Defining Educational Technology PDF

Defining educational technology Technology Consider refrigeration as a technology. Refrigeration has changed a great deal over the years. People have known for thousands of years that food stored in cool places or packed in snow would last longer than food not kept cool. Refrigeration is not a new...

Defining educational technology Technology Consider refrigeration as a technology. Refrigeration has changed a great deal over the years. People have known for thousands of years that food stored in cool places or packed in snow would last longer than food not kept cool. Refrigeration is not a new technology. There were not many advances in refrigeration until it was discovered (perhaps in the 1500s) that the temperature of water could be lowered by the addition of certain chemicals such as sodium nitrate. Icehouses became popular in the 1800s and various insulating techniques for slowing the melting process were devised. Mechanical refrigeration took off in the middle of the nineteenth century as methods to compress a gas, such as ammonia, methyl chloride, or sulfur dioxide, circulate it through radiating coils, and then expand it were devised in America, Australia, France, and elsewhere. In the early part of the twentieth century, chlorofluorocarbons such as Freon replaced the more toxic gases that had been in use. Fifty years would pass before it was discovered that chloro - fluorocarbons had a harmful effect on the atmosphere (ozone depletion) and indirect toxic effects on humans. Technology is usually considered to be the disciplined applica - tion of knowledge to benefit mankind, but technology can also have harmful effects. The means used to control the vaporization and condensation of the gases used in refrigeration have also changed over the years. A gas or propane refrigerator is able to control these processes by simply heating a gas such as ammonia that first vaporizes, 4 Introducton and Overview and then dissolves and condenses in water. This process involves no motor and is quite simple. However, gas refrigerators did not do as well in the marketplace as electric refrigerators that used a motor to control expansion and compression. In modern electric refrigerators there are automatic defrosters, ice-makers, and many other features. When my grandmother passed away in the 1980s at the age of 94, she had four refrig - erators in her farmhouse in Alabama. One was an icebox that had an upper compartment to hold a block of ice and a lower compartment to hold food. She also had a propane refrigerator and two electric refrigerators, one of which had an icemaker and automatic defroster. All four refrigerators were in working order and in use. She used the icemaker in the newest refrigerator to keep the icebox supplied. She was fascinated by the technology of refrigeration and used the technology to preserve the food she produced on her farm. Her use of refrigeration technology definitely benefited our family. Why begin a book about educational technology with this short history of refrigeration? There are several reasons. First, this example will be used to develop a definition of technology. Second, this example emphasizes a key aspect of technology---namely, change. Third, the example suggests that technology by itself is neither good nor bad; rather, it is how technology is used that is good or bad. Finally, there are effects on society and the marketplace to be considered when planning and evaluating technology. Defining Technology From the refrigeration example, one might be inclined to say that technology involves a tangible thing such as a block of ice or a refrigerator. However, such a definition would omit the processes used in evaporation and condensation, the various gases involved, techniques for insulating ice, methods for producing the gases used, and more. Some refrigeration units were fully specified on paper but never manufactured. Is the detailed specification for a refrigerator a technology? Is the process used in propane-powered absorption a technology? These are good questions to discuss in class, by the way. The word 'technology' is derived from two Greek words---techne (art, craft, or skill) and logia (words, study, or body of knowledge). The etymology of 'technology' suggests knowledge about making things, which would seem to include the specification for a refrigerator as a technology. The classical view of a definition involves the essence of the thing being defined--- that which makes it what it is and not something else. One might be tempted to ask about the essence of technology, perhaps in the form of necessary and sufficient conditions or characteristics. However, a modern view of a definition also considers how the term is used. It is true that many people use the word 'technology' to refer to manufactured objects such as computers, telephones, and refrigerators. If one listens carefully, one will also hear people talk about the means of transmission used by different kinds of telephones as technologies or the different generations of computer technology. Those uses of 'technology' refer to something more abstract than a particular telephone or computer. What seems to run through most uses of the word 'technology' is the Defining Educational Technology 5 application of knowledge for a practical purpose. My grandmother used the icebox to preserve food; she wanted to feed her family (the practical purpose), and she knew the icebox would help make the food last longer (the knowledge). Let us agree that a technology involves the practical application of knowledge for a purpose. One way to make this notion concrete is through the concept of a patent. Nearly everything that is or could be patented represents a technology according to this defini - tion. This broad definition also will allow us to focus on different kinds of knowledge and different purposes to which that knowledge might be applied. Of course, the general purpose with which we are concerned is education, but this is also a broad area that is examined in the next section. Before moving on, though, it is worth noting that this definition of technology allows for change. In fact, change might be considered a basic aspect of technology since knowledge is generally progressing and the goals and intentions of people are dynamic. Technology changes. Just as refrigeration technology has changed dramatically over the years, most technologies tend to change. As technology changes, what people do changes. People preserve food for longer and longer periods of time and start to eat things grown in one season or in a different part of the world in a different season or region of the world. Technology changes what people do and what they can do. Technology can also influence what people want to avoid doing. Can you think of examples? That which a technology makes possible is called an affordance. Refrigeration technology affords us the opportunity to eat things grown elsewhere or out of season. Test Your Understanding Which of the following is/are (is/are not) a technology and why (why not) (refer to specific knowledge and purpose involved)? 1. a. White sand on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama. b. Sand poured into a hollowed box container large enough for a block of ice. c. Sand glued to a piece of sturdy paper. d. White sand in the desert near Tularosa, New Mexico. e. A procedure to turn sand into glass. 2. a. A laptop computer. b. A mobile telephone (cell phone). c. The Internet. d. A wireless network. e. An electric toothbrush. 3. a. A procedure to sort items into ascending alphabetical order. b. An algorithm for determining the standard deviation of a set of scores. c. A blueprint for a digital design studio. d. The pictographs and petroglyphs at Hueco Tanks, Texas. e. Picasso's painting entitled "Guernica." 6 Introducton and Overview Education Education, like technology, is quite broad in terms of what it encompasses. The word 'education' comes to us from Latin educare, which means upbringing, training, or support based on the combination of ex or more simply e (from, or out of) and ducere (to lead, to guide). The derivation of the modern term is informative as it suggests that education involves a purpose or a goal, and a process of support or guidance toward the achievement of that goal. However, to be sure we do not deviate too much from common sense and popular usage, it is worth noticing how the word 'education' is used. It is not uncommon to hear someone say of another person that he or she is well educated (or not). I have been told that my education is lacking in some areas---notably the arts. The word 'education' is often combined with a modifier to indicate a subject area or general approach, as in 'engineering education' or 'liberal education.' Occasionally, one might hear someone sum up a particularly unusual or unexpected experience by saying "that was certainly educational." In these uses of 'education' we again see the notion of a purpose and some kind of knowledge involved. There is typically the suggestion of a person or institution involved in the educational experience, although the person doing the educating might be oneself (as in 'self-educated'). Often, the word 'education' is used in a résumé to indicate the institutions attended and degrees earned by an individual. It would seem that both knowledge and a process of learning are involved in an educational experience. Rather than dig a deeper and deeper hole and fill it with more words, let us agree that learning involves a change in what a person is able or inclined to do or believe. Why introduce the notion of change here? Well, 'education' already has knowledge and purpose in common with 'technology.' Perhaps the notion of 'change' is a third common element. Indeed, if one claims that learning has occurred, then it would seem reasonable to ask "How do you know?" The answer could be that before the educational process occurred, the person could not do X but now that the person has learned something, he or she is able to do X (Gagné, 1985). Note that there is no attempt here to make fine distinctions between being educated and having learned, nor is there an effort to distinguish education from training, as many others have done. Rather, the intention is to maintain a broad definition of education that is closely associated with learning and that encompasses training. It is possible to make a distinction between learning well-defined and fully specified tasks and procedures (often called training) and learning more open-ended kinds of knowledge, such as historical interpretations of events or philosophical principles (a broader kind of learning than training). In our view, many things to be learned by humans involve a mixture of things that could be considered best learned by training (e.g., a routine procedure to determine the acidity of a fluid) and things that can be best learned by a broader kind of education (e.g., environmental planning). The concept that things to be learned involve multiple kinds of knowledge linked together can be found in a landmark journal article by Robert M. Gagné and M. David Merrill (1990; see Defining Educational Technology 7 www.ibstpi.org/Products/pdf/chapter\_5.pdf for the reprinted article in The Legacy of Robert M. Gagné) and also in an important book by Jeroen van Merriënboer (1997). Defining Education Drawing on this discussion of the etymology and general use of the term 'education' we can now define education as a process of improving one's knowledge, performance, and understanding through a systematic and sustained effort. While one use of the term 'education' implies that education can be unplanned and incidental (as in "my unexpected inability to perform was both enlightening and educational"), most uses of the term involve an intentional and effortful activity. Learning and knowledge are associated with education. While education is sometimes differentiated from training, in the view presented here education includes training as one supporting type of instruction appropriate for well-defined, recurrent tasks. Typically, education includes a broad range of learning activities and instructional sequences aimed at a broad goal, such as becom - ing a computer scientist, an engineering designer, a lawyer, a nurse, a refrigeration technician, or a teacher. Being an educated professional implies a certain level of com - petence in solving problems and performing tasks as well as a high level of knowledge about the subject area. Educational goals, as reflected in universities around the world, can be clustered around the following: (a) develop productive workers (emphasized in the Industrial Age and now being re-emphasized in the competitive global economic era); (b) develop effective problem solvers (emphasized in many disciplines and increasingly important in the Digital Age); (c) develop analytical and critical thinkers (long emphasized in engineering and management programs and increasingly important in the Information Age); (d) develop responsible citizens (a hallmark of a liberal education dating back at least to Dewey, 1907, 1916 and probably much further back in history); and (e) develop life-long learners (mostly a tacit educational goal until the twentieth century when lifespans increased and people began to have multiple careers and leisure time to pursue other interests). The point here is that education certainly involves change, as reflected by the use of 'develop' in each of the above goal clusters, those goal clusters themselves have been relatively stable over the years, although emphasized differently at different times and in different circumstances, as suggested in the parenthetical remarks above. In summary, our definition of education is broad and involves intentional and systematic study, guidance and support from others and often from an institution, along with changes in one's ability and knowledge. Education involves learning, instruction and performance, all of which are addressed in this volume. Education, like technology, involves change in addition to being purposeful and specific to a subject domain. Test Your Understanding Which of the following involve (or not) education and why (why not) (refer to specific knowledge and purpose involved)? 