I think that is important to calibrate the use of the new media in the teaching and learning path.

I don't know the answer to your question (yet), but I can tell you this. The feeling of teaching to fewer and fewer students, of presenting your lectures to backs of computers, of only partially connecting to the class because 80% of the students are at home listening to the lectures, is terrible.

It interrupts the flow of information, prevents me from getting a good groove going because the few that are present are shopping or tweeting while you teach.

I don't like it at all, not one bit.

They do OK on the exams though (so far).

This is a good an important question. It does seem ironic that we are having this conversation in a computer-mediated environment, and that fact does have implications for the question. As digital communication becomes an increasingly integrated part of work and life beyond academia, it seems appropriate that one learn with technologies representative of the worlds in which they will live and work. Chemistry students benefit from learning in labs that have at least a modest connection to the types of labs where they may one day work. Accounting students learning accounting with only pencil and paper ledger may find themselves lost when they get their first job. Or, consider a young computer science student getting their first job in a Silicon Valley start-up, and she shows up to her first meeting with pencil and paper in hand. Research on the transfer of learning from one context to another is consistently clear on this idea.

What is needed, however, is guidance and feedback on how to appropriately and effectively leverage various technologies in various environments.

The question is for me especially adequate for early education, when natural learning and instructional settings are extremly important also for normal development but new technological gadgets are very attractive simply as toys and use to be preferred by children.

It is hard to give the answer to your question, up till now. The influence of Information Communication Technology (ICT) of “now day’s education” is obvious and evident. Therefore, the impact on the learning process (in almost all fields and levels of education) is enormous. From my point of view you have to follow the simple equation: eEducation = eLearning + eTeaching.

For that reason, let’s start with the famous quotation “Pedagogy, the art of teaching, under various names, has been adopted by the academic world as a respectable and an important field. The art of learning is an academic orphan. One should not be mislead by the fact that libraries of academic departments of psychology often have a section marked “learning theory.” The older books under this heading deal with the activity that is sometimes caricatured by the image of a white-coated scientist watching a rat run through a maze… newer volumes are more likely to be based upon the theories of performance of computer programs than on the behavior of animals… but… they are not about the art of learning… they do not offer advice to the rat (or to the computer) about how to learn.”, Seymour Papert (1993). The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer.

I expand this with the question: “Is (thanks to ICT) Pedagogy, the art of teaching, the academic widow in 21st century?”

So, the proper question will be: “Do we have the right pedagogy for usage ICT in teaching/learning?”

The answer of that question will be the answer of your question.

Thanks Bernard and Ljubomir for bringing the idea forward that it may be the learning part of the experience that is most important (and perhaps affected). It may be the part that needs the most guidance (and restriction) on students' behavior in the classroom.

After all, the lecturer with the white coat talking about a rat is still bringing his point across, with or without the digital gadgets.

Ronald, as you say, how the material gets modifies to adapt to the platforms, also is important. In my case, I am guilty of probably not doing enough (but that is dependent on the subject matter being taught, the infrastructure, the interest and time we have to devote to it).

Technology is definitely helpful in teaching and learning processes if the users are well informed and well equipped. The problem, however, lies with the rapid changes that take place in the technological world at a baffling speed. As human beings we internalize the technology of our own time. No long ago, with the inception of computer technology, the teaching faculty was split between segments - one computer literate and the computer illiterate. There were highly qualified teachers who did not know how to use computer. This also breeds generation gap. The old stick to the past because unlearning and relearning are very painful processes. Their response to the complexity of new digital world is very slow. On the other hand the new generation embraces the emerging trends in the technological arena with an amazing comfort.

So there is no denying the fact, technology widens the horizon of learning. But at the same time we cannot deny that digression is a big problem that pops in when myriads of options are available to the user. If you are holding a mobile in the classroom or a laptop screen is in front of your eyes, there are a lot of chances that you be lost in another world while the lecturer or the presenter is desperately trying to make his message through.

In this situation, the users of technology need to be educated how to remain on the right track and avoid fruitless or rather harmful digressions.

^ +1, that has been my experience as well.

The mere presence of the technology inside the classroom, during the delivery, while it is not necessary, interferes with the teaching and learning process.

Its research has always both answer but as per the engagement of the future generation with electronic gadget it lure them to pass them more time on it. But it does not mean that they cram them for exam. At same time this material must have some fantastic animated item which attract them to remain in touch. Other wise what i found is that if only words are there it will of no use. so this technology found to good effect and enhance efficiency also.

Recently, interactive whiteboards are getting tremendous popularity because primarily the the manufacturers of smart boards are hecticly trying to promoate their products and also the institutions want to make their classrooms more lively and attractive. New technology does attract. However, again the question arises whether the use of this new technology really increases learning efficiency in the classroom. Obviously, IWBs have a tremendoud potential to capture the attention of the learners for hours if aptly used. It entirely depends upon the cognitive attitude of the teacher or the presenter. The more insight into the use of IWbs he has, the more the learning will be.

Mostly, when we talk about negative effects of technology, we have in our minds the young boys and girls who tend to pay more attention to chatting, playing games or just surfing the internet. Social media like facebook or twitter keep the learner digressed from the actual task. And this one of the common complaints that the teachers as well parents have from thier children in the modern era of global village where sitting at one place one can have connection with so many people. Emotional consideration combined with technology definitely tend to undermine the process of learning in the classroom.

I think the teaching-learning process depends on the mastery of the subject rather than the means to transmit knowledge.

Just like anything else, it's how it's used that's important. The impression I get is that when students are left to their own devices, they tend to choose the best way to use them. (Apologies for the pun.) As a teacher, I've found the way technology most helps me to promote learning is *outside* the classroom. The technology that is really mature at the moment is communication technology (social media, LMSs) and that tends to become redundant once I enter the classroom and can talk to my students. But of course that could change soon (e.g., when IWBs become as easy to use as normal whiteboards).

If we mean that sort of learning that amplifies the students view of the surrounding world and deepens their understanding by honing their critical and cognitive skills then I believe it (digital technology) has decreased their learning efficiency. On the other hand it does depend on HOW it has been used.

I would rather invert the question= it bothers me that the question is technology driven rather that education driven. Another way to phrase the question would be: after 1 1/2 centuries of public education what have proven to be the most effective demonstrated pedagogical approaches ? whether using technology or not ? Clearly there is a network of learning strategies and teaching strategies. What combinations work in given situations ? Given age groups ?

Well, there are many aspects and point of view.

If the technology is used only for social, the learning efficiency will not have any change.

Also there aren’t changes if the teacher is not training in use the technology.

Piaget and other researchers are growing up without new technologies, then, how we could to understand the learning process? What the meaning of this new tool in this process? It will be the same that “mediation” for Vigotsky?.

The cognitive development will be the same? –the students not use the speaking language, only “click”, sometimes for hours.

