Chapter 9 : Cooperative Learning With The Computer

Singapore has set the global pace for student-centered learning with a 2:1 (2 pupils with one computer) ratio in its masterplan for IT in Education. This shows that even in other progressive countries, the 1:1 pupil-computer ratio is still an ideal to be achieved. Reality therefore dictates that schools face the fact that each classroom, especially in public or government schools, may not be equipped with the appropriate number of computers.

The creativity of the teacher will have to respond to the situation, and so cooperative learning will likely be the answer to the implementation of IT supported learning in our schools. But the situation may not be that bad since there are motivational and social benefits to cooperative learning and these can compensate for lack of hardware that educators face.

Defining Cooperative Learning

Cooperative or collaborative learning is learning by small groups of students who work together in a common learning task.It is often also called group learning but to be truly cooperative learning, five (5) elements are needed:

1.       A common goal

2.       Interdependence

3.       Interaction

4.       Individual accountability

5.       Social skills

Therefore not every group work is cooperative learning since students working on their work sheets physically sat around a table may be working together without these features of cooperative learning.

From several studies made on cooperative learning, it is manifested that cooperative learning in its true sense is advantageous since it:

a.        Encourage active learning, while motivating students

b.       Increases academic performance

c.        Promotes literacy and language skills

d.       Improves teacher effectiveness

In addition, there are studies show that cooperative learning enhances personal and social development among students of all ages, while enhancing self-esteem and improving social relations between racially and culturally different students.

Cooperative Learning and the Computer

Researchers have made studies on the learning interaction between the student and the computer.The studies have great value since it has been a long standing fear that the computer may foster student learning in isolation that hinders the development of the student’s social skills.

Now this mythical fear has been contradicted by the studies which show that when students work with computers in groups, they cluster and interact with each other for advice and mutual help.And given the option to work individually or in a group, the students generally wish to work together in computer-based and non-computer-based activities.Reflecting on this phenomenon, psychologists think the computer fosters this positive social behavior due to the fact that it has a display monitor – just like a television set – that is looked upon as something communal.

Therefore researchers agree that the computer is a fairly natural learning vehicle for cooperative (at times called promotive) learning.

Components of Cooperative Learning

Educators are still wary about the computer’s role in cooperative learning. Thus they pose the position that the use of computers do not automatically result in cooperative learning. There therefore assign the teacher several tasks in order to ensure collaborative learning. These are:

§  Assigning students to mixed-ability teams

§  Establishing positive interdependence

§  Teaching cooperative social skills

§  Insuring individual accountability, and

§  Helping groups process information

These are in addition to assigning a common work goal in which each member of the group will realize that their group will not succeed unless everyone contributes to the groups’ success. It is also important for the teacher limits learning group clusters (Six is the ideal number in a group) so there can be closer involvement in thinking and learning. 

Chapter 8 : The Computer As A Teacher's Tool

In the previous lesson, we saw how the computer can act as a tutor, particularly along a behaviorist and cognitive approach to learning. But we also saw how certain computer software programs have been developed to foster higher thinking skills and creativity.

In this lesson, we shall again look at the computer, but this time from another perspective, the computer as the teacher’s handy-tool. It can in fact support the constructivist and social constructivist paradigms of constructivist learning.

Constructivism was introduced by Piaget (1981) and Bruner (1990). They gave stress to knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning process. Various strategies have been suggested to foster knowledge discovery, among these, is making students engaged in gathering unorganized information from which they can induce ideas and principles. Students are also asked to apply discovered knowledge to new situations, a process for making their knowledge applicable to real life situations.

While knowledge is constructed by the individual learner in constructivism, knowledge can also be socially constructed. Social constructivism. This is an effort to show that the construction of knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts. In effect, this is to ay that the learner who interprets knowledge has a predetermined point of view according to the social perspectives of the community or society he lives in.

The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social influences. He therefore suggested the interactive process in learning. The more capable adult (teacher or parent) or classmate can aid or complement what the learner sees in a given class project. In addition, Dewey sees language as a medium for social coordination and adaptation. For Dewey human learning is really human language that occurs when students socially share, build and agree upon meanings and knowledge.