8 Introducton and Overview 1. a. Learning to repair the compressor on a refrigerator. b. Moving a nonfunctioning refrigerator to a garbage collection site. c. Learning about the Jornado Mogollon people who lived around Hueco Tanks, Texas. d. Reading about the conversion of gypsum into dry wall used in construction. e. Memorizing common phrases in a foreign language prior to visiting a country where that language is spoken. 2. a. Getting a driver's license. b. Obtaining a high school diploma. c. Having a transcript from a four-year university. d. Getting an award for outstanding performance in sports. e. Winning a prize in a school-sponsored raffle. 3. a. Sorting items into ascending alphabetical order. b. Determining the standard deviation of a set of scores. c. Developing a blueprint for a digital design studio. d. Drawing replicas of the pictographs and petroglyphs at Hueco Tanks, Texas. e. Searching the Internet for a restaurant that serves fresh fish. Educational Technology Having established broad boundaries for technology and education, we are now in a position to consider the general subject area of this book---educational technology. It is almost impossible to think of education without also thinking about the many different kinds of technology used to support education. A common technique used to teach children concepts is to provide an example, state the rule that makes it an example, point at more examples and also at some nonexamples explaining how the nonexamples violate the rule, and then allow the child to test his or her understanding on new examples, providing feedback on the child's performance. To teach the concept 'fruit,' one could point at a banana, an orange, and an apple and say of each one that it is an example of a fruit. When one then introduces a common definition of a fruit as the edible, seed-bearing portion of a plant, a teacher is likely to encounter all sorts of questions from children, such as "where are the seeds in a banana?" or "are tomatoes and squash fruits since they are edible and have seeds?" or "what about seedless watermelons?" Definitions are such fun and children are wonderful at finding counterexamples and problematic cases. We ought to preserve that talent. Next come the nonexamples such as nuts of various kinds, potatoes, sesame leaves, and turnip greens. Such a lesson might involve more than the concept 'fruit.' It might, for example, involve multiple concepts (fruits, nuts, vegetables) and the higher order concept of a balanced or nutritious diet. Nonetheless, basic concepts and terminology are important in many cases and for many learners---not just young children. One might say that one step in becoming an educated FIGURE 1.1 A slide rule (see http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR\_Course.htm) Defining Educational Technology 9 professional in a particular domain is learning to speak the professional language associated with that domain. This book is about learning to speak the language of educational technology. What happens when we try out that four-part technique (examples, nonexamples, categorizing rule, practice) of concept learning with 'educational technology.' Well, here are some examples of things people call educational technologies: (a) a computer tutorial introducing a new user to the use of a particular computer program; (b) an interactive whiteboard on which a computer screen is projected and then touched to activate a particular menu selection; (c) a discussion forum in an online learning management system; (d) a computer program that converts a formula into a curve; and (e) a database that contains detailed historical information about politicians and their votes. What rule might we generate that would help a novice correctly characterize these examples as educational technologies? Suppose we try out a simple rule such as this: a technology that can help a person learn something is an educational technology. These examples might all satisfy such a rule. Then we might try adding more examples such as (a) a handheld calculator; (b) a procedure for converting Farenheit to Celsius; (c) a formula for determining the volume of a sphere; (d) a Web-based tool to introduce, illustrate, and solve the Towers of Hanoi problem for an arbitrary number of disks (for an example, see www.mazeworks.com/hanoi/index.htm); or (e) a slide rule. A slide rule is an educational technology. Really? Really. It is one of the most effective educational technologies ever devised. A slide rule allows one to perform division and multiplication by simply adding and subtracting logarithms. A very nice introduction to the slide rule and a self-guided tutorial on its use can be found at the website for the International Slide Rule Museum: http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR\_Course.htm (see Figure 1.1). This website integrates history, procedures for performing calculations, and mathematical knowledge quite nicely. So, how is a slide rule an educational technology? One can learn about logarithms using a slide rule. One can perform calculations used in many mathematical and engin - eering enterprises with a slide rule. In short, a slide rule can support learning and performance and has many educational affordances, so it qualifies as an educational technology. 10 Introducton and Overview What makes a slide rule an exceptionally effective educational technology, however, is the fact that it requires very careful use of the sliders and scales. A very minor error in moving the sliding cursor and reading the scale with the hairline indicator can result in a major error. This forces slide-rule users to understand the problem being solved in advance well enough to formulate a range for what a reasonable answer would be. If the slide rule does not yield something in the anticipated range, the user would first suspect user error and perform the calculation again. In other words, what made the slide rule so effective was that it forced users to think about the problem being solved---users would typically reflect on the problem and formulate a rough answer prior to using the tech - nology. While the slide rule has been replaced by powerful handheld calculators and computers, it reminds us that a powerful affordance of an educational technology is to get one to think about the problem one is trying to understand. The educational principle here is that reflecting on the nature of the problem being solved is often effective in promoting learning and understanding---a principle well worth remembering. We shall omit providing nonexamples of educational technology to teach the concept of educational technology to someone new to the field. Such an activity might prove to be insightful in a classroom setting. As soon as a nonexample is postulated, I would expect someone to think of an educational application, however. That might prove to be fun to try in a classroom setting or discussion forum. When implementing concept learning in a classroom setting, the notion of practice with timely and informative feedback is important. Simply stating the rule and providing a few examples may be expedient but can easily result in misconceptions. Defining Educational Technology The prior discussion implies that one could define educational technology using an intersection of technology and education. How would that look? Figure 1.2 depicts a Venn diagram with two intersecting ovals: education and tech - nology, creating four areas: (1) neither education nor technology; (2) education but not technology; (3) technology but not education; and (4) education and technology. Clearly, area 4 is the general focus of this book. However, while there is a certain logical appeal to such a figure, it creates the task of identifying examples in each area, which is not so easy---give that a try as a class discussion activity or as a personal project. We still require a usable definition of educational technology to guide our explorations and further discussion. Here is a definition based on the common elements of purpose, knowledge, and change: Educational technology involves the disciplined application of knowledge for the purpose of improving learning, instruction, and/or performance. The notion of disciplined application of knowledge is included here to reflect the view that educational technology is an engineering discipline in the sense that principles based on theory, past experience, and empirical evidence guide what professional educational technologists do. These principles are derived from basic science and empirical research in such areas as cognition, cybernetics, information science, human factors, learning Education Technology Education Technology FIGURE 1.2 Educational technology Venn diagram Defining Educational Technology 11 theory, mass communications, message design, organizational theory, and psychology. Educational technology is inherently an interdisciplinary enterprise. The principle of encouraging problem solvers to reflect on the nature of the problem first can be traced to research in cognitive psychology (perhaps it goes back much further). Educational technology draws on the work of multiple disciplines. Because multiple disciplines are involved and because problems in educational technology are often complex and challenging, it is especially important to think about what one does (and of course how and why) in a disciplined and systematic manner. A systems perspective has long been a hallmark of educational technology. The systems perspective involves (a) a long-term view of the problem and solution (from imagination through implementation to interment); (b) a broad and holistic view of relevant factors (from the immediate context to incidental and unanticipated activities); and (c) a dynamic view of the problem space (things are likely to change). Educational technology involves multiple disciplines, multiple activities, multiple people, multiple tools, and multiple opportunities to facilitate meaningful change. There are a number of principles drawn from different disciplines that guide what educational technologists do. Many tools and technologies have been developed to help educational technologists perform their responsibilities. Figure 1.3 is a notional concept of educational technology created using a knowledge modeling tool called MOT plus developed at the LICEF Research Centre affiliated with the University of Montreal, Canada (see www1.licef.ca). In Figure 1.3, rectangles represent concepts, ovals represent procedures or processes, hexagons represent rules or principles, and octagons