I am a secondary science teacher with a M.Ed. for technology leadership. I am also a first year doctoral student at TAMUC for educational psychology. My theory has been that technology is a tool to enhance the classroom instruction but certainly does not replace it. What I have found, working in Title I schools, is the student motivation to learn and willingness to do the work significantly increases with the use of technology which also helps manage classroom behavior. I believe most classroom management issues arise from students unable to perform the task asked of them. However, when given a technology device they are more excited about trying the task and within their comfort zone of using technology so focused on completing that task. As an example: students who struggle with reading and writing are less likely to tend to book work or reading assignments from the text so differentiated web sites based on student level of skill can promote learning for that student as they build their confidence and skill by being able to complete the reading passage with comprehension and therefore answer questions related to it. The technology use is also more personal for the student. There is not a public display of small grouping based on needs and the student is not asked to read aloud in front of the class unless they want to - reducing embarrassment and increasing participation. But they are asked to synthesize the information (moving up Bloom's) and discuss or explain it to their peers in class or as part of a group discussion.

A segue to this is the amount of planning that must be done to implement technology effectively into the classroom instruction. What I find is that teachers add technology as an activity and not as an instructional tool. Just using technology as an activity does not facilitate learning or increase the level of understanding for that concept. As pedagogy is redesigned to include the use of technology it is imperative to offer support to teachers and campuses on how to implement the technology and more importantly how to evaluate the educational value of what they are doing.

I would like to change the interesting and difficult question by using the word "Can" instead of “Has”. "Has" is too simple as the social educational context inside a classroom is complex and depends on the understanding of what pedagogy is about. So probably we could say both yeas and no. I think the ICT has still rarely been used in schools. There are still interesting possibilities waiting for us that could make schools more actual elements in society.

I think that ICT helps to deliver content differently. For example, I no longer focus on deepening the formula, (access this f (x), from anywhere Internet, Excel, R, etc.) but I spent more on when and how to use it.

The advantage of ICT is the time used to teach and the learner uses his time to access more information, more cases worldwide.

Therefore, I believe that not only has to do with the learner, but in how the tutor generates activities to be resolved by the student,

using everything this around.

You may want to read the following article in Science:

Sparrow, B.; Liu, J.; Wegner, D.M.: Google effects on Memory: Cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, 2011.333, p. 776-779

DOI: 10.1126/science.1207745

I'm not educator or teacher, I just observe students and teachers as digitalculture researcher. I have noticed that in information dynamics, during the education sessions, there seems to be new way to work together. Students and teachers help each others as they have to solve technical problems or search information. Is this more generation question, what you think?

The question itself is odd, because it is not considerating that learning is a brain process, and brain adapts to the culture through the enviroment, if the enviroment is empty, there is nothing to learn.

To me this statement is like ehen people say guns kill people. Gun kill nobody, if you pull the trigger, wich need a person behind then, the bullet can kill someone. Well computers is the same, how are you using them is the question, but even in that case, it's arrogant to think the brain process only happens if someone is teaching, because that is a natural process that keep alive to species... I would invite you to read the difference between teaching and learn here http://talkingaboutneurocognitionandlearning.blogspot.com/2012/12/10-education-issues.html?m=1

My own work suggests computer tools sometimes do a great job. See

Bakker, A., Groenveld, D. J. G., Wijers, M., Akkerman, S. F., & Gravemeijer, K. P. E. (in press). Proportional reasoning in the laboratory: An intervention study in vocational education. Educational Studies in Mathematics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10649-012-9393-y

there is also large-scale research, e.g. from Israel, suggesting that the general picture is not so positive.

Seymour Papert argued that the question itself is techno-centric; it is actually the wrong question in his view. IT is only a tool. We should ask whether students and teachers can use the available tools well.

It depends what you want to evaluate:)

We often use information technology and communication but continue evaluating the traditional way. Many times we also use these technologies within a logic of traditional teaching and learning.

I think to answer your question we need to establish what skills and competencies are talking and also evaluate teaching practices that are having with the new technologies of information and communication.

Greetings Brazilian

S.

The phrase "learning efficiency" would need to be defined, I'd say. Or you might need to establish what you want the students to "learn." If the goal is to better acquaint them with certain technologies or devices, or to demonstrate that the classroom has given them opportunity to use the technologies, then any claim that the use of new technologies in the classroom is "efficient" is merely tautological. If the goal, however, is to create certain cognitive patterns or structures, or to give students content knowledge, or even more ambitiously, to encourage certain forms of social behaviour that are capable of being disassociated from the technology, or which are demonstrable in other ways... these would be more interesting questions. Does using the smart phone in class help a student write a 1000 word essay with a pen and paper in an exam, when no phones are allowed by the invigilator? Has the advent of tablet usage in the classroom increased voter turnout in undergraduates who own iPads? Is the content stored in the cloud by teenagers more or less inclusive of "texts" created before 1990, than would be the case for the bookshelves still remaining in their homes? These would strike me as more engaging questions for real statistical research.

Birgid. I think the example is very specific, thus showing that the problem is not in the students, but in preparing teachers with ICT activities

we are talking about. To teach using ICT, or teach with the ICT

It is not just information technology and communication but of how these technologies are affecting the way we learn and how schools can help students learn. I think work projects involving research by students, problem solving, knowledge production (individual and collaborative) and knowledge sharing are forms that must be deepened by schools in the use of new information technologies and communication. I think didactically, mentoring is a good form of relationship between teachers and students. I think the fundamental change is transforming the school from a place that imparts knowledge to students at a local produce knowledge. The use of information technology and communications to seek, understand, interpret and use (resignifying) and sharing the knowledge available. We need a new kind of teacher, of course:)

Greetings,

S.

I have had a very positive experience using technology. The following is an abstract of a presentation I will be making at the The 16th Annual CSU Teaching Symposium.

This is a case study of students’ evaluations of participation in an alpha test of a new social content and discussion platform, ValuePulse, at California Polytechnic State University and National University of Ireland Galway during Fall Quarter 2012. The case study is being conducted among approximately 300 business students and agribusiness students. Faculty are using ValuePulse to send articles about industry news to their students for discussion. Students also sent articles to each other and faculty to discuss their research topics for projects. In addition, 70 students from the US and Ireland shared articles and discussions lead by their professors in the same group.

Survey research is being used to interview the students participating in the case study to understand if using ValuePulse enhanced their learning. Preliminary results indicate students using ValuePulse to discuss industry news report positive learning enhancements. Almost 90% report feeling more engaged in course topics. Two-thirds of the students using ValuePulse agree that their critical thinking skills improved. Half agree that their written communication skills improved. Further, three-fourths of students learn from other students’ comments and believe that they know more about their coursework and field of study using ValuePulse.

The appropriateness of different social platforms for communication about coursework with faculty is also examined. ValuePulse is preferred to existing networks by three-fourths of the students. Although almost two-thirds of the students have used Facebook to communicate with other students and/or faculty, only 14% of students believe it is extremely or very appropriate for discussions between students and faculty about important information concerning coursework. Only a third of the students indicate LinkedIn is appropriate and 6% believe Twitter is appropriate.

If you would to join this Alpha Test with your classes, join us on ValuePulse at www.valuepulse.com. The link here shows you how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Wu9Pk7wAE

Re -- Chris Chandler's response. Pragmatically, to sharpen the pencil point, consider the applications of digital communication technology to the educational process(es) as "tools" for student performance: what measurements exist of how well these technologies perform along the continuum of childhood development? This is, in one sense, a question of economies. I'm glad to see this question raise so many questions, because I suspect it is essential to ask.