Learning Framework	Constructivism	Social Constructivism
Assumption	Knowledge is constructed by the individual.	Knowledge is constructed within a social context.
Definition of Learning	Students build their own learning.	Students build knowledge influenced by the social context.
Learning Strategies	Gather unorganized information to create new concept/principle	Exchange and share from ideas, stimulates thinking.
General Orientation	Personal discovery of knowledge.	Students discuss and discover meanings
Example	8*5-8+8+8+8+8	Two alternative job offers Option 1-8 hrs/day for 6days/week Option 2-9 hrs/day for 5 days/week

Figure 7 Summary of the Two Learning Perspective

The Computer’s Capabilities

Given its present-day speed, flexibility and sophistication, the computer can provide access to information, foster creative social knowledge building, and enhance the communication of the achieved project package.Without the computer, today’s learners may still be assuming the tedious task of low-level information gathering, building and new knew knowledge packaging.But this is not so, since the modern computer can help teacher-and-students to focus on more high level cognitive tasks.

Based on the two learning theories, the teacher can employ the computer as a/an:

A  As an information tool

A  A communication tool

A  A constructive tool

A  As co-constructive tool

A  A situating tool

Informative Tool

The computer can provide vast amounts of information in various forms, such as text, graphics, sound, and video.Even multimedia encyclopedias are today available on the internet.

The internet itself provides and enormous database from which user can access global information resources that includes the latest news, weather forecasts, airline schedule, sports development, entertainment news and features, as well as educational information directly useful to learners. The internet on education can be sourced for kinds of educational resources on the internet.

Along the constructivist point of view, it is not enough for learners to download relevant information using the computer as an information tool.Students can use gathered information for composition or presentation projects as may be assigned by the teacher. Given the fact that the internet can serve as a channel for global communication, the computer can very well be the key tool for video teleconferencing sessions.

Communication Tool

The computer has been used in communication as evident by social networking sites as to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.We can even chat/talk friends and families anywhere in the globe through yahoo messenger or the one in Facebook or view them through the webcam.We can send messages and information through the internet in just seconds or minutes.

Constructive Tool

The computer itself can be used for manipulating information, visualizing one’s understanding and building new knowledge.The Microsoft Word computer program itself is a desktop publishing software that allows users to organize and present their ideas in attractive formats.

Co-Constructive Tool

Students can use constructive tools to work cooperatively and construct a shared understanding of new knowledge.On ways of co-constructive is the use of the electronic whiteboard where students may post notices to a shared document/ whiteboard.Students may also co-edit the same document from their homes.

The Computer-Supported International Learning Environments (CSILE) is an example of an integrated environment developed by the Ontario Institute for studied in Education. Within CSILE, students can enter their ideas in notes and respond to each other’s ideas. Manifest in the student-generated database are higher level thinking processes-explaining, problem solving/finding, expertise and development, literacy improvement.

Situating Tool

By means of virtual reality (RS) extension systems, the computer can create 3-D images on display to give the user the feeling that are situated in a virtual environment.A flight simulation program is an example of situating tool which places the user in a simulated flying environment.

Multi-User domains or Dungeons (MUDs) MUD Object Oriented (MOOs), and Multi-User Shared hallucination (MUSHs) are example of situating systems MUDs and MOOs are text-based virtual reality environments on the Internet. When users log on to a MOO environment, they may interact with the virtual reality (such as by writing on a notice board) through simple text based commands. A school-to-school or classroom-to-classroom environment is possible whereby the user can choose to talk around the campus, talk with other users who are logged to the same site.

To caution users, the computer as a situating tool is news and still undergoing further research and development. 

Chapter 7 : The Computer As A Tutor

The computer is one of the wonders of human ingenuity, even in its original design in the 1950s to carry out complicated mathematical and logical operations. With the invention of the microcomputer (now commonly referred to PCs or personal computers), the PC has become the tool for programmed instruction.

Educators saw much use of the PC. It has become affordable to small business, industries and homes. They saw its potential for individualization in learning, especially as individualized learning is a problem since teachers usually with a class of forty or more learners. They therefore devised strategies to use the computer to the break the barriers to individualized instruction.

COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION (CAI)

Computer-Assisted Instruction is a program of instructional material presented by means of a computer or computer systems.

The computer can be a tutor in effect relieving the teacher of many activities in his personal role as a classroom tutor. It should be made clear, however, that the computer cannot totally replace the teacher since the teacher shall continue to play major roles of information deliverer and learning environment controller. Even with the available computer and CAI software, the teacher must:

§  Insure that the students have the needed knowledge and skills for any computer activity.

§  Decide the appropriate learning objectives.

§  Plan the sequential and structured activities to achieve objectives.

§  Evaluate the students’ achievement by ways of tests of the specific expected outcomes.

On the other hand, the students in CAI play their own roles as learners as they:

§  Receive information

§  Understand instructions for the computer activity

§  Retain/keep in mind information and rules for the computer activity.