represent facts. Connections of various types exist, such as components (steps) of procedures, FIGURE 1.3 A notional concept map created with MOT plus 12 Introducton and Overview principles that influence concepts and categorizing decisions, and concepts and facts that affect procedures and other concepts. This obviously incomplete representation of educational technology is focused on the knowledge involved rather than on those who implement that knowledge to promote learning or on how the knowledge will be acquired, mastered, and applied. In addition to multiple disciplines and tools, educational technologists have different perspectives on the various processes and activities with which they are involved. Using technology to promote learning, instruction, and performance is far from a formulaic enterprise. There are many approaches, methods, and tools to inform good solutions for the challenging problems educational technologists confront. Figure 1.4 represents a way to view educational technology in terms of support for learning and instruction, especially with regard to instructional objects (see Spector, 2014b). In addition to offering support for instructional objects and others aspects of learning and instruction, new forms of technology are appearing that are referred to as smart technologies (Spector, 2014a). Smart technologies are those that exhibit characteristics of intelligent human behavior (e.g., selecting an appropriate alternative among multiple choices based on past knowledge and experience). Table 1.1 reflects the characteristics that might be considered necessary, desirable, or likely for a smart technology. We close this chapter with an illustration of a representative complex problem and suggested activities to work toward a solution. This example is used to inform two Information Objects -- for data, facts, discussion, figures, videos, and other such resources Knowledge Objects -- verified or confirmed information objects Learning Objects -- knowledge objects linked to a learning goal/objective Instructional Objects -- learning objects with feedback, activities, and assessments Courses -- structured collections of instructional objects Programs -- structured collections of courses Ongoing Efforts -- Educational lifelong learning technologies can be used to support all levels in this hierarchy, but especially important are those aimed at support for instructional objects A Hierarchy of Components to Support Learning and Instruction FIGURE 1.4 Educational technologies and instructional objects TABLE 1.1 Elaboration Necessary characteristics Effectiveness An intelligent tutoring system with evidence of improved learning Efficiency A tool that automatically assesses student inputs and provides feedback Scalable A technology that can be easily implemented on a large scale in multiple contexts Desirable characteristics Engaging An interactive game linked to a learning objective Flexible A tool or environment that automatically reconfigures itself to accommodate the current situation Adaptive A technology that automatically adapts itself to a specific learner and that learner's profile Personal\[izable\] A technology that responds to an individual with an awareness of that particular individual's history or situation Likely characteristics Conversational A system that interprets and responds with natural language Reflective A technology that prompts the learner to reflect on a particular aspect of a responsive Innovative A system that effectively integrates a new technology to support learning and instruction Defining Educational Technology 13 14 Introducton and Overview activities associated with this chapter: (1) discussing the example in small groups and collaboratively developing a more elaborated solution approach; and (2) initiating a portfolio which may be used for future activities in this and subsequent courses. A Representative Educational Technology Challenge A large educational organization that offers online courses and provides online support for courses and projects is considering changing its learning management system (LMS). Questions to consider include the following: 1. Which LMS is the best for the organization and its constituency in terms of learning effectiveness? 2. Which LMS is the most affordable for the organization to acquire and maintain? 3. What issues exist or are likely to arise with regard to support, acceptance, and use? 4. How and when will existing courses, support materials, and projects be migrated to the new system? 5. Who will train staff (and when and how) with regard to effective and efficient use of the new system? Learning Activities 1. Develop a plan that addresses the first three issues in the representative educational technology challenge. Share the plan with your colleagues and ask them to provide a critique; critique one or more of their plans in exchange for the feedback. 2. Develop a plan that addresses the last two issues in the representative educational technology challenge. Share the plan with your colleagues and ask them to provide a critique; critique one or more of their plans in exchange for the feedback. 3. Investigate several Internet sources pertaining to educational technology and develop a list of activities and responsibilities typically associated with instructional designers and educational technologists. Indicate the knowledge and skills associated with these activities and responsibilities. Share your findings with your colleagues and ask them to provide a critique; critique one or more of their findings in exchange for the feedback. Links The article entitled "Integrative Goals for Instructional Design" by Robert M. Gagné and M. David Merrill that appeared in Educational Technology Research and Development in 1990 was reprinted with permission in The Legacy of Robert M. Gagné, a volume sponsored by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (www.ibstpi.org) and is freely available at the following URL: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED445674. A nice example of a Web-based tool to help students learn about exponential functions in the context of the Towers of Hanoi game can be found at www.mazeworks.com/hanoi/index.htm. There are many more such examples of the Towers of Hanoi game available online. It is worthwhile to have a look at these and see how different examples might be used to teach different aspects of the Towers of Hanoi problem. Defining Educational Technology 15 An introduction to the slide rule and its use can be found at the website for the International Slide Rule Museum: http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR\_Course.htm. This website integrates history, procedures for performing calculations, and mathematical knowledge. A powerful knowledge modeling tool is freely available from the LICEF Research Center in Montreal, Canada---www.licef.ca/Home/tabid/36/language/en-US/Default.aspx. Another powerful concept mapping tool is called CMAPS developed by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) affiliated with the University of West Florida---http://cmap.ihmc.us/conceptmap.html. Other Resources The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)---www.aace.org The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)---www.aect.org The International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi)---www.ibstpi.org The New Media Consortium (NMC)---www.nmc.org (look for the Horizon Report) Spector, J. M. (Ed.) (2015). The encyclopedia of educational technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Spector, J. M., Merrill, M. D., Elen, J., & Bishop, M. J. (Eds.) (2014). Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (4th ed.). New York: Springer. References Dewey, J. (1907). The school and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: Macmillan. Gagné, R. M. (1985). The conditions of learning (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Gagné, R. M., & Merrill, M. D. (1990). Integrative goals for instructional design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 38(1), 23--30. Spector, J. M. (2014a). Conceptualizing the emerging field of smart learning environments. Smart Learning Environment, 1(2), 1--10. Spector, J. M. (2014b). Remarks on MOOCs and mini-MOOCs. Educational Technology Research & Development, 62(3), 385--392. van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (1997). Training complex cognitive skills: A four-component instructional design model for technical training. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. 16 two Values, Foundations, and a Framework "Everything changes and nothing remains still" (attributed to Heraclitus by Plato in the Cratylus) Values Given that technology changes and that what people do and can do changes, how are we to maintain a solid foundation and maintain our values? This challenge is put best, perhaps by Bob Dylan in his song "Forever Young" ("may you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift"), but is also evident in the writings of many, dating at least as far back as Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic philosopher. In the previous chapter, the claim was made that educational technology could be either beneficial or harmful, depending on its use. While the general intention is to use educational technologies for the good of one or more persons, unanticipated consequences can occur that are harmful. It is not logical to build the concept of ethics into the definition of educational technology, just as it would be inappropriate to build the concept of ethics into the definition of medical surgery. However, it is clear that ethics are part and parcel of medical practice, as exemplified by this portion of the classical Hippocratic Oath: Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves. (Edelstein, 1943: 1) Just as practitioners of medical technology are and should be guided by ethical prin - ciples, practitioners of educational technology are and should be guided by ethical Values, Foundations, and a Framework 17 principles. An Educratic Oath inspired by the Hippocratic Oath was proposed by Spector (2005) for educational technologists: 1. Do nothing to impair learning, performance, and instruction. 2. Do what you can to improve learning, performance, and instruction. 3. Base your actions on evidence that you and others have gathered and analyzed. 4. Share the principles of learning, performance, and instruction that you have learned with others. 5. Respect the individual rights of all those with whom you interact. The classical version of the Hippocratic Oath was selected rather than the modern version so as to introduce the notion of culture into the discussion. Ethical principles and values are closely connected with culture. Our culture is generally free from slavery, but there are many disadvantaged persons in our society. One of the unfortunate aspects of educational technology is that it can be unwittingly used in a way that creates additional disadvantages for those already being left behind economically and educationally. The first principle of this Educratic Oath implies that contributing to the widening of the socalled digital divide would be wrong. Do not create disadvantages for one population while creating advantages for another population. This is a difficult ethical principle to uphold, but it is our obligation to do so. The practice of educational technology does not occur without consideration of all sorts of values, including ethical principles. Some communities place particular value on the esthetics of learning spaces and environments. Others emphasize the openness of the learning community to alternative points of view. Some put economic consid erations first while others put learning outcomes first. One cannot say that one group or one values perspective is right or wrong. One should be able to identify the values perspectives of all those involved and do one's best to respect those values---or decide to go elsewhere. For additional information on ethics in educational technology, visit the Websites of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (www.aect.org) and the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (www.ibstpi.org). Skepticism Within the context of values pertaining to educational technology, it is perhaps worth mentioning the value of a skeptical predisposition with regard to the application of educational technology to improve learning