With respect to Mr. Edwards' more recent post... The continuum of childhood development, as a frame within which to measure or discuss the impact of digital communication technology, would be problematic I suspect because the technologies under discussion obsolesce one another too rapidly to provide any consistent variables for long-term research. By the time a researcher had pooled his or her data regarding the impact of, say, student beepers as a means to improve attendance, and was looking forward to discovering whether his or her findings would repeat for the students as they aged, the beeper would no longer be "engaging" for the students, as they collectively yearned in the class for a cell phone (or later a smart phone, or a tablet, or a... etc.). By its very nature, the question of how particular digital information technologies affect learning is a pensee du jour, unless it is being framed in a broader, multi-decade fashion. Asking, for example, how one social network, as opposed to another, might affect student "engagement" (even if merely self-assessed, as in the ValuePulse example in this thread) would be akin to looking at the transition from vellum to paper, and its place in the growth of literacy, and then narrowing the lens to a discussion of individual species of bovinae, and of trees. Perhaps the question would be improved by a comprehensive definition of "digital communication technology".

I guess that the issue is also how we define learning efficiency. Do you mean effective learning? Using technology must always only be seen as a tool and as such should be chosen for the purpose it was designed for not what we assume that it should be used for. It is this which is the real issues all too often teachers are required to use technology within the classroom as a main teaching strategy and whilst it may hit many of the inspection buttons it does not always allow for a learner to create meaning. One of the reasons for this maybe that those who design programs and those who use them don't speak the same language and don't communicate early on enough in the design process. Teachnology ( deliberate spelling -my term ) is here to stay which is great but we should all wake up and smell the coffee it is only as good as those who realise that education is not one size fits all and so should start involving the users in its design and those who design it must know how to teach.

@Caroline.

'One of the reasons for this maybe that those who design programs and those who use them don't speak the same language and don't communicate early on enough in the design process.'

If we were to just look at speech recognition as an example, the technology is driven by ..... well technology! Isn't it about time that educators and technicians got together to sort out our problems?

Perspective is extremely important when considering the use of technology in education (or is it education in technology?). As technology is developed, it is sometimes economically feasible for educators to try to "force" its use as this will lead to technology-based funding opportunities. Although such situations promote technology sales, they do not necessarily lead to the best education. I have observed principals purchasing expensive technology because they had the funds and then forcing their faculty to "find ways to use it in your instruction" because "everyone else is doing it" or because "we want to be at the front of the technology-in-education movement." Technology for education is a tool for instruction and learning. Its development and use can also be end-products of instruction and learning. However, we must be careful to avoid allowing technology to be the driver of education just for the sake of doing it, or for economic reasons that are not justified by positive education impact.

Greetings to all,

The use of new information and communication technologies have changed (this is a fact) how we learn.

The question is the school able to adapt to new social forms of learning? Amazing how the school has been the stronghold tougher (at least here in Brazil) the use of new technologies.

The new technologies of communication and information has shown that some assumptions of linearity and education as prerequisites do not fit well when we use technology to learn.

Our pedagogy and our teaching has been directed to education (how to teach?). I think that new information and communication technologies enable shift the focus more to learn than to teach. As new generations can learn using the new features? This changes all the work of the school. Stop teaching to spend to help students learn. It is certainly a paradigm shift in what has been the main social function of the school.

In my opinion the more we assume this new logical faster we will be heading for efficient learning (not teaching effectively as in the past).

So it's not just to use technology to replicate the traditional logic of knowledge transmission, but rather focus on the construction (or reconstruction?) of knowledge by students.

Want to continue doing it with old information technology and communication, it is certainly a poor choice because of the wealth that the technological resources allow (search, and choice of location information - information judging from the criteria of validity, reliability, etc. ... - problem solving, work projects, production of shared knowledge and sharing of information and knowledge generated, to be quite quick and succinct).

A hug,

S.

have thought, previously learned skills according to the context in which it was taught? (little access to books primarily). and now that they have more tools (ICT) to teach things should increase student learning?.

It is a good question. We can be good teachers with gypsum and blackboard, and bad teachers with ICT.

Hi, it's great to see such animation and cross communication about the use of learning technology. I would suggest that a visit to sugata mitra's site would be of benefit to all. Innovation in using technology has no better advocate. Enjoy http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html

I am Professor of Surgery, and I used to use telemedicine for my residents and students with a great success. I think that digital information/communication technology absolutely increases learning efficiency. Dr.Vahit Ozmen

If not increase knowledge, so if it impacts on thinking skills!!,, all depends on the design of activities

Yes! ICT gives an opportunity to do the things faster and easier. But, ICT is just a tool that has to be used properly. It is not a magic wand, which will get you to more and better knowledge by default. The research we had performed in physics education shows that ICT can be burden to some extent. If students are not involved in a situation that will initiate critical thinking, then ICT is just another “book”, which will give the students data and information. The research shows that the students are more focused on where to click/tap and what to drag and drop instead of thinking about the process, quantities and phenomena. There is one big advantage when using ICT, which is impossible to achieve by using traditional tools and approaches. That is visualization of invisible things like molecules, forces, electrons etc. The research shows that this advantage helps students to understand more some processes. However, we have to remember that in front of the tablet or smart phone there is an inexperienced person, which needs directions, questions, comments and human interaction to come to the desired level of knowledge.

for every new technology there are +ve and -ve aspects.

theses are great technology tools - educators work is how to utilize effectively.

one thing is sure there are more +ve than -ve

most important aspect is not how you teach BUT how quickly and thoroughly students or any learner understand what you are teaching !!!

and i am sure technology make things easier in fulfilling the aim.

rashmi shah

I think that answering this question also depends on who your students are. I, for example, mainly teach IT students. It would not make much sense to use chalk or an OHP to teach them ICT. They have to get computer literate anyway, so it makes sense to use ICT in class (you may have a look at Rosen: Understanding the iGeneration and how they learn). I am quite sure that is the case in many other fields of education. As many said before: ICT is a tool and not a new educational paradigm.

A precise answer to the question needs comparative research with appropriate educational environments (technology) and teaching/learning approaches (education)..

Hello Michael,

I will respectfully disagree with you:)

I think, yes, it's a new paradigm. Work with IT completely changes the perspective on any level of education. What happens is that most people still do not see where we should go and what the teacher work on these new possibilities.

I believe that new information and communication technologies change the focus of traditional didactics and pedagogy of teaching to learning processes, more specifically self-learning, collaborative learning and sharing of knowledge built.

The new information and communication technologies change the traditional logic of education, allowing leave the processes of transmission of accumulated knowledge to processes of knowledge construction. This change has no direct relationship only with the advent of new information technologies and communication but we must recognize that they leverage this change in a way never before imagined.

A hug,

S.

Dear Sergio, thank you for sharing your point. I might have been a bit sloppy in using the term "paradigm" without explaining what I think it is.

Since we talk about education, it's not Kuhn's use of that term that I had in mind; his use relates to scientific model problems and solutions, which may include new equipment for carrying out experiments (ICT?).

In education and social science Handa used the term "social paradigm", which could be conceptualized as "worldview". So, for our discussion: paradigm (as I meant it above) = the worldview on education.

If we can agree on that, then the question is how ICT changes the worldview on education. I still do not think that there is a significant contribution to that made by ICT. Tools, yes - but no new idea of education. The changes you claim (knowledge transfer -> knowledge construction) are real, but - as you said - these changes are not based on ICT rather they emerged before the introduction of ICT in education. ICT is important in supporting knowledge construction and other new ideas, though. For example, computer simulation can help understand complex ideas. Similar ways in the non-ICT world are gedankenexperiments (thought experiments), as among many others Einstein used for gainng new insights.

