling us this product. With so many global companies competing in the space of soccer our research spun out of control and took us through detours of pro vs cons of other products.
• Abundance also comes from the fact soccer is a universal world sport, a common sport that women, men and children play.  It is a part of the many lives due to affordability. There are 211 countries that have a national soccer team, players that are famous and fans that idolize and buy all the memorabilia.  Alongside soccer games having a dedicated TSN channel, universities offer soccer scholarships. This almost hinders our ability to learn as the abundance of information does not always make our task of learning easier (Weller, 2011).
• Weller points out that “when goods become digital and available online then scarcity disappears” (2011, p. 224) as it is the case since soccer balls can be customized with any color and graphic and ordered online 24/7 through soccer websites and online stores like Nike and Adidas.
  

Is abundant content enough?

• No, we need to make sure that we have “developed teaching and learning approaches to make best use of it” (Weller, 2011, p. 228).  There has to be distilling and curation of the content to ensure is understood and applied appropriately.
• Often just because there is a lot of information out there it does not mean that the information is valid. It is important to check your sources and consider who is behind the information. The evidence and authority of your sources are essential to ensure accuracy and be supported.
• Sometimes there is so much that you actually don’t get to what you are looking for, as it is masked with some many layers you can easily lose what you were really trying to scaffold and uncover. Kind of like losing your eye on the prize!
• When there is an abundance of content it may be too much, creating a feeling of overwhelming and less clarity. With so much content you can find more sources that sound different, leading to misinterpretation or contradictions.  As Weller points out, “It could be argued that with everyone able to publish content in a web 2.0 world, then the ‘dangers’ inherent in constructivism become more pronounced, as the proliferation of conspiracy theories might attest. However, given that this is the environment everyone has to operate within, the ability to construct appropriate and rigorous knowledge from a range of sources is even more relevant” (2011, p. 229).

What do you need to be equipped with to make use of the abundant content that we discovered?

• Research skills, students need to be able to narrow down the results when searching for specific information.
• Time management and focus to be able to distill and weed out poor sourced and evidenced information.  Using certain sites, resources and sources that are recognized and suggested over others.Find information that has valid evidence that supports your findings and possible conclusions.
• Content management skills where you can break apart and compartmentalize information in to sub-topics and groupings. Furthermore, being able to “see connection between fields, ideas, and concepts” (Weller, 2011, p. 232).
• Technology such as having a mobile device or computer, and the internet, opens up the world to this information. It also allows us to search for information find out who is behind the publications. To be able to learn with all the abundance of information out there, you first must have access to it.

What ways can we make use of this content as instructors or learners?

• To educate players about the sport’s history and some of the reasons why the ball differs. This knowledge can be translated to their game; for example, how it  the ball may react differently on turf vs grass, why it spins and curves when they are taking a shot, and why it grips the way it does when they do a throw. This can help players connect the why with the what, as connectivism suggests this helps nurture to facilitate continual learning (Weller, 2011) and furthermore the opportunity to share that knowledge with others.
• To satisfy and engage in curiosity, for instance we are now wondering how the new balls that are being created would be traced on a black and white televisions, and how certain weather conditions impact the physical aspects of the ball, such as in extremely hot, cold, or rainy conditions. Does it make a difference in the physical aspects of the soccer ball, or if there are environmentally friendly balls?
• To reference as an example of how history and influential societal changes and makes an impact; for instance once soccer became televised the ball had to be changed to make it more visible. This has brought people together from all parts of the world during world cup and how massive global companies started to capitalize on selling the product for profit and sponsorship.  It provides meaning, context and a story behind something as simple as a soccer ball.
• To gain knowledge and insights, to improving skills, knowledge, and abilities as a soccer player.  As technology continues to advance at a rapid speed there are virtual reality rooms that you can virtually kick a soccer ball at a screen which looks like a net and see if you hit certain targets and score goals against a virtual goalie.

References

Bazian. (2017). Heading footballs ‘linked to brain damage in professional players’. Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/heading-footballs-linked-to-brain-damage-in-professional-players/

Biggs, S. (n.d.) WHY ARE SOCCER BALLS MADE OF HEXAGONS? Retrieved from https://livewell.jillianmichaels.com/soccer-balls-made-hexagons-4225.html

Rigsby, B. (n.d.) The History of the Soccer Ball. Retrieved from http://soccerballworld.com/History.htm

Weller, Martin (2011). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249 pp. 223–236.