and performance. There is a substantial history of educational technologists promising that the introduction and use of a particular technology will yield dramatic improvements in learning and instruction (Spector & Anderson, 2000). That has not happened, yet the promises of dramatic improvements on account of technology continue to be put forward. One ought to have a skeptical attitude with regard to such promises and predictions. A skeptical attitude is 5 4 3 2 1 FIGURE 2.1 Design levels and association concerns 18 Introducton and Overview essentially a questioning attitude, which is to say that one is engaged in trying to find out and willing to consider alternatives. Skepticism implies doubt along with a desire to know. Admitting that one does not know but wants to understand and is willing to investigate various explanations of something is the hallmark of skepticism, and it is also an important value to keep in mind for educational technologists. Another way to emphasize this point about skepticism is to say that one role of an educator and one use of educational technologies is to encourage students to have questions and to support activities resulting from having those questions. To have a question is to (a) admit to not knowing or understanding something, (b) commit time and effort to find out and understand, and (c) be open to explore and consider alternative explanations. That is to say, an educator is someone who gets others to have questions; an educational technology is something that supports finding answers. Of course, both characterizations are too narrow, but they can serve as useful guideposts. Levels of Design Figure 2.1 emphasizes the position of values in this educational technology framework and serves as a transition to the discussion of foundations. This figure also introduces the notion of design levels, which will be discussed later. Values, Foundations, and a Framework 19 The emphasis in the current discussion is on the top part of this pyramid---do no harm. Additional components and the notion of levels of design depicted in Figure 2.1 will be introduced in subsequent chapters in this volume. Test Your Understanding Identify potential harmful outcomes of each of the following scenarios. 1. Students are introduced to the graphing calculator and taught how to use it to reason about the relationships of variables in an algebraic expression. Calculators are available for all students at the school, and students are encouraged but not required to purchase their own calculators. 2. An update to the ejection procedure in a fighter aircraft has been introduced. Formerly, this aircraft ejected the pilot out the bottom of the aircraft, requiring the pilot to invert the aircraft when ejecting at low altitude. The new version of this aircraft now ejects the pilot out the top, like most other fighter planes. Pilots had received extensive training in the former procedure. The new procedure is announced and each pilot is sent a paper copy of the new procedure with no additional training. 3. A school has decided to give teachers merit pay based on the aggregated average performance of their students on state-mandated, standards-based tests. The school is supporting this effort by making available to all teachers new software that can be used to test students to see how likely they are to perform well on those tests and to identify particular trouble spots in terms of standards-based topics causing many students problems. 4. A massive open online course (MOOC) developed for graduate computer science students in the area of artificial intelligence offered at a top university is made a requirement for all graduate computer science students enrolled in a new artificial intelligence course offered at a small, regional university. Evidence of completing the MOOC is a requirement for attaining a grade of B in the new course. Additional tasks are required to attain an A. All those failing to complete the MOOC will receive a C, which is considered a failing grade for a graduate course at the small, regional university. Foundations Recognizing that values permeate and inform what educational technologists (and others) do, it is now appropriate to look at the underlying disciplines upon which educational technology rests. The traditional treatment of foundations is to show pillars upon which something rests, as in Figure 2.2. Various authors have depicted a variety of foundation pillars for educational technology. The six pillars in Figure 2.2 represent a composite summary of what others have identified (for example, see Richey, Klein, & Tracey, 2011). These particular pillars Foundation Pillars Education Technology Effecve problem FIGURE 2.2 Foundation pillars of educational technology 20 Introducton and Overview were selected because they also represent clusters of things that people do or that strongly influence what people do when in instructional situations. The six foundation clusters (pillars) are: communication, interaction, environment, culture, instruction, and learning. Each of these six pillars will be briefly discussed prior to offering an alternative view of foundations. Communication Communication skills are important to everyone in almost every profession. Educational technologists, whether they are developers, designers, instructors, or technology spe - cialists, have a need to communicate clearly and effectively with others, and particularly with persons having different backgrounds and training than their own. The Inter - national Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi; see www.ibstpi.org) found that the most critical skills for instructors as well as instructional designers were communication skills (see Klein et al., 2008) rather than skills in using or integrating technology. Communication skills include writing, speaking, and listening skills, in the context of the ibstpi studies. Communication skills are especially important in the world of educational technology as persons with different backgrounds and interests are involved (learners, managers, sponsors, technical specialists, designers, etc.). In addition, many communications occur in a digital form not involving face-to-face interaction (design specifications, Values, Foundations, and a Framework 21 instructional messages, learning content, etc.). Being clear, precise, coherent, and focused are crucial for success. Avoiding unfamiliar terminology, defining key terms, and pro - viding meaningful context and rationale are at a premium in the world of educational technology. From a foundations perspective, communication theories and principles form key aspects of the effective use of educational technology. For the purpose of this discussion, communication theory is broadly defined to cover theories, models, principles, and formats for representing, transmitting, receiving, and processing information. An example of a communication theory with implications for education is Paivio's (1991) dual coding theory. Although it is often considered a cognitive processing theory, Paivio argues that the human mind has evolved in such a way that it can simultaneously process and interrelate verbal (e.g., text) and nonverbal (e.g., images) information. For a person designing a representation of something complex and desiring to minimize the cognitive load on the learner, a graphical representation along with text might be effective, according to dual coding theory. This notion is further reinforced by cognitive flexibility theory (Spiro & Jehng, 1990), which is also generally considered a cognitive theory rather than a communication theory. Given the definition of communication suggested above, both can be considered communication theories, and both have strong implications for the effective planning and implementation of materials to support learning and instruction. Two additional comments round out this brief discussion of communication as a foundation pillar of educational technology. First, all of us are by nature language users and message designers. When we talk with our neighbors about politics or the weather, we are constructing messages for a particular purpose. Sometimes the purpose is to present simple information, in which case we might construct a purely descriptive message. On other occasions, the purpose might be to persuade, in which case we might make use of metaphor and hyperbole. Those who construct and deliver messages to support learning and performance need to think carefully about the purpose and the intended audience in order to design effective instructional messages. Second, while the ability to share information and exchange ideas with others is a characteristically human trait, a more fundamental but related characteristic is the ability to create internal representations of things we experience. Every human is a constructor of these internal representations, called mental models by cognitive psychologists (Johnson-Laird, 1983). The ability to create these internal representations is the essence of a constructivist epistemology. While most cognitive scientists and educational technologists accept epistemological constructivism as a common point of departure, there is a great deal of misunderstanding surrounding mental models and constructivism. People are naturally and continually constructing these internal representations, which are completely hidden from view. One never sees a mental model---not even one's own. What one can see is a representation of a mental model, and these representations come 22 Introducton and Overview in many forms (spoken and written text, pictures, crudely drawn images, and so on). These representations can be effective (or not) in showing or eliciting information about what a person knows and understands about a particular situation. Eliciting and evaluating such representations is a critical component of meaningful feedback in many situations. It should be obvious by now that the communication foundation pillar itself has underlying foundational theories, principles, and knowledge (e.g., cognitive science, epistemology, and media theory). This notion of related theories and principles is true of the other foundation pillars as well. Interaction Just as it is natural for people to talk about their experiences and create representations of their mental models, it is natural for people to act---to do things. M. David Merrill has said publicly in many of his presentations that people learn what they do. This is not so surprising. From a behavioral perspective, if an action is recognized as successful, it is thereby reinforced and likely to be repeated in similar circumstances. From a cognitive perspective, a person naturally seeks to be successful and, as a consequence, is likely to monitor actions taken, evaluate consequences, determine success, and then formulate an expectation of repeated success when similar decisions and actions are taken. From a neuronal perspective, neural connections and synaptic associations are reinforced in the brain with repetition. Those who plan and implement instruction typically seek to support the recognition of success and associated decisions, actions, and factors influencing success. Typically, this occurs through formative feedback mechanisms that help learners develop their own skills in monitoring progress (self-regulation). Timely, informative feedback is a key factor in supporting learning and improving performance. There are many technologies that can be used to support formative feedback. Instructional support often occurs with computers and other instructional devices. Some feedback naturally occurs through the computer interface itself. Designing supportive educational interfaces is a demanding skill that is informed by research in several areas, including human-computer interaction. Selecting and configuring a technology appropriately is an important educational technology skill. More importantly, designing and sequencing appropriate learning activities is a fundamental task for every teacher and instructional designer. Interactions that are designed to help learners develop confidence and competence and succeed in accomplishing increasingly complex tasks are a critical aspect of effective educational technology applications. As was the case with the communications pillar, there are multiple supporting pillars for interaction. These include behaviorism, cognitivism, neural psychology, perception research, human-computer