Sergio, with your remarks you motivated me digging a bit deeper into the paradigm concept. Thx.

Cheers

Michael

Hello Michael:)

I think somehow the paradigm is a worldview same. They are models, representations and interpretations of the world (theory) that supply problems and solution models for a scientific community. Paradigms are assumptions of science, which in some ways is a worldview:)

Anyway what I wanted to bring to the debate is that the new educational possibilities with the advent of new technologies of information and communication needs of a new teaching and a new pedagogy.

You work with technology and understands that technological resources directly affect the way we have learned in recent times and also know that new generations learn completely differently from us three or four decades ago.

So I think we need a new paradigm, ie, a new model for education that accounts for models provide solutions that are beyond the didactics and pedagogy has managed to produce (paradigm shift). We are still (at least here in Brazil) trying to deal with all these news from assumptions (paradigms) that were mostly built in different historical moments and in which technological change is not happening as fast and crazy.

I think most people still can not envision how such changes will be impacting on education in twenty years, for example.

My opinion is that the new technologies of information and communication will bring profound changes in traditional social functions of the school and the teacher's role, which as we know, is not only socially responsible for the transmission of knowledge but by other social functions (cultural, moral, ethical, etc ...) which in turn are also influenced by new information technologies and communication.

For all these reasons I think that the new information and communication technologies represent a new paradigm (which is still drawing, I admit), the consequences of which will be a new worldview and therefore a new vision of school, education, learning, cognitive theories etc ...

Very nice to meet you. I visited your profile and realized that you make things very interesting and important.

Congratulations,

S.

@Sergio and Michael. Very inspiring discussion! Terms like paradigms, world view, social paradigms with reference to ICT do generate the interest of the reader. It's true the current challenge is to develop such a mechanism of teaching and learning process in which the unprecedented rapidity of change has to be harnessed to the benefit of students so that could meet the emerging trends of the modern world. Each invention and discovery creates ripple in the existing cultural, moral and ethical fabric. New realities need new adjustments. Therefore, theories are not forever. Information and communication technologies have no doubt brought about a revolution in the traditional pedagogical methods. For instance, the use of IWB (interactive white board) in the classroom, changes the whole scenario, if the user is well trained and knows how to use it creatively. At the same time, he has to be mindful of its technological problems. To adept oneself to the new techniques and technologies definitely takes time. However, with the passage of time, the problems will decrease as the use of ICT will be the part of a teacher's training.

As for the new paradigm, it will be quite interesting to see how the worldwide view shapes itself to cope with the new challenges that arise with the dynamism of ICT. Things are in the melting pot and a new amalgam will come up sooner or later. The people like you two are surely contributing to the evolution. Keep it up!

Talking about technologies doesn't mean to undermine the role of a teacher. It is the teacher as well who has to use these technological tools and devices in order to enhance the learning efficiency in the classroom. New generation is born with an orientation with the latest technology. A small baby learns to press keys on computer at a early age. There are students who feel more comfortable with a laptop or an ipad while taking notes in the classroom. As teachers we have to broaden our outlook and accept an undeniable reality. It is the teacher who has to guide and monitor the learners as to how they use technical gadgets. Besides, today's learner has to be trained to perform multiple tasks at a time as it happens while using a computer.

@muhammad iqbal For all that you said dear Muhammad, but to be a "master" in the older sense of the word leading students to reflect ethically on everything and learn about the world we are building from the knowledge. I think this will be our biggest task in the future, an enlargement and empowerment of knowledge based on human values ​​more expensive for us. Certainly one of the powers of the twenty-first century teacher should be the ability to engage the knowledge acquired by students with a basic ethical imperative to the future of humanity.

This is not an exclusive competence of the moment. But this moment is leveraging the most - at the point where human knowledge is coming and the global reach of new information technologies and knowledge - that our ability to be masters will be more important than ever in the education of new generations.

A fraternal embrace,

S.

@varghese george Respectfully, I think that efficient learning is one that allows our students to solve problems and situations (may be everyday things, a theoretical problem, a solution to a problem in the neighborhood, etc.).. This is a discussion on educational assessment ...

You in Massachusetts has a tradition of educational assessment. I had the chance to visit Harvard University and meet the assessment program in your state. You are doing a great job and we here in Brazil we have inspired you too.

But I think a school will actually produce effective citizens and people capable of inserting socially and to relate to the knowledge produced and purchased by it to build your life and help to build a great nation (whether in Brazil or the USA) .

So, I think the test results, the feedbacks and corrections can show if perhaps we are on track or not. But the efficiency of our education will be felt on what our citizens realize do with what they have learned and continue to learn through life. We must also assess that ...

Regarding the role of the teacher I expressed my opinion in dialogue with Muhammad Iqbal. In the sense that I Muhdammad Iqbal in response to the teacher's work will always indispensable. Computers can help. The books too ... but right there, in your country the use of electronic devices to read (e-readers, tablets, smartphones) has changed the way very relevant as people are reading and shows how technology is becoming increasingly more relevant in the educational process.

The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire said we have to teach reading the words, but above all that we "teach" to interpret the world.

Well, it's a bit of how I personally formulated in my head some issues discussed here.

I enjoyed Boston and the educational experience of your state.

Even more,

S.

Steve Jobs, arguably one of the greatest innovators of our time, had a classical education. He had no macs, ipads, iphones etc... to aid his own education. What he had was a strong 'classical' education. Or perhaps he was highly self-educated. For example, he loved medieval documents because of the artful fonts used in these texts. When he developed the MacIntosh computer he insisted in creating 'proportionate fonts', and a large number of scripts, as supposed to the standard Courier font all computers used up to that point. Thus, it seems to me that ways that lead to self-education, regardless of the existing technologies, may be more effective in achieving the full potential of most students.

@mario blanco Dear Mario, you are quite right in part.

I agree that the new technologies of communication should not replace everything (documents, ancient texts, etc ...) But certainly for a kid in Brazil, India or Africa, the only possibility of knowing a medieval document or see the drawings of Da Vinci, the internet is:)

However, restless minds as Jobs and Gates, for example, never adjusted to the pace of education "classic". They have not concluded their studies on a regular basis was not it? Zuckberg too, if I'm not mistaken ... For the teacher evaluation "classic" Einstein never be able to formulate the theory of relativity. I do not mean that everything worked (or works wrong) but we have to be very careful in choosing our roads and in our evaluations.

You are also right at the point that we should not destroy all that we have to construct and especially value our cultural base.

But I think we have to be very critical sense to make the right choices and choose the most correct direction.

Greetings Brazilian

S.