§  Apply the knowledge and rules during the process of computer learning.

During the computer activity proper in CAI the computer, too, plays its roles as it:

§  Acts as a sort of tutor

§  Provides a learning environment

§  Delivers learning instruction

§  Reinforces learning through drill and practice

§  Provides feedback

Today, educators accept the fact that the computer has indeed succeeded in providing an individualized learning environment so difficult for a teacher handling whole class. This is so, since the computer is able to allow individual students to learn at their own pace, motivate learning through a challenging virtual learning environment, and assist students through information needed during the learning process, evaluate student responses through immediate feedback during the learning process, and also give the total score to evaluate the student’s total performance.

CAI Integrated with Lesson

CAI computer learning should not stop with the drill and practice activities of students. In effect, CAI works best in reinforcing learning through repetitive exercises such that students can practice basic skills or knowledge in various subject areas. Common types of drill and practice programs include vocabulary building, math facts, and basic science, and history or geography facts. In these programs, the computer presents a question or problem first and the student is asked to answer to the question or problem. Immediate feedback is given to the students answer. After a number of practice problems and at the end of exercise, the students get summary of the overall performance.

The question is arises: when and how can teachers integrate drill and practice programs with their lessons. The following suggestion can be made:

§  Use drill and practice programs for basic skills and knowledge that require rapid or automatic response by students (e.g. multiplication table, letter and word recognition, identification of geometric shapes, etc.).

§  Ensure that drill and practice activities conform to the lesson plan or curriculum.

§  Limit drill and practice to 20-30 minutes to avoid boredom.

§  Use drill and practice to assist students with particular weakness in basic skills.

In integrating computer program in instruction used tutorial software associated with cognitive learning. While practice exercise or learning by doing is still the heart of each tutorial, the tutorial software should be able to:

§  Teach new content/new information to students (in as much as CAI provides practice on old or already learned content).

§  Provide comprehensive information on concepts in addition to practice exercises.

§  Can be effectively used for remediation, reviewing, or enrichment.

§  Allow the teacher to introduce follow-up questions to stimulate students learning.

§  Permit group activity for cooperative learning.

SIMULATION PROGRAMS

Simulation software materials are another kind of software that is constructivist in nature. This simulation software:

§  Teacher strategies and rules applied to real-life problems/situation

§  Ask students to make decision on models or scenarios

§  Allow students to manipulate elements of a model and get the experience of the effect of their decisions

An example of such software is SimCity in which students are allowed to artificially manage a city given an imaginary city environment. Decision-making involve such factors as budget, crime, education, transportation, energy resource, waste disposal, business/industries available.

INSTRUCTIONAL GAMES

While relating to low level learning objectives (e.g. basic spelling or math skills), instructional computer games add the elements of competition and challenge.

An example is GeoSafari which introduces adventure activities for Geography History and Science. The program can be played by up to four players to form teams. Learning outcomes can be achieved along simple memorization of information, keyboarding skills, cooperation and social interaction.

PROBLEM SOLVING

These are more sophisticated than the drill and practice exercises and allow students to learn and improve on their problem solving ability. Since problem cannot be solved simply be solved simply be memorizing facts, the students have to employ higher-thinking skills such as logic, recognition, reflection and strategies-making.

The thinking things 1 is an example of a problem solving software in which the team learners must help each other by observing, comparing.

MULTIMEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA AND ELECTRONIC BOOKS

The Multimedia Encyclopedia can score a huge database with text, images, animation, audio and video. Students can access any desired information, search it vast contents and even download/print relevant portions of the data for their composition or presentation. An example is the eyewitness Children’s Encyclopedia.

Electronic books provide textual information for reading supplemented by other types of multimedia information (sounds, spoken words, pictures, animation). These are useful for learning reading, spelling and word skills. Examples are Just Grandma and Me animated storybook which offer surprises for the young learner’s curiosity. 

Chapter 6 : Computer As Information And Communication Technology

In Educational Technology 1 the role of computer in education was well discussed.It was pointed out that the advent of the computer is recognized as the third revolution in education. The first was the invention of the printing press; the second, the introduction of libraries and the third the invention of the computer, especially so with the advent of the microcomputer in 1975. Thus emerged computer technology in education.

Through the technology, educators saw the amplification of learning literacy. Much like reading, the modern student can now interact with computer messages; even respond to question or to computer commands. Again like writing, the learner can form messages using computer language or program.