interaction, feedback, and formative assessment theories and principles, expertise theory, human development, and more. Values, Foundations, and a Framework 23 Environment The environment includes the physical, social, and psychological context in which learning and instruction takes place. Some authors call the physical context the learning place and the social-psychological context the learning space. The environment pillar includes both as well as such concerns as the organizational atmosphere (e.g., hierarchical, trusting, rigid, democratic, etc.), economic factors, technology life-cycles, support personnel, and so on. With regard to this pillar, the primary theoretical perspective is systems theory. Education typically occurs within the context of a system. An educational system contains many interrelated components, including learners, instructors, learning goals, instructional materials, learning activities, formative and summative assessment tools and technologies, and other such things (see Figure 1.3 in Chapter 1 and Figure 2.4 in this chapter). Educational systems are often quite complex, containing many interrelated components, multiple stakeholders with different priorities and values, dynamic and nonlinear relationships among multiple components, and delayed effects (e.g., the impact of introducing a new technology to support learning often does not become obvious for some time). The effects of a technology intervention are rarely immediate and often quite difficult to detect and report accurately. Moreover, the diffusion of a new educational technology within an organization or school is notoriously slow. Systems thinking, then, is an important educational technology skill. What is it to be a systems thinker? According to Peter Senge (1990), a systems thinker is someone who (a) has achieved mastery of relevant skills (e.g., designing and developing instruction, facilitating learning environments, integrating technology into teaching, etc.), (b) has well-developed mental models that can be brought to bear to resolve complex problems, (c) is able to listen to and exchange ideas with others to develop a shared understanding of challenging problems, (d) can work well with others who have different backgrounds, and (e) is able to develop a holistic view of the task environment and appreciate the many interrelated factors and their dynamic relationships. While systems thinking is a critical component of the environment foundation, developing a systemic understanding of an educational system and the diffusion of technology throughout that system is a serious challenge. According to Dörner (1996), we are inclined to take a partial view of a complex problem rather than try to think about the entire system. In addition, we do not reason well with regard to nonlinear relationships and delayed effects; we tend to expect immediate results and are inclined to think that the future state of system components and their relationships will closely resemble the current state in relevant ways. In short, we are creatures who are inherently inclined to simplify. The inclination to simplify is possibly a result of a long evolutionary process and in part a result of the fact that we are constructors of knowledge---we create internal models of external situations. Models by their very nature are simplifications. In summary, while developing the skills of a systems thinker is an important task for an 24 Introducton and Overview educational technologist, this is an ongoing task---one can become more inclined to think systemically, but the task is never done. Culture Culture might well be considered one part of the environmental foundation. However, because learning is becoming increasingly globalized and because cultural differences are important considerations in designing effective learning environments, culture is treated here as a separate foundation pillar. Technology innovations that work well with one group may not work at all with a culturally different group. For example, imagine an online exercise in which students are asked to critique the instructor's argument and present an alternative in a discussion forum posting. In a hierarchical culture that has a long and strong tradition of master teachers who are highly regarded and never publicly challenged, such an exercise may not be very effective, whereas it might prove to be highly effective in a different cultural context. In the spirit of the theme that technology changes what people can do, here is another example. A teacher in a private Catholic school in Louisiana was teaching advanced placement English and decided to introduce Web-based support for the class. In relation to one of the books that was assigned, the subject of abortion arose. The classroom discussion was quite restrained and consistent with the standard Catholic position in opposition to nearly all abortions. However, the teacher had activated discussion forums in the online support environment; with no active prompting from the instructor, a very lively discussion about all aspects of abortion took place with most of those participating now expressing something other than the canonical position they had expressed in the classroom. Why the online forum was perceived as more open to expressing alternative views is not exactly clear, but this suggests that the classroom culture was quite different from the online culture in this case. It is well beyond the scope of this volume to try to define culture and treat its many nuances and complexities. For an in-depth treatment of cultural considerations in the context of e-learning, see Carr-Chellman (2005). Instruction Instruction is that which facilitates learning and performance, broadly and simply stated. Instruction is a goal-oriented enterprise. The instruction foundation encompasses various instructional approaches, models, and strategies, as well as models, principles, and theories pertaining to the design of instruction. Instructional approaches and design models exist at different levels, ranging from the level of a specific interaction to the unit of instruction to a course module or course, and then to a degree. Considerations and emphases are different, depending on the level being addressed (see Figure 2.3). An example of an instructional approach at the module level is mastery learning in which learners are provided support and time to achieve mastery of the module's content. Typically, learners are not allowed to progress to the next module until mastering the current module. Mastery approaches are often mentioned as desirable but not commonly Global Culture, economics, politics Institutional Mission alignment Program Evaluation, accreditation Curriculum Professional requirements Course Requirements, goals, evaluation Module Coherence, sequencing, context Unit Content, context, control, relevance Lesson Objectives, context, assessments FIGURE 2.3 Planning levels and representative concerns Values, Foundations, and a Framework 25 implemented in school and university settings. In some cases, the distinctions between modules, units, and lessons are somewhat different than that represented in Figure 2.3. The main point, however, is that there are different planning considerations for different levels of planning. Consistency across levels is highly desirable and requires a great deal of communication to achieve. As Reigeluth (1983) points out, instructional design is a prescriptive enterprise rather than a descriptive enterprise as would be the case for learning theory. Whereas learning researchers are generally concerned to identify and describe the factors that are involved in learning, instructional designers and instructional design researchers are generally concerned with identifying the conditions (e.g., environmental factors and technologies) and methods (e.g., instructional approaches and strategies) that will optimize learning outcomes for learners. As a consequence, instructional design research and educational technology practice are inherently more complex and challenging than learning research. The complexity of instructional design is evident in the Fourth Generation Instructional Systems Design (ISD-4) model developed by Tennyson (1993; see Figure 2.4). Tennyson's ISD-4 model is based on a synthesis of what instructional designers SITUATIONAL EVALUATION IMPLEMENTATION DOMAIN PRODUCTION DOMAIN MAINTENANCE DOMAIN FOUNDATION DOMAIN DESIGN DOMAIN Define Learning Philosophy Define Learning Theory Define Instructional Theory Foundation-Design Subdomain FoundationMaintenance Subdomain DesignProduction Subdomain DesignProductionImplementation Subdomain Production-Implementation Subdomain Implement and Manage ID Plan Dynamic Interaction ProductionImplementationMaintenance Subdomain ImplementationMaintenance Subdomain ©Tennyson 1997 Assess Problem(s)/Need(s) Assess User Population Determine ID Competence of Author/Team (novice, apprentice, expert) Propose ID Solution Plan (Define ID process and ISD methodology) Disseminate and Implement Learning Environment (Instruction and Management) Produce Learning Environment -- Computer -- Live -- Multimedia -- Print -- Video, etc. Prepare Management System for Learning Environment Develop, Implement and Manage Maintenance System for the Learning Environment Specify Learning Environment: -- Goals/Objectives (Learning and Performance Outcomes) -- Management System -- Delivery System -- Facilities Prepare and Conduct Maintenance Evaluation Revise and Refine Learning Environment Prepare Learning Environment Plan Employ Rapid Prototyping Design Learner Evaluation Conductive Formative Evaluation of Prototype (Revision) Conduct Formative Evaluation of Learning Environment (Refinement) Document Instructional Development Process and ISD Methodology Prepare Dissemination Plan for Learning Environment Conduct and Report Summative Evaluation Analyze Content -- Curriculum -- Instruction Specify Entry Knowledge Specify Organization and Sequence of Information Specify Instructional Strategies Specify Learner Management Specify Message Design Specify Human Factors Conduct Formative Evaluation (Design Revisions) FIGURE 2.4 Tennyson's ISD-4 model (used with permission) 26 Introducton and Overview actually do. It suggests many of the foundation areas represented in this chapter. It also emphasizes the notions of a situational evaluation and the fact that instructional designers do not always start with analysis; the specific situation and circumstances determine to a large extent what designers actually do. Learning Educational technology is primarily concerned with improving learning and performance. Whereas performance involves observable actions and is not especially problematic, learning involves processes occurring within a person that are not directly observable. As noted in Chapter 1, learning involves stable, persisting changes in an individual's (or group's) abilities, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and/or skills. Educational technology is aimed at fostering and facilitating cumulative and productive changes that result in the development of expertise and understanding. Learning theory in general is aimed at identifying and describing the mechanisms and processes involved in the development of expertise and understanding. The progressive development of robust mental models is one such process, as indicated earlier. The facile storage and retrieval of information is another relevant learning process. Researchers have found that individual differences (prior knowledge and training, Values, Foundations, and a Framework 27 representation preferences, gender, age, etc.) can impact learning outcomes (Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993). As suggested for the other foundation pillars, the learning foundation pillar has links to the others along with strong links to both cognitive and noncognitive aspects of human thought and behavior. For example, the beliefs a person holds with regard to the nature of the subject to be learned or his/her ability to learn that subject have an influence on learning, as do the emotional states of a person during a learning experience (Kim & Keller, 2010). The small arrows between the columns in Figure 2.2 are meant to suggest that there are many relationships between and among the foundation pillars. Alternative Foundation Metaphors As mentioned earlier, the selection of these six foundation pillars is