PS: As a kid who grew up in a country with an educational structure that always left something to be desired, especially the criterion of fairness, my personal experience shows me that access to new information technologies and communication can make all the difference, especially in the processes of self learning

I think it was Chagall who said that we are all born great artists, then we go to school. The three you mentioned, Jobs, Gates and Zuckerberg are school drop outs. DaVinci was self-taught to a great extent. When I mentioned Jobs classical education I was referring to the study of the classics, Greek and Roman cultures, as well as a deep love of the Renascence. Gates owns most of DaVinci's writings. The point is that technology facilitates, greatly, and I value how entire libraries can be put into a kindle or ereader where no books existed before. However, unless the mind is ready or gets the right encouragement, access to knowledge is only necessary but insufficient. I remember growing up before the digital age, how few precious books (borrowed) circulated in my school. We devour them, while other more privileged students with full access to large libraries rarely venture into its contents. The challenge is not to copy and distribute eLibraries, that is necessary, the challenge is knowing how to instill love of knowledge and create self-taught individuals. For this, I offer little help, other than the traditional advice, read to your pre-school children before you take them to bed.

I agree with some of the comments that argue a displacement of focus from technology to education. Technology is a tool. Lévy claimed a more wide view on technology and he even considered that the written word could be seen as a kind of technology that allowed the evolution of mankind from prehistory to history.

This said, we must realize that a new technology may allow us to do new things, or different things, or the same things in new/easiest/faster ways. It empowers us. Today, some technologies are almost part of our"self"s. For instance, my car is an "extension" of myself, as well as my smartphone. In fact, I have quite an ability to text on my smartphone that may mother will never have...

So I think the discussion should be based on the fact that we need to acknowledge that we are "humans-with-media" (look for Marcelo Borba and Monica Villarreal's work). The focus is not whether technology is/is not improving learning, but how can learning be empowered with these tools of the 21st century that already permeate every corner of our social and professional lives.

Why do they have to be left back at the school gate? Marc Prensky's writings offer a very interesting critique to school curriculum in this issue...

Great discussion here I would be interested to see what people think of the use of simulations for training, especially with regards to the certification of aircraft engineers as competent to carry out tasks on an a "Real" aircraft having only practiced these tasks on a simulation? would you be happy to fly in that aircraft...?

Today scientific publications amount rises 900000. Is posible that one revolutionary discover stand out of plane, and then forgotten.

Thanks to technology of information we can find solutions , electronic resources are necessary in Order to simplify scientific work

I happened in on a 12th grade language arts classroom two days ago where the students were reading fables off their smartphones. The homework assignment was to bring in a favorite fable to share with the class. The teacher allowed students to bring their fables on their smartphones; every single student in the class had their homework! It was a brilliant use of technology. Simple--yes, but it made an impression. Also read about a high school in New Jersey that has a "BYOD" (bring your own device) policy at school. Students are able to access the school wifi and have research access from their desk. It is a tool--and if used wisely, can enhance the learning environment!

I agree that the paradigm has to change. The processes of assessment, both of the educator and the educated, are at the crux of my question, since the economics of maintaining a school depend on outcomes. I wish I did not have to use the term "efficiency" -- reminiscent of the assembly line paradigm of nineteenth/twentieth century education. Is recapitulation sufficient?

Re: P. Hughes My view is that the paradigm will change as the distance between teacher and student dissolves, and that the real potential of this stuff lies in decreasing and amplifying the feedback loop: virtuality and simulation of experience scenarios shared by teacher and student. My impatience with ICT development has to do with seemingly more interest in making better tele-phones/visions.

Re: Jonathan Edwards. Instruction paradigm has already changed to learning paradigm. Now we can foresee a blended paradigm of blended learning in which technology factor will determine the role of the teacher and the learner. Online learning, distance learning, blended learning all need a better tele-phones/visions to ensure a better communicational reciprocity and instant feedback. Even the very concept of classroom is subjected to a change now. Although traditional classroom still holds ground but digital information/communication technology comes to it as an extension. Accordingly, the role of the teacher has to be an extended one.

I am wary of the use of the term "learning efficiency" in this context because it's too likely to be loaded with 20th C industrial age assumptions. Thomas and Brown (2011) give an interesting example.

Noting the often-commented-upon datum from a National Geographic study that over 60% of Americans aged 18-24 could not find Iraq on a map, Thomas did an experiment. He got some students in that age group, but sat them at computers instead of traditional maps. Not only were they able to find Iraq easily, but asked if he wanted street views or ariel views? Did he want a region or the whole country? Did he want satellite imaging or map form? Traditional maps were next to useless for these students, who were used to working digitally.

The National Geographic's study was based on 20th C assumptions about how students would think of geography, and was therefore flawed. So when we talk about educational efficiency, we usually measure this against some form of 20th C practice. However with computers, students can do much more, and better, than they could in the last century. But it may take longer to do it, and since there are more possibilities, it may not look like current practice at all. Thus the term "learning efficiency" would have little meaning in this context.

Paul David, in his essay The Dynamo and the Computer (1990) also notes how the early adoption of electricity tended to be measured against the performance of steam power, which was an invalid comparison.

References:

David, P. A. (1990). The Dynamo and the Computer: An Historical Perspective on the Modern Productivity Paradox [Electronic edition]. The American Economic Review, 80(2), 355-361.

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change .

@don philip I have commented right here in another forum that my daughter, more than doubled the number of books she read, only because she now use a digital reader:)

I think we are reaching a level with the new technologies of communication and information that most people have not realized how they are influencing and changing our relationship with knowledge.

Don, you are right to distrust the term efficiency. I agree that it is often used in the sense of old assumptions, sometimes with the sense of liberal economic efficiency, it is also inappropriate for education.

So what would be an effective education in the sense of the question initially by @ jonathan edwards?

Maybe we should discuss it a bit here, then:)

See you,

S.

@varghese george Hello,

For me, particularly, understand why effective learning:

1-learning can put people socially, intellectually, in practical life and work;

2-learning that allows people to continue learning on their own;

3-an education that allows citizens to form critical and aware of the world they live in;

4-an education that enables people to appropriate technological tools for both to solve their everyday problems like cognitive and intellectual needs;

5-learning can help people solve problems;

6-an education that is able to allow the enjoyment of life and beautiful things;

(...) I think the list is great but definitely not to be confused with search capabilities of computers:)

Finally I would just recover the four pillars of education (UNESCO) in the Report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century, coordinated by Jacques Delors:

a) learning to know;

b) learn to do;

c) learn to live with others;

d) learn to be.

Greetings,

S.

@ Sérgio Silva, Don Philip and Varghese George: I am not sure that the Jonathan’s question is about learning “efficiency” with the usage of proper computer program (ITS, CAI, CAL etc.), or about learning “efficiency” in the classroom with aims of ICT. Therefore, the problem is shall we measure learning “efficiency” on the individual basis – individual learning, or on the group of students - “classroom learning”?

If it is about learning “efficiency” based on ICT, the answer is probably YES. But, if we talk about learning with usage of computer, I think that we are still on the beginning, even that some good software in this field was made.

I have post some ideas about usage computers in learning at this forum before. I'll repeat the famous quotation: “Pedagogy, the art of teaching, under various names, has been adopted by the academic world as a respectable and an important field. The art of learning is an academic orphan. One should not be mislead by the fact that libraries of academic departments of psychology often have a section marked “learning theory.” The older books under this heading deal with the activity that is sometimes caricatured by the image of a white-coated scientist watching a rat run through a maze… newer volumes are more likely to be based upon the theories of performance of computer programs than on the behavior of animals… but… they are not about the art of learning… they do not offer advice to the rat (or to the computer) about how to learn.”, Seymour Papert (1993). The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer.

