Teaching, Learning and TechnologyMany justifications exist for using e-learning techniques and technologies in teaching and learning. Most of them start by diving in at the e-learning end of the pool and exploring the advantages of the various technologies. This course starts (at the deep end...) by considering what makes a good lesson and considers how e-learning techniques & technologies can contribute to this objective.  |
 Jisc RSC East Midlands Loughborough College
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| This course aims to explore the pedagogical advantages of blended learning and the use of technology By the end of the course users should be aware of:
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Let's start by looking at this from the learner's point of view. What Makes A Good Lesson? (Wiltshire College, Trowbridge)
School pupils who were interviewed thought that the following elements gave a good lesson:
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Disentangling the various views of what makes a good lesson we can identify some common themes where technology can help. Click on the words at each side to get definitions and ideas.
| Challenge Differentiation Feedback Participation Engagement Variety |
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Autonomy
Motivation Assessment Active Learning Interaction |
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Technology in teaching is another tool in the tutor's (metaphorical) toolchest. Variety is what everyone, including Ofsted, thinks is an essential component of a good lesson. The more and varied tools the teacher has available to them the better they will be able to get their message across and keep the attention of the student. |
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| There are also efficiency benefits to be had from the use of technology - many of the learning objects created can be made once and used many times or made available to a wide variety of users. So, although there is a technological learning curve for many teachers, there is also a long term benefit. |
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What does this all mean for the practising tutor? How should they design courses or prepare lessons? Essentially it means that technology needs integrating into the lesson where it adds value to the lesson, the learning or the teaching. So if you're looking to assess learning then you might put some questions or tasks on the Moodle/VLE or use a voting system at the end of the session. If you want to encourage research then a Moodle/VLE course with text, videos and links to appropriate websites might be the thing, or a guided research option using a Websearch sheet. If learners need to repeat or rehearse an activity a number of times then a video demonstration on a Moodle/VLE would be ideal.... There is an extensive list of possiblities for the simple and effective use of technology to fit in with teaching and learning objectives. The exercise below gives an idea of some of the activities which could be fulfilled through the use of technology. |
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We are an organisation promoting the use of technology within education, so we are keen to see technology adopted where it is appropriate - an important qualification! We are also aware that good lessons don't have to have technology included in the mix and that interactive technology on its own will not make the lesson work. The skill of the teacher lies in selecting the appropriate (there's that word again) technologies and then combining the various activies into a meaningful and engaging whole. |
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In addition to the pedagogic reasons for using technology outlined above, there are also some logistical advantages which will benefit staff who employ technology within their work.
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Jisc Regional Support Centres work with more than 2,000 UK learning providers helping them to improve performance and efficiency through the use of technology.
We provide advice and support, share good practice and facilitate collaboration to help solve your everyday challenges and achieve your strategic objectives.
This course was devised by Jisc RSC East Midlands.
All Jisc RSC East Midlands content in this course is available under the Creative Commons licence below.
Material which is linked to from this course, or where the copyright is held by other bodies, is not covered by this licence. Challenge
Teaching, Learning and Technology Course by Jisc RSC East Midlands is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