somewhat arbitrary, based partially on a clustering of foundation components mentioned by others. The reality is that educational technology rests on multiple bodies of knowledge and is inherently an interdisciplinary enterprise. Each of the foundation pillars briefly characterized above has its own set of supporting disciplines and bodies of knowledge, which are also interrelated and which will be discussed in subsequent chapters of this volume. This aspect of educational technology foundations leads to an alternative metaphor for a foundation. Rather than separate but obviously interrelated pillars, one might consider cement. Cement has long been used in construction for foundations and for binding together various kinds of building blocks. Cement is, in fact, a blend of substances used as a binder in construction. The components of the blend (e.g., lime, gypsum plaster, etc.) are perhaps analogous to our foundation pillars. Values might be considered analogous to water in mixing the blend---values permeate all that educational technologists do. The particular blend and amount of water involved depends on the aggregate (gravel, bricks, etc.), the context (above ground, under water, etc.), the climate, and the structure to be built. This is analogous to taking into account characteristics of the learners, the learning environment, the local learning culture, and so on. Construction engineers often consider the likelihood of unusual circumstances and add components or adjust the blend in order to be able to build a robust structure that will withstand extreme conditions and the many tests of time. This practice reflects a valuesorientation---that is to say, that what matters most is the integrity of the structure and its ability to be maintained and sustained for long periods of time. Likewise, a values-orientation in educational technology would be to place particular emphasis on creating learning environments that work well for different learners with a wide variety of individual differences and that are easily modified and sustained for a long period of time. Just as surely as technologies will change, the circumstances in which technologies are used will change. For this reason, a cement metaphor may serve well to remind us that (a) values are significant and part of a strong foundation for success, (b) the educational technologies that are developed and deployed should produce desirable outcomes, and (c) the educational technologies we choose to implement require 28 Introducton and Overview support and are likely to be used in ways that the developers did not foresee. "May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift" (from Bob Dylan's "Forever Young"---see www.bobdylan.com/\#/songs/forever-young). Yet another foundation metaphor is that of an arch---a structure that is formed by blocks that form a semicircle or a parabola. The top-most block is called the keystone. Arches have been used in construction for thousands of years, in part because they required no cement or mortar, but were quite strong and self-supporting. With regard to the arch metaphor, the keystone might represent learning, with the supporting blocks on either side being the other pillars mentioned here or by others. The arch metaphor is particularly enticing because it introduces the notion of self-support. Educational technologies, when properly implemented, should be more or less self-sustaining, requiring little maintenance and training once deployed throughout an organization. Test Your Understanding 1. Which of the following might provide evidence that a person has learned to replace a component in an electronic device? a. The person is able to state the function of the component. b. The person is able to show where the component is located. c. The person is able disassemble the device, remove the component, instal a new component, and reassemble the device. d. The person is able to test the component to determine if it is functioning properly. e. The person can identify incorrect steps in a replacement procedure. 2. Jean Piaget (1929) argued that children naturally pass through four major stages of cognitive development (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational). Indicate in which foundation pillar(s) you believe Piaget's work (called genetic epistemology) best fits and why: a. communications; b. interaction; c. environment; d. culture; e. instruction; f. learning. 3. Lev Vygotsky (1978) introduced the notion of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which represents the gap between what a learner can do unassisted and what that learner can do with the support and assistance of peers and/or a teacher, tutor, or instructional system; Vygotsky argued that social interaction and communication (with peers, parents, teachers, and others) were essential for cognitive development and growth. Indicate in which foundation pillar(s) you believe Vygotsky's work best fits and why: Values, Foundations, and a Framework 29 a. communications; b. interaction; c. environment; d. culture; e. instruction; f. learning. A Representative Educational Technology Challenge An innovative private school has decided to redo its high school mathematics and science curriculum in response to recent emphasis on the integrated nature of science and mathematics, and strong interest in having more graduates pursue college majors in science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines. However, to maintain the school's accreditation, its students must perform acceptably on standardized tests that have been developed to test knowledge on traditional science and mathematics topics, rather than assess skills in putting that knowledge to practical use. There are at least two fundamental issues to address: 1. How should the new curriculum be designed in order to achieve both goals--- (a) encouraging more students to pursue further studies in math, science, and engineering, and (b) ensuring that students will generally perform well on the existing standardized tests? 2. What kinds of formative assessments will help students and teachers maintain steady progress toward both goals? Learning Activities 1. Develop a general framework with guidelines and a notional high-level curriculum to respond to the first issue in the representative educational technology challenge. 2. Develop a formative assessment scheme along with a suggested schedule for assessments, guidelines (rubrics) for use of assessments by students and teachers, and one specific assessment and accompanying rubric (assessment guideline with expectations) to illustrate the scheme. Links The Theory into Practice (TIP) online database developed by Greg Kearsley is an excellent way to gain a short introduction the various theories mentioned in this and subsequent chapters---see http://tip. psychology.org Brent Wilson's (University of Colorado at Denver) Learning and Instructional Technologies---http://carbon. ucdenver.edu/\~bwilson/index.html Other Resources ICT Mindtools---http://ictmindtools.net Learning Theories (Capella University)---www.learning-theories.com 30 Introducton and Overview The Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd and 4th eds.)---available at no cost to members of AECT---www.aect.org The Mitre Corporation site on Engineering Complex Systems---see www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/ pdf/norman\_engineering.pdf References Carr-Chellman, A. A. (2005). Global perspectives on e-learning: Rhetoric and reality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Dörner, D. (1996). The logic of failure: Why things go wrong and what we can do to make them right (Trans. R. Kimber & R. Kimber). New York: Metropolitan Books. Edelstein, L. (1943). The Hippocratic Oath: Text, translation, and interpretation. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental models: Towards a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jonassen, D. H., & Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Handbook of research on individual differences, learning, and instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Kim, C., & Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivation, volition, and belief change strategies to improve mathematics learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5) 407--420. Klein, J. D., Grabowski, B., Spector, J. M., & de la Teja, I. (2008). Competencies for instructors: A validation study. In M. Orey, V. J. McLendon, & R. M. Branch (Ed.), Educational media and technology yearbook 2008. Portsmouth, NH: Greenwood. Paivio, A. (1991). Mind and its evolution: A dual coding theoretical approach. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Piaget, J. (1929). The child's conception of the world. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Reigeluth, C. M. (Ed.) (1983). Instructional-design theories and models: An overview of their current status. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Richey, R. C., Klein, J. D., & Tracey, M. W. (2011). The instructional design knowledge base: Theory, research and practice. New York: Routledge. Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday. Spector, J. M. (2005). Innovations in instructional technology: An introduction to this volume. In J. M. Spector, C. Ohrazda, A. Van Schaack, & D. A. Wiley (Eds.) (2005), Innovations in instructional technology: Essays in honor of M. David Merrill (pp. xxxi--xxxvi). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Spector, J. M., & Anderson, T. M. (Eds.) (2000). Integrated and holistic perspectives on learning, instruction and technology: Understanding complexity. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Press. Spiro, R. J., & Jehng, J. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the non-linear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. In D. Nix & R. Spiro (Eds.), Cognition, education, and multimedia (pp. 163--205). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Tennyson, R. D. (1993). A framework for automating instructional design. In J. M. Spector, M. C. Polson, & D. J. Muraida (Eds.), Automating instructional design: Concepts and issues (pp. 191--214). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 31 three Learning and Performing "We become just by performing just acts" (from Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics) Learning The learning foundation pillar (see Figure 2.2) deserves emphasis and individual elaboration, because learning represents the bottom line in the use and integration of any educational technology (see Figure 2.1). The purpose of education is to develop understanding and competence, and the goal of instruction is to promote the learning that informs understanding and underlies competence. As indicated in Chapter 1, learning is defined as a change in one's abilities, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and/or skills. In this definition of learning, there are clearly both process and outcomes involved. The outcomes involved the resulting changes that have occurred. In order to establish that changes have occurred and that goals and objectives have been met, there is clearly a need to conduct both pre- and post-tests. In some cases, a learner may do well on the post-test but may not have learned anything if that same learner would have done as equally well on the pre-test. There are many technologies to support testing of this kind. Objective measures for testing factual knowledge have a very strong theoretical and empirical foundation. One example of a well-established educational technology to support objective testing is item response theory (IRT; see van der Linden & Hambleton, 1997), which is a mathematical method to determine the probability of an individual's likelihood of responding correctly to a particular test item. Learning processes are somewhat more complicated. First, there are both cognitive and noncognitive factors involved in learning. Motivation---the interest and willingness 32 Introducton and Overview of a learner to commit time and effort to achieving desired outcomes---involves cognitive aspects (e.g., an awareness of a learning goal and the ability to determine how well one is doing to achieve that goal) and noncognitive aspects (e.g., emotions concerned with the topic, the learning task, and one's ability to succeed) (see Keller, 2010; Kim & Keller, 2010). Formative assessment and learner feedback are critical factors in promoting