We have a lot of problems to realize the good software for learning with the computer, i.e. we have to find out “new” learning strategies, and/or to formalize the impact of emotions on learning process, to formalize “new” pedagogy, etc.

The problem is that computer is “dumb” machine, so we have to write the good software. The algorithm of learning is not found yet, in the sense of human learning. We have to find out the proper knowledge representation and appropriate heuristics for searching and applying that knowledge, to understand fuzzy logic and reasoning, non-monotonic logic and reasoning, other kinds of logic, etc. Too many open problems, right?

I started the topic “eEducation - forty years of promises?” about that, so you could find there some new ideas about all of this.

I think that a correct calibration in the use of digital information and communication technology in the teaching path can help and increase the learning efficiency in the classroom. I also think that we can be creative in our didactics using gypsum and blackboard,

@ Ljubomir Jerinic Hello, I agree with you, the discussion is about the efficiency of ICT in the classroom. I guess my answer to @ george varghese had made ​​that clear:)

Anyway I agree with you, even on the computer is a "dumb machine". Actually I would not want my daughter to learn the computer. I think the idea of a tutor or mentor is the best:)

I've expressed here (can not remember if it was in this forum) about the characteristics of this tutor or mentor.

@ Nicoletta Sala also think we can be more creative with chalk and blackboard but also as to the use of ICT.

A hug,

S.

Clearly there is a concensus that 'learning efficiency' is a problematic term. Indeed, it seems to me that the greatest variable in all of the technology studies which I have read is the subjects. Students (I have actively avoided the over-used and mis-representative term learner) are treated as an homogenous mass.

Equally, laying new technologies on top of an education system which pre-dates the industrial revolution seems, to this simple mind, an act of hope rather than improvement. Indeed what is improvement? Is it more people passing so that they can get jobs? Frankly, while education systems (including higher education) act as 'credentialing gate keepers' for bosses and professional associations, I can only see that the introduction of technologies is tinklering at the edges.

Hello everyone! Actually the term efficiency needs to be defined here:)

In Brazil, for example, efficiency necessarily have to mean equity. We already have too much inequality outside school and education has to offer get this basic right and essential for all our children. What I mean is that high standards must be offered to all, at which point we find it difficult to improve.

I think that ICT can greatly help in this scenario.

We are in the twenty-first century, we have socially required standards, both for citizens to exercise their citizenship, the social demands for the world of work. We live in a global society with global issues (ecology, eg.) And global demands as mastering other languages​​, such as English, which is a global language.

Then, an effective education that will offer you get all these things with quality for all people. You can not speak of excellence in exclusive scenarios, which work only with the best, which include not realize the diversity (cultural and rhythms and different ways of learning, for ex.).

I am suggesting here, then, that equity is an essential point of what we call efficiency. Maybe for some countries it is exceeded (because internal inequalities - within the school - is no longer a problem), but not for us here in Brazil.

In my post for @ george varghese also talked a bit, I think. I also reject the term efficiency in its economic sense and liberal (capitalist), as I have said in other posts.

And then, what we call efficiency and then how ICT can help in the construction of this efficiency?

A hug,

In my opinion, technology driven education will definitely permit swift and voluminous access to required information. But too much information in a fraction of time on the finger tips of students can create more confusion. The learner's ability for in-depth analysis will then decrease. Technology only has a limited potential to increase the learning efficiency and excessive dependency on digital technology may paralyze the learning process, as it may obstruct thinking and analytical abilities.

Have we increased effective intelligence through ICT's capacity to engage in multi-tasking with multiple literacies? I have seen many breakthroughs by individuals who lacked the opportunity -- I dare say, the ability -- to succeed in traditional pedagogy, begin to blossom when exposed to other dimensions of experiential learning. Ever more authentic immersion, for example, becomes more available to the classroom that avails digital resources. Television, once only a passive activity, can now be a component of creative interactivtiy.

I coined a term for this creative immersive interactivity -- "virtuality", which I am still in the process of trying to understand.

I am using a new platform this semester, and despite the previous platform efficiency my students at the beginning of each semester have problems with total online learning. A portion of the students become anxious and are unable to figure out the system without support. Despite the ease an external classroom environment providing for streaming education and life, for some the learning curve is steep and the high anxiety is creating a poor learning environment. As a faculty learning the system as well, I can fix only problems and limitations I see on my end of the online environment.

Hello all! @ Gyanesh Sinha Perhaps that is why philosophy is today a little crisis. There is no philosophizing about processes so ethereal and less persistent. The news overlaps with immense speed and the time spent online trying to follow them in real time. No longer content ourselves with what happens in Brazil, for example. We want to know how was the decree of President Obama on arms sales in the U.S., as the hostages are trapped by radicals in Algeria ... the list is endless:)

Our fields of activity are impacted enormously. Updates happen in the form of scientific avalanche. Neither digest the latest advance and already have another and another.

We are seeing young people's behavior by changing everything about it. New technologies are an opportunity to leverage information and learning, certainly.

But I also feel that our thinking processes are even less powerful, especially in younger generations. The global nature and the interconnections among facts are many, the immense volume of information and the reflective process is impaired.

Maybe it's something to strengthen education in our time. Strengthen dialogue (after all we have learned has to be confronted with other people, is not it? Because we do not live on an island) and reflective processes. Offer youth sophisticated analysis tools (philosophy, for example), strengthen the ethical discussion about things and facts, develop critical thinking and understanding the causal chains and interrelationships between facts and things. Strengthen complex thinking, holistic and systemic.

So maybe the whole thing is not only summarize the technology but the human capacity that we have to strengthen to live in a knowledge society. Kiarii Aalto already gave us an overview of the winds future. Perhaps we should be more human than ever to cope with such technology. So, one of our missions is to strengthen our human capacities in the new generations.

@ Jonathan Edwards loved the term "creative interaction" (it is well suited for human skills and abilities, which I spoke above) and I think this deserves a development concept for the wealth it expresses. Congratulations once again ... two words that express a very powerful idea.

Well, after all that is forming in my head is your initial question: the efficiency of learning in the classroom using ICT is perhaps related to our human capacity to relate to so much information and knowledge.

My doubt? Are we more concerned with the information, knowledge, software, platforms, etc.., that with the development and strengthening of our human capacities?

@ Jennifer Drexler Perhaps our students (children and youth) are more dependent on us (teachers and adults) in relation to technology than we imagine ourselves sometimes. It's just a hypothesis ...

A hug,

S.

Johathan,

This virtuality, this immersion H.D. Wells called it the World Brain.

In the mid 1930’s , H.D. Wells formulated the idea of the necessity to create a World Brain: “what I am saying ... is this, that without a World Encyclopaedia to hold men's minds together in something like a common interpretation of reality, there is no hope whatever of anything but an accidental and transitory alleviation of any of our world trouble. We needs “.a sort of mental clearing house for the mind, a depot where knowledge and ideas are received, sorted, summarized, digested, clarified and compared” and that anyone could access from any part of the world.

Re: Louis -- That sounds about right. William Gibson described "cyberspace" as this kind of world, although, it seems that cyberspace is the where the mind leaves/escapes this immediate reality behind to inhabit an alternate reality. What I believe is that there is something actually different happening, and finding the right words to describe it has been a challenge. I would add to Wells' description a certain "generative energy" that is drawn out of the human mind by the experience. Even as I write these words, I am aware that I am addressing you -- albeit not in immediate time -- in the telephony traditional model of communication, and we are exchanging ideas, but this is new model of something greater beyond mere "communication".