LRNT523 Unit 2 Activity 5

As I took a dive in to the readings of activity 5, instantaneously I began to converge what was being read to what was already hard wired in my brain.  The three learning theories; behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism had me rapid firing several thoughts and questions that seemed to naturally have a connection and interplay with these three theories. 

Behaviorism is about what the learner’s response is to a stimulus and what they do; observable and measurable, where cognitivism is about the learner processing new information and how they organize and connect it with existing information, and finally constructivism is about the interpretation of new information and the meaning and application learners make to their own realities.

I was convinced some of the following variables listed below would help guide what theory was best suited, since I’m convinced one wasn’t necessarily better than the other and perhaps a combination of all three would better serve a more holistic learning approach for the end user. 

As I reflect on my own approaches to designing, developing and implementing learning solutions many of the choices made for good instructional design are based on several considerations below and by no means is this an exhaustive list:

• Is the learner a novice or an expert?
• Is the content simple or complex?
• Is what’s being taught concrete or abstract?
• What is the domain of learning?
• What is the classification of learning objectives based on Blooms Taxonomy?
• Does the learner come with a depth and breadth of experience and tenure?
• What demographics & diversity come in to play (gender, age, location, culture, ethnicity, position)?
• What is their educational background?
• Is there a preferred modality (technological limitations)?
• Currency of time and cost?
• Is there an assumed baseline of knowledge / pre-requisite?
• Is there specific industry risks and regulations?
• Is there an alignment to any competencies?
• What is the level of expertise of facilitator / teacher?

LRNT523 Unit 1 Activity 2

Education for All

I recall my teenage daughter approaching me in sheer shock and disbelief when she learned that it wasn’t that long ago, in the not so distant past, when there was discrimination that prevented many people from receiving an education.  Lost for words, upset, and confused, yet so very grateful the world has since evolved where education is available through a broader and wider net cast, to a larger population of people regardless of age, gender, social status and race.

Education has further catapulted through technological advancements enabling people from all parts of the nation, continent and world near and far, through open and distant education to participate with no boundaries. Accessibility and connectivity as one cohort, as if we are all from the same geographical coordinates on a map.

The history of education has formed so much of the foundation and building blocks of where we are today.  An article from Adult Basic Education written by author Pierre Walter painted a vivid picture of some Canadian history that formed the movement of Alfred Fitzpatrick, founder of Frontier College, on his crusade to give uneducated immigrant laborers an education.  His pitch was, “it’s high time the great resources of nature should be used not to make the few rich, but to make the many wise.” (Fitzpatrick 1920/1999 as cited in Walter, 2003, p.5)  With this he was able to establish a system where university educated men would serve as teachers in the camps supporting literacy programs and exposure to educational, health and social services.  By 1904 there were reading rooms in 42 camps maintained through donations from charge congregations, lumbermen, railways, politicians and other key public figures. By 1922, Frontier College had been granted a federal government charter and became Canada’s first university to offer degrees through extramural study and in 2001 celebrated its 100^th anniversary.  Like many of the pioneers, Fitzpatrick paved the way for inclusion and opportunities for something so essential.  The grassroots of all these pivotal markers in history have really influenced much of where we are today.

Another scholarly article written by Associate Professor Dr. Yusup Hashim shares the movements led by UNESCO and initiative called Education is for All (EFA).  The initiative advocates education shouldn’t be confined to age, ethnicity, gender and social status and through technology open and distant learning can help with the EFA goal.   Dr. Hashim expresses the concept of EFA, equal education opportunities and lifelong learning cannot be addressed with traditional methods of teaching and old technology needs to be replaced by learner-centred approach, supported by online learning pedagogy and technologies. “The education system should be open and flexible in terms of entry, technology and pedagogy.  Students can learn anywhere, anytime and at their own pace and not be confined to live classroom teaching and synchronous learning materials.” (Hashim, 2010, p.2) With open and distance learning (ODL) it may advance us in the cause of accommodation and accessibility to education opportunities, as well as address the needs and demands of 21st century learning.

References

Walter, P. (2003).  Adult Literacy Education on the Canadian Frontier.  Journal of Adult Basic Education,  13(1), 3-18.

Hashim, Y. (2010).  Open and Distance Learning (ODL) – Semantic Scholar.  Asia e University.  Retrieved September 7, 2018 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=84D227F92ACD10D5D828CED0EFF461CF?doi=10.1.1.175.5417&rep=rep1&type=pdf