effective learning processes. There are technologies that can support formative assessment, just as there are technologies to support summative assessment. Moreover, when the learning tasks are more open-ended and somewhat ill-structured, as in solving complex problems, there are technologies that can provide formative assessments and feedback to learners. For example, one can ask a learner to create a representation of the problem space associated with a particular problem scenario and then compare that response with an expert response or reference model (see Pirnay-Dummer, Ifenthaler, & Spector, 2010). It should be obvious that assessment, especially formative assessment, is critical in determining learner progress. Moreover, assessments of learning outcomes represent a central aspect of course and program evaluation. Note that the term 'assessment' is used to refer to persons, as in 'assessing students', while the term 'evaluation' is used to refer to programs and projects, as in 'evaluating courses.' Critical Distinctions Pertaining to Learning There are several critical distinctions pertaining to learning, including the difference between intentional and incidental learning situations. A story may serve best to illustrate and animate these distinctions. This story is taken from Leo Tolstoy's Confession, which is based on his journal and personal reflections. Confession was written in 1879 when Tolstoy was 51---after he was already well known and highly respected for War and Peace and Anna Karenina; it was first published in Russian in 1882. Tolstoy already had fame and fortune, and was enjoying the benefits of his success when he happened to visit Paris, France, around the year 1865, when these events occurred. At the time, Paris was regarded by Tolstoy and others as the intellectual center of the universe and a showcase for progress in a civilized society. Tolstoy was regarded as one of the leading lights of modern civilization. He had gone to Paris to meet friends and have a good time. While cavorting in Paris, he chanced upon a public execution. At the time, France applied the death penalty for serious crimes and the form of execution was the guillotine. Executions were public, perhaps based on a belief that the horror of such executions would deter crime. In any case, Tolstoy records in his journal something like the following (loosely translated): "When I saw the heads divided from the bodies and heard the sound with which they fell separately into the box, I knew with my whole being that this was a bad thing." This unplanned and unexpected event marked a turning point in Tolstoy's life. It is marked by the following words recorded in his journal (again the same rough translation): "When I saw the heads divided from the bodies and heard the sound with Learning and Performing 33 which they fell separately into the box, I knew with my whole being that this was a bad thing." (The repetition is intentional.) He goes on to reflect about his prior beliefs with regard to civilized society, with regard to Paris as the cradle of civilization, with regard to progress proceeding from Paris throughout the rest of the world, and so on. He writes that his belief in progress included a faith that society was moving in a positive direction and that Paris was leading this movement. Then he recalls the event: "When I saw the heads divided from the bodies and heard the sound with which they fell separately into the box, I knew with my whole being that this was a bad thing." (The repetition is intentional.) He knew with his whole being--- he was fully engaged in this moment. He saw, he heard, he thought. As a result, he could no longer hold on to his prior belief in progress and faith that Paris was the cradle of civilization. He could no longer regard himself as one of the leaders of civilized society if this was what civilized society represented. His faith in progress was shattered. He changed his life entirely based on this event. He gave away his fortune. He declared all of his writings public property. He began writing short moral tales for the common people rather than writing for the educated elite. He began advocating for the reform of peasant schools. He changed his life on account of having witnessed by chance a public execution in Paris. He learned something that day in Paris. That he learned something is marked by the fact that changes occurred that persisted through other events and for the remainder of his life. These changes included how he thought as well as what he did; the changes are observable in his subsequent writings and in how he lived his life after witnessing the execution. What he learned was not planned. He was not explicitly directed toward a goal nor guided by a plan to achieve a goal. What he learned might be characterized as incidental to his having witnessed the execution. By contrast, the kinds of education primarily discussed in this volume involve intentional learning where a particular goal is involved. It is worth noting that the goals of a learner might not always coincide with the goals of an instructor. In formal learning environments, which generally involve intentional learning in school settings, it is optimal when the learner's goals and those of the instructor are closely aligned. What did Tolstoy learn? (Do you recall the sentence from his journal that was repeated three times? Why do you suppose I repeated it three times?) Perhaps this is difficult to say without knowing more. He learned that not all social practices in Paris were good. He learned that he could not accept a society that publicly executed criminals as a civilized society---this reflects a values perspective, which is essential in education and in the application of technology to support education, according to the framework presented in this volume. He probably learned a lot more, and that learning event might well be regarded as a process that only began that day in Paris in 1865; perhaps it began earlier. This story provides a concrete way to think about learning---learning is marked by stable and persisting changes in attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, knowledge, mental models, skills, and so on. Learning may be planned or unintentional. Learning in which an 34 Introducton and Overview individual is fully engaged is especially effective. Full engagement often involves perception, cognition, and emotions. Technology can be especially useful in promoting active engagement. What about memory? Memory is clearly a relevant and essential aspect of learning. We recall facts. We retrieve visual images from memory. Cognitive psychologists often distinguish word-based memory from image-based memory (see Anderson, 1983). Cognitive scientists also distinguish working memory from long-term memory and have documented the limitations of working memory---seven plus or minus two (Miller, 1956). How to leverage the limitations of working memory? One method is to tell stories. Stories may represent a form of chunking that allows more to be recalled in a single chunk. Moreover, it may be the case that stories are encoded in long-term memory in a form different from other word-based items. The term for this kind of memory is episodic memory (Tulving, 1983), and it may involve both words and images together. If one accepts these distinctions, it is possible to imagine using the story for multiple purposes---for developing a definition of learning, for explaining the difference between incidental and intentional learning, for elaborating the notion of engagement in learning, for explaining different kinds of memory, and so on. There might also be multiple audiences---students in a psychology course, instructional design students, high school students learning about Tolstoy, and so on. One might include multimedia items in a presentation of the story---pictures of Tolstoy, an audio file telling parts of the story, a movie of a guillotining if one is inclined to depict such horror, and so on. Here are a few basic points of emphasis about learning: 1. Learning fundamentally involves change. 2. Relevant changes can be directly or indirectly observed as evidence that learning has occurred. 3. Learning is a holistic concept that involves both cognitive (e.g., memory, mental constructs, language, associations) and noncognitive (e.g., emotional states, attitudes, and physical conditions and constraints) aspects. 4. We have extensive knowledge about human physical development, but more limited knowledge with regard to other aspects of human development (e.g., cognitive, emotional, and social development). 5. Much learning is unplanned and incidentally associated with a variety of activities; much of the learning that occurs in educational programs is planned and intentional with specific goals and objectives. 6. Planned learning activities typically occur in complex environments (e.g., classrooms, online settings, workplace locations) with many things that can enhance or inhibit learning. 7. Determining the extent to which learning has occurred involves the analysis of measures or indicators of change (before, during, after, and long after the learning activities); determining why learning occurred to the extent measured or observed is even more challenging. Learning and Performing 35 Test Your Understanding Which of the following situations involve learning and why/how? 1. Memorizing dates associated with certain historic battles. 2. Watching a video of a person disassembling a particular device. 3. Using an ohmmeter to test the level of resistance at a certain point in an electrical circuit. 4. Figuring out how to cut several pieces of wood in order to fit together in a prescribed pattern. 5. Practicing a particular piece of music on the piano. 6. Telling a student that a particular sentence is incomplete. 7. Asking a student why a particular calculation was done in the course of solving a problem. 8. Asking the reader why something was repeated three times. Indicate which of the following involve intentional learning and which involve incidental learning and indicate why/how. 1. Accidentally touching a hot stove. 2. Practicing solving various quadratic equations. 3. Confusing someone's name with the name of someone else. 4. Asking a teacher to explain the rationale for something one does not understand. 5. Exploring a virtual reality world. 6. Developing an electronic portfolio to illustrate one's work. 7. Playing a flight simulator game. Performance A performance of some kind represents an outcomes aspect of learning. A performance might also be involved in various learning activities and practice exercises. Performance in general refers to a learner's observable activity in response to a problem-solving situation, a test item, a challenge activity, and so on. Performances are observable and measurable. Ideally, performances are linked directly or indirectly to desired learning outcomes. As mentioned in the previous section, assessment is a core aspect of learning. Unless one has pre- and post-assessment data, one cannot say with confidence that learning has occurred. (Pop quiz: Can you explain why that is the case?) Measuring or assessing performance has an additional aspect---namely, performance measures can help learners and teachers develop a sense of learning progress and problematic areas. Moreover, letting learners know what the expectations are with regard to satisfactory performance is likely to help learners identify and accept learning goals and objectives, which is especially critical in formal learning situations. A principle to consider in this regard is the following: What you measure is what you get (WYMIWYG, pronounced whim-ee-whig). As already mentioned, an instructor does not know what 36 Introducton and Overview learning has occurred without having some measures or indicators of changes in performance or ability. These measures could be test scores, problem-solving results, responses to specific survey questions, and so on. In addition, students are likely to perform to the expected level, but not much beyond in many cases. The reason for this is quite simple---students are rational and busy with other lessons and activities. Many students will simply do what is expected and move on to another task, activity, or course. Two conclusions follow once one accepts WYMIWYG. First, it is important to let students know the specific expectations of a unit of instruction or course