Sergio: Thank you for your kind words. There a validation in them that all students seek, and that is one of the qualities that seems to be part of this model. When the interactive video game was born, it seemed to fill some deep desire in the human mind, and certainly, the enormous industry has emerged -- I have always thought of this beguiling as the "Nintendo Effect". How to harness this for the educative values? Here is another seed -- what is developing?

Johathan,

I like the expression "thinking together" which is what we are doing and in that sense going in the direction of a collective intelligence. Any form of dialogue is a form of thinking together. Imagine a future where while I typing these words that a search engine in the background automatically given the context, link me to peoples expressing similar thought and to all the thoughts of the past going on similar lines. A new type of social network: thought network, a world brain.

Louis, would that be just the same as a human brain?

Steven,

In the mid 30's , Teilhard de Chardin was thinking in very similar line:

"We are faced with a harmonized collectivity of consciousnesses equivalent to a sort of super-consciousness. The idea is that of the Earth not only becoming covered by myriads of grains of thought, but becoming enclosed in a single thinking envelope so as to form, functionally, no more than a single vast grain of thought on the sidereal scale, the plurality of individual reflections grouping themselves together and reinforcing one another in the act of a single unanimous reflection." THE PHENOMENON of MAN

All of these thinkers where seeing human civilization as a movement which start from the origin of human and culture and that moves towards thinking together. Today with the internet and social network, with powerful search engine, we are moving even more rapidly in this direction. The difference between the human brain and those of animal is it is perfectly adapted for thinking togetther, we think with words which are cultural constructs. These thinker considered that any intelligent species in the universe reach a mature level at the planet collective intelligence. Gaia is getting a brain: us thinking together.

Another example Doug Engelbart, the guy who conceived the window interface and the mouse you are using now. "Doug Engelbart, 's career was inspired in 1951 when he got engaged and suddenly realized he had no career goals beyond getting a good education and a decent job. Over several months he reasoned that:

(1) he would focus his career on making the world a better place;

(2) any serious effort to make the world better requires some kind of organized effort;

(3) harnessing the collective human intellect of all the people contributing to effective solutions was the key;

(4) if you could dramatically improve how we do that, you'd be boosting every effort on the planet to solve important problems - the sooner the better; and

(5) computers could be the vehicle for dramatically improving this capability.

In 1945, Engelbart had read with interest Vannevar Bush's article "As We May Think", a call to arms for making knowledge widely available as a national peacetime grand challenge. Doug had also read something about computers (a relatively recent phenomenon), and from his experience as a radar technician he knew that information could be analyzed and displayed on a screen. He suddenly envisioned intellectual workers sitting at display 'working stations', flying through information space, harnessing their collective intellectual capacity to solve important problems together in much more powerful ways. Harnessing collective intellect, facilitated by interactive computers, became his life's mission at a time when computers were viewed as number crunching tools. He went to UC Berkeley to learn everything he could about computers, got his PhD, and was told to be very careful about who he talked to about his "wild" ideas. "

Hello everyone! It is always a pleasure to talk with you here. @ L Brassard is in the brain or in the world of Wells Matrix:) you described below in another post or in the scenario proposed by Engelbart one thing is certain: we must be more human than ever:)

Hence I think that the information and knowledge available, platforms, software, and these are all very important, but the higher human abilities to interact with such a volume of information is that we should focus on.

So I think we will be more efficient (returning to the initial question of Jonathan) the more human we are dealing with technologies.

To not get just projecting scenarios (but projections are important to think about the future and not just browsing according to current) ask:

we are currently focusing on building high human skills in our students or we are too concerned with the technological base, technology training, use of platforms, etc ... with our students?

@ Jonathan "nintendo effect" ... I will make a dictionary with their expressions:)

Just kidding ... but they are really exciting and detonate many thoughts!

I've always been a little envious of correspondences that intellectuals held in the past. We have many of them, Darwin, Marx, Freud ... the list is long, but I confess, this is much better:)

Well, it seems we already have some paths to choose from and I think the choice begins now :)

Consider then the choices: global brain (HD Wells), cyberspace, to Gibson, described by Jonathan, Matrix described by L. And Brassard network Gaia, proposed by Chardin and also described by Brassard.

Well, it just occurred to me that we can also have it all together in a hybrid way.

@ Jonathan does not want to distance myself from your initial question. The form will be returned to her with a question: Are we graduating students with higher human skills in the pedagogical processes involving use of ICT?

I think it is this efficiency that would like to speak. What kind of people are forming? ICT is only a base material ... (really?)

A hug,

S.

The invention of literacy in the first civilisation has been the most important technological invention. Writing is not simply a technology we use, it makes us think differently than when we do not exercise it on a regular basis. It had to be learned schooling was invented for this purpose. At the time there were wise people who justly worried about the effect of this technology will have on our mind in the long run.

"According to Plato (in Phaedrus) when Hermes, the alleged inventor of writing, presented his invention to the Pharaoh Thamus, he praised his new technique that was supposed to allow human beings to remember what they would otherwise forget. But the Pharaoh was not so satisfied. "My skillful Theut, he said, memory is a great gift that ought to be kept alive by training it continuously. With your invention people will not be obliged any longer to train memory. They will remember things not because of an internal effort, but by mere virtue of an external device.""

Our are presently inventing a new mind technology and we should worry like Johathan and Thamus about its impact at the same time of embracing it.

The topic of efficiency caught my attention given the research I am currently engaged in. I imagine the answer to your question is both "yes" and "no". In my 20 odd years researching ICT in education, I have certainly encountered ineffective or poorly designed technology-based tools and approaches and many others that are quite beneficial. But, “The devil is in the details” in whether ICT is helpful. Most of the technologies we are talking about are very complex and their ability to support education, or not, is connected to how the design of the technology aligns with the pedagogical practices and goals of the teachers. And, here I am talking about the design at a very detailed level – everything from the ease of use, to the robustness, to look and feel, to the actual content or functionality.

We have been conducting ethnographic studies on 1-to-1 learning environments in schools around the world (Argentina and Russia reports are available on my page) which have made me rethink a lot of my previous conceptions on the issue of effective ICT use and that effective use is not only connected to innovative pedagogy. One of the biggest issues for 1-to-1 laptop programs is that the technology is never used. So, for these studies we identify schools or classrooms where the kids and teachers use the technology all the time and simply observe to see what they were using and how they were using the technology without any preconceived notion that they must be using “reformed” education approaches. In particular, the first case we did was on three schools in Argentina that are part of the program Todos los Chicos en la Red (All Kids on Line).

We found that the technology tools were transforming what was going on in the classrooms but not only evolving towards a reformed learning paradigm (such as project-based learning). Many of the examples of the ICT-enriched practices we observed involved a mixture of new digital tools into the traditional Argentine pedagogical practices of rural schools, but in ways that probably made those practices more effective and efficient for learning. Although not necessarily constructivist practices, they are better than what teacher were able to do before.