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) was introduced using the principle of individualized learning through a positive climate that includes realism and appeal with drill exercise that uses color, music and animation. The novelty of CAI has not waned to this day especially in the basic education level as this is offered by computer-equipped private schools. But the evolving pace of innovation in today’s Information Age is so dynamic that within the first decade of the 21^st century, computer technology in education has matured to transform into an educative information and communication technology (ICT) in education.

Uses of the Computer as ICT in Education

The Personal Computer (PC) as ICT

Until the nineties, it was still possible to distinguish between instructional media and the educational communication media.

Instructional media consist of audio-visual aids that served to enhance and enrich the teaching-learning process. Examples are the blackboard, photo, film and video.

On the other hand, educational communication media comprise the media communication to audiences including learners using the print, film radio, and television or satellite means of communication. For example, distance learning were implemented using correspondence, radio, television or the computer satellite system.

Close to the turn of the 21^st century, however, such as distinction merged owing to the advent of the microprocessor also known as the personal computer (PC). This is due to the fact that the PC user at home, office and school has before him a tool for both audio-visual creations and media communication.

To illustrate, let’s examine the programs (capabilities) normally installed in an ordinary modern PC:

§  Microsoft Office – program for composing text, graphics, photos into letters, articles, reports, etc.

§  PowerPoint – for preparing lecture presentations

§  Excel – for spreadsheets and similar graphic sheets

§  Internet Explorer – access to the Internet

§  Yahoo or Google – websites; e-mail, chat rooms, Blog sites, news service (print/video) educational software etc.

§  Adobe Reader – graphs/photo composition and editing

§  MSN – mail/chat messaging

§  Windows media player – CD, VCD player

§  Cyberlink Power – DVD player

§  Windows Movie Maker – editing film/video

§  GameHouse – video games

Chapter 5 : Higher Thinking Skills Through IT-Based Projects

In the traditional information absorption model of teaching, the teacher organizes and presents information to student-learners. The teachers uses teaching resources like chalkboard/ whiteboard, videotape, visual aids, charts, and the like during the presentation and discussion of the lesson. After the discussion, the teacher gives the students seat works and home works. This teaching approach has proven successful for achieving learning outcomes following the lower end of Bloom’s Taxonomy which is the cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitude), and psychomotor (skills).

Today, students are expected not only to be cognitive, but also flexible, analytical and creative. In this lesson, there are methods proposed by the use of computer-based as an integral support to higher thinking skills and creativity.

Higher Level Learning Outcomes

To define higher level thinking skills and creativity, we may adopt a framework that is a helpful synthesis of many models and definitions on the subject matter. The framework is not exhaustive but a helpful guide for the teacher’s effort to understand the learner’s higher learning skills.

Complex Thinking Skills	Sub-Skills
Focusing	Defining the problem, goal/objective-setting, brainstorming
Information Gathering	Selection, recording of data of information
Remembering	Associating, relating new data with old
Analyzing	Identifying idea constructs, patterns
Generating	Deducing, inducting, elaborating
Organizing	Classifying, relating
Imagining	Visualizing, predicting
Designing	Planning, formulating
Integration	Summarizing, abstracting
Evaluating	Setting criteria, testing idea, verifying outcomes, revising

In the traditional way of teaching, it is only focused in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor abilities of the students. The modern way of teaching, with the use of IT is more complex.

Higher Order Thinking Cycle

        

The Upgraded Project Method

In this modern day, the teachers are now guided on their goal to help students achieve higher level thinking skills and creativity beyond the ordinary.

We know the fact that an ordinary classroom lacks in instructional tools; as a result, the teachers are having difficulties in bringing the students to a higher domain of learning and achieving creativity, so the project method is suggested.

Project Method

Teachers assign the students to work on projects with depth, complexity duration and relevance to the real word.

Project is utilized because students need to make the most of the decisions about what to put inside their project, how to organize their information and ideas and how to communicate their result effectively.

Upgraded Project Method

In here, there is a tighter link between the uses of projects for simply coming up with products to have the students undergo the process of higher thinking skills under the framework of the Constructivist Paradigm.

In this new project method, the students are advised to use computer application and high technology in doing their projects.

Constructivist Paradigm

It emphasizes on how the students construct knowledge. The students, not the teacher are the ones who make decisions about what to put into their project, how to organize information, how to package the outcomes for presentation and the like.

In doing projects, there are two things that are involved: the process and the product.

Process. Refers to the steps, effort and experiences in project completion.

Product. The result or the end point of the process.

As a future teacher, we must take into consideration the process in every project because in the process, the students are able to think and apply their creativity and as a result, they have developed their higher order thinking skills.