or program. This is best accomplished using targeted learning outcomes and representative test items or problems that include the level of expected performance (e.g., correctly solve quadratic equations, correctly identify an unknown substance), the conditions in which the performance will be elicited (e.g., in a closed-book exam, in a laboratory with no assistance, etc.), and how that level will be assessed (the criteria). Second, measurements, which can be quantitative or qualitative, can and should be used to help students identify problematic areas deserving more attention. The most useful performance measures are those which directly contribute to improved performance. Withholding the outcomes of the measurement from students is not likely to help them improve their performance or their understanding. Timely and informative feedback is a vital aspect of learning progress. There are many technologies that can help with regard to measuring and assessing performance, and these technologies are continually becoming more sophisticated and powerful. A key issue to keep in mind is to link the performance to be assessed to the intended learning outcome. If one wants to improve a student's ability to solve complex problems, simply measuring factual knowledge is not likely to be especially supportive of that goal. Providing many problem-solving opportunities along with timely and informative feedback is much more likely to build competence and confidence. Developing Expertise Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) identify five levels along the way to highly skilled, expert performance depicted in Figure 3.1. While others may offer different levels of expertise, this account has the advantage of helping to focus the level targeted by a program of instruction. In general, as one progresses through an instructional program or curriculum, it is reasonable to say that one is or ought to be moving through these various stages of expertise. One can apply these levels of expertise to specific skills and sets of knowledge at almost any educational level. For example, with regard to mathematical skills, students in elementary school might be typically at the novice level. As students move to middle and high school, with regard to specific mathematical skills, they are likely to progress to higher levels. At the college level, there are typically survey courses to introduce beginning level students to a particular discipline level. These are followed by more specific courses elaborating the Expertise Level Characteristics Novice Just beginning a program of study without knowledge of basic terms and rules Advanced Beginner Able to follow basic procedures and guidelines with some situational awareness Competent Performer Able to act independently with minimal guidance and little supervision Proficient Performer Able to consistently perform with skill and accuracy in a variety of situations; see problems holistically Intuitive Expert Able to immediately grasp a problemsolving situation and produce an appropriate solution response with ease FIGURE 3.1 Levels of expertise (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986) Learning and Performing 37 topics covered in the survey course, hopefully helping to move students to the stage of advanced beginners or possibly competent performers in such areas as chemistry, environmental planning, history, and so on. In graduate school, students are typically expected to develop competence and perhaps proficiency in an area, and some programs of study have certification exams that are used to demonstrate that competence has been achieved. Proficient performance is not so easily acquired or developed through formal schooling. A great deal of practical experience is required to develop proficiency of the kind described by Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986). Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) have studied the development of superior performance in many different domains and consistently found that about ten years of deliberate and focused practice is required to develop high levels of performance of the sort that might be called highly proficient performance or possibly intuitive expertise. One difference between Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) and Ericsson et al. (1993) is that the former believe it is somewhat unknown how intuitive expertise develops whereas the latter believe that with sufficient deliberate practice anyone can become an intuitive expert. While it is enticing to believe that anyone could become a highly superior performer, the reality is that appropriate educational goals are more likely to target the levels of advanced beginner, competent performer, and proficient performer. 38 Introducton and Overview Here are a few basic points of emphasis about performance: 1. Performance is something that can be observed and assessed, measured, or rated against a standard or other point of reference. 2. Change in performance, especially improvement in performance, is of particular interest to educators and trainers. 3. Providing feedback on performance very soon after the actual performance is often effective in improving performance, especially if the feedback is specific and constructive. 4. Developing an individual's ability to monitor and assess his or her own performance is often a desirable and measurable goal for advanced learners. 5. Performance is a holistic concept that typically involves cognitive as well as noncognitive activities; performance may vary with an individual's mood or with other events happening that impact that individual at a particular time. 6. Our understanding of human performance is reasonably well developed but far from complete; many variations in performance across different individuals and tasks are not predictable based on current evidence, knowledge, and theory. 7. Performance and learning are closely coupled concepts; performing tasks and activities can result in learning, and as learning develops in a particular domain, performance on tasks in that domain is likely to improve. Test Your Understanding Which of the following might be appropriate performance measurements aligned with the learning goal of understanding the causes of World War II and why? 1. Identifying the countries associated with the allied and axis powers. 2. Naming the heads of states of the major countries involved. 3. Summarizing the contents of Hitler's Mein Kampf. 4. Describing the economic conditions in Europe, North America, and Asia in the 1930s and 1940s. 5. Naming the generals who led the major armies involved. 6. Analyzing the conditions in Europe following the end of World War I. 7. Describing the League of Nations and its activities in the 1930s. A Representative Educational Technology Challenge A populous developing country in Asia with rich natural resources and a culture that values education has passed a law requiring all primary and secondary teachers to have four-year college degrees with teacher certification through a demanding national examination within the next ten years. At present, approximately 10 percent of the 2 million teachers involved have four-year degrees and another 15 percent have two-year degrees. There are 35 universities spread throughout the country, of which seven offer teaching degrees, plus a large open and distance learning university that also offers Learning and Performing 39 teaching degrees. The communications infrastructure is such that the Internet is available in larger cities but it is relatively expensive for the average citizen. Rural areas have little or no access to the Internet. Mobile phones are in widespread use throughout the country and are not prohibitively expensive. The open and distance learning university has 35 regional centers, all of which have computer laboratories with reliable and free Internet access for students. The challenge is for the country to live up to its commitment to increase the training of its teachers and quality of instruction in the given time frame without compromising the quality of education and training. (Note that this problem can be scaled and modified to fit many local circumstances.) Learning Activities 1. Identify and describe the key barriers to success involved in achieving the goal stated in the representative problem above. 2. Identify and describe the key factors that are likely to become part of an implementation plan for this problem situation. 3. Indicate and describe the relationships among the key factors that have been identified. 4. Indicate what things are likely to change in the period involved in implementing the plan. 5. Create an annotated concept map that reflects the things indicated in response to the previous four tasks. 6. Reflect on your responses and your concept map, and then describe the assumptions you have made and what resources would be required to implement the solution you have in mind. Links A website focused on John Anderson's ACT-R Theory and the architecture of cognition--- http://act.psy.cmu.edu/ Other Resources The entire translation of Tolstoy's Confession is available online at http://flag.blackened.net/daver/ anarchism/tolstoy/confession.html The Learning Development Institute is dedicated to human learning and has developed extensive resources freely available to the public. Of particular relevance to this chapter is The Book of Problems---see the list of resources for 2002 at www.learndev.org References Anderson, J. R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Dreyfus, H., & Dreyfus, S. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. New York: Free Press. Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. Th., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363--406. 40 Introducton and Overview Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivational design for learning and performance: The ARCS model approach. New York: Springer. Kim, C., & Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivation, volition, and belief change strategies to improve mathematics learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26, 407--420. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81--97. Pirnay-Dummer, P., Ifenthaler, D., & Spector, J. M. (2010). Highly integrated model assessment technology and tools. Educational Technology Research & Development, 58(1), 3--18. Tolstoy, L. (1882). Confession (Trans. D. Patterson, 1983). New York: Norton. Tulving, E. (1983). Elements of episodic memory. Oxford: Clarendon Press. van der Linden, W., & Hambleton, R. K. (Eds.) (1997). Handbook of modern item response theory. New York: Springer. 41 four Teaching and Training "The teacher is the voice that encourages, the ear that listens, the eye that reflects, the hand that guides, the face that does not turn away" (adapted from a sermon by Rabbi Joseph Spector) Instruction In the previous chapter, the related topics of learning and performance were discussed. Previously, it was noted that instruction is that which supports learning and performance. In addition, the notion of separating training from education was mentioned, although they are perhaps more appropriately considered together (Gagné & Merrill, 1990). In this chapter, training and education (also referred to as teaching in what follows) will be discussed separately, but it is wise to consider them as merely different sides of the same coin. The coin itself might be called learning while the heads side of the coin might be called education with the other side being called training. In what follows, some distinctions will be made that will help designers and instructors determine appropriate instructional approaches, methods, and technologies. Typically, teaching is associated with school-based learning and formal curricula (e.g., K-12 and higher education), whereas training is often associated with focused learning for adults pursuing professional recognition or certification (e.g., refrigeration specialty training, network engineer programs, professional athletics, etc.). It is tempting to associate training with developing skills in performing recurrent tasks and to associate teaching with developing more general knowledge and complex cognitive skills. However, common usage of 'teaching' and 'training' suggests a much less clear distinction. For example, it is not uncommon to hear parents talk about 'potty training' 42 Introducton and Overview for infants learning t