One of the schools we worked with was a one-teacher school – one teacher had 16 students ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Given the logistic constraints of multi-grade classrooms with few resources, before the technology she was able to teach only one subject area (either math or language arts) a day. However, with smart uses of technology, she is now able to cover two or even three content areas a day – that is at least doubling the amount of time students spend on learning tasks. But an important element that caught our attention was that this was only possible because she had a full ICT ecosystem of laptops, interactive whiteboards, virtual learning environment and web access. If only one of those elements had been missing, this teacher would not have been able to do the things that made the technology deeply useful.

Without the smooth interconnection between those technologies (laptop, whiteboard, VLE etc) and the teacher’s integration into her classroom, the laptop or the whiteboard by itself might just have been the “obsolescent junk” you are concerned about in your question.

I'd like to build onto Daniel Light's excellent response because he's raised a point that can't be emphasized too strongly: technology by itself is just technology. The technology needs to support an effective pedagogical approach.

Using technology to support pedagogical practices that have never worked very well is not going to be efficient or effective. Using technology to support pedagogical approaches that are effective will be more efficient.

Daniel mentions project-based learning, and I would add communities of practice/communities of learners, problem-based learning and the pedagogical approach I use, knowledge building (www.ikit.org, resources tab, if you want to see publications.)

@Daniel: "Most of the technologies we are talking about are very complex and their ability to support education, or not, is connected to how the design of the technology aligns with the pedagogical practices and goals of the teachers."

The thread of my own development as a 21st century educator has proceeded from a long list of opportunities, chance encounters, professional development experiences, and educators' writing ranging from John Dewey, Eliot Wigginton, Paulo Freire, (Bateson's ecosystem of the mind!) and theories from "Digital Sandbox", multiple intelligences, disruptive to constructivism; but I put it all together from both purposeful and random intent on my own, and I guess I'm pursuing a "unified theory" of the essential operating principles behind how this stuff works. A central mystery -- supported by your account of your research -- that these tools have been created, continue to evolve, yet, all too often our understanding of what they are "for" seems to be just beyond our grasp, hence, often end up in the scrap heap.

People could have asked the same question 500+ years ago about the new technology of book printing. How does this tool help increasing learning efficiency? We all know, as long as we do not provide "good" learning materials, this technology is useless.

Don Philip is right in saying "Using technology to support pedagogical practices that have never worked very well is not going to be efficient or effective." However, I would not go as far as he in stating "Using technology to support pedagogical approaches that are effective will be more efficient," and would like to put this into a conditional sentence.

Daniel Light said, " Most of the technologies we are talking about are very complex and their ability to support education, or not, is connected to how the design of the technology aligns with the pedagogical practices and goals of the teachers," which made me reflect on what my practices and goals were, after all.

I want to set up an effective course, which means for me to tell an interesting and exciting story. And through the interaction with the students this story is very often transforming into an unpredictable event. So, predetermined "packages" are not the kind of materials I would choose for my story building. My observation is that many others feel the same; therefore, we see a lot of effort being made in the area of "personalization" of ICT/online tools for education.

As Daniel Light put it: "The devil is in the details". And I think one of the details we may have to consider is the kind of knowledge we want to share with our students.

depends on the teacher doesn't it? our skills in using technology determine much. I am an advocate of the "flipped classroom" and for that technology is the key efficiency that allows all the rest.

http://www.ealanajames.com/what-all-this-means-to-you-and-your-children/item/146-the-flipped-classroom-by-knewton

Interesting conversation! I believe that technology is a tool that provides options to increase efficiency and effectiveness of educational opportunities, I highly recommend the video Reimagining Learning: Richard Culatta at TEDxBeaconStreet. Culatta speaks of an experiment where they exchanged the word "computer" for the word "pencil" in discussion questions about the effects of computers in the classroom. He also shares some success stories. Here is the path: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z0uAuonMXrg

The other aspect of this is how technology is utilized in society. We are more dependent than ever on technology and I do not see that decreasing. People have come to expect the right information immediately. Patience and attention spans have shortened. Throw into that mix the "experience" economy, a concept heralded by Pine and Gilmore where people seek out the memorable "experience" above all. (One of their articles: http://hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy/ar/4.)

In my opinion, technology is a critical element to education today and without it we are likely loosing our students. To ensure learning transfer, we have to design engaging experiences that align with current societal conditions. Let's face it, we are all using technology in this tool to expand our knowledge and explore topics that interest us. It works for me!

Technology does flip the classroom but we have to expose students to more than one way of teaching, listening is a skill too that needs to be learned which can be developed through brainstorm activities.

As E. Alana James said it depends on teacher and his/ hers ability to merge to excisting culture. Our culture is quite technology central and is going to more ubiquitous environments. Learning will be no more place or teacher central.

As an online instructor, it is the only way my students can access the curriculum and me. I do not have a brick and mortar classroom. The ability to access what they need to know and learn at their own speed which may be faster than the average student. This is efficient as they are not held back. It is also efficient for instructors to offer additional resources for students without have to spend extra time with them. For example, I can post animations for my biology students or link them to flash cards. They enjoy review videos on YouTube. This frees me up to work with them after, they are able to formulate good questions. They can also work, which I am not available. It depends on the student. Colleagues above have emphasize the role of the teacher. Students also can be employed and go to school.

Whether Distance Leaning or face to face technology is just a portal inviting people young or old to learn.

We must have technology savvy teachers who know how to apply technology to keep students engaged and learning

Sure, especially with directed internet search to well documented websites. While this most not replace but complete the blackboard

I agree that some of the technology is distracting. But I also believe that elementary and secondary students figured out that unless they are technology savvy, their chances at a good college or job are cut down considerably.

So it's more than just learning Word or PowerPoint. It's learning how to use technology in life situations to their advantage.

Not all students are focused on college or job prospects as they are dealing with socio-economic problems that preclude this. These same students are sometimes held back by teachers who are not tech-savvy. Left alone to discover for themselves, they would probably do better.

Teachers and technology , students and technology - the equation of these elements in teaching and learning process needs to be blended in such a way that it should strike an equilibrium to ensure minimum distraction. If harnessed judiciously, technology tends to increase 'learning efficiency' tremendously on the part of a student. However, as mentioned by Steven Graham, socio-economic problems restrict the access and use of modern technology that changes at an astonishing speed. The dilemma is with those who are talented and motivated, but they cannot afford high tech education. There are thousands and thousands of learners who don't have internet access even. so uneven stratification in this technology ridden world, needs to be rectified, Otherwise, like the rich and the poor, there will be a discrimination between the learners of the same level - one will be technologically sound and the other will be technologically poor. Much depends upon the luck and opportunities.

Hello to everyone,

Dear Muhammad, you are absolutely right. In many countries like Brazil, for example, the distance between the educational quality that consumers and producers receive is too big. We have serious equity problems. I think in some countries it takes place in a less unequal, but it is not our case.

Access to new technologies can open holes larger widening the differences between people.

I said on another forum right here also it is not just the relationship between students and ICT but to design a new educational model that reflects the systemic form of the impact of ICT in each (curriculum, assessment, right to education , access to technology, education concept, meaning of literacy in today's world, efficiency, etc ...). He also said that in my opinion I think we're not thinking about such things in a systematic way but just trying to adapt ICT to our work.

I think our work is deeper than simply discuss ICT in pedagogical work and goes through a redesign of educational models.

To do this we have to reflect what we have and what we want to build.

But certainly, ICT will be the center of discussion and educational efficiency will be strongly marked by this variable. That's a fact.

A hug,

s.