Showing posts with label Connectivism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connectivism. Show all posts

Friday, December 28, 2012

DNLE #6: Designing a New Learning Model

The Final Assignment:

Applying all what we have learnt, each team will design a new learning model catering to 21st century environments and learners. The design can be an application, system, pedagogical model, or education program, and should combine team interaction activities and learning support features in ways that are effective and appropriate for today's computing and communication devices.

The Presentation Content Should Address: 
  • The rationale: Describe the needs clearly and provide a logical and convincing rationale for the design. Technology alone is not going to be the primary composition of your model--your Project should consider the whole ecosystem that your innovative design will serve.
  • System function and features: Your project must consider potential idiosyncrasies with various learning devices (i.e. tablets, phones, PCs), infrastructure requirements (i.e. cellular network, wi-fi, Bluetooth), and any special hypothetical circumstances that are relevant. You do not need to produce a working prototype. You may use detailed pictures, diagrams, or other artifacts to mock-up and present your design and its features.
  • Target audience and learning conditions: Your presentation should address details about what conditions, who, where, and how your designed innovation would be useful and ultimately sustainable. You will not need to conduct an actual needs analysis.
  • Business/implementation model: Your project should include a description and defense of a business model (i.e. non-profit, for-profit, or hybrid), for the launch, implementation, scale up, and sustaining of the design.

The Presentation Will be Evaluated on:
  • Creativity and originality of the design: Is the design substantially distinguishable from existing and conventional solutions? (1 = Replication of an existing or conventional learning environment or solution design. 9 = Highly original, extremely unconventional, and highest excellence in design.)
  • Educationally sound: Does the design promote higher order learning or generate learnable moments? (1 = Design promotes mostly low order learning or technology/design does not incorporate a sound pedagogy. 9 = Effectively and appropriately integrates technology for triggering and facilitating deep/higher order learning.)
  • Engagement and interactivity: Is the design engaging and interactive for the learner? (1 = Design mostly delivering and displays content in a one-way transmission of information and knowledge. 9 = Design instills and maintains collaborative, constructive, or game-like learning environment at all stages of learning in the model.)
  • Accessibility: Is the design accessible for people with disabilities or for people living in underserved communities? (1 = No evidence of consideration whatsoever for learners with disabilities or special needs, or marginalized learners. 9 = Innovative ideas to make the design more inclusive. Positive steps are taken to make the system non-discriminatory and inclusive of the most marginalized).
  • Scalability and sustainability: How sound is the implementation plan and business model? (1 = The design has a low Return On Investment relative to its cost, has no consideration of the overall ecosystem, and will require continuous external funding support. 9 = The overall model can eventually become self-sustainable with start-up investment. The design will be valued by all constituencies in the target ecosystem.)

Final Team Project

Reaching the Reluctant Teacher by a Group of EVOToolers Click to vote up 39

Click Connect is a project proposed by a group of EVOToolers who met together in one of the EVO 2012 sessions and created a group to be connected to each other extending activity and sharing successful practices. We are 6 educators who have the same passion and enthusiasm to transform their experiences to other teachers who need a help:
  1. Ana Rivas, Peru
  2. Azhar Youssef, Egypt 
  3. Claudia Carril, Uruguay
  4. Débora Tebovich, Argentina
  5.  Miriam Mahapatra, Singapore
  6. Silvia Heshiki, Brazil
This project is designed by teachers for teachers who are unmotivated or reluctant to use technology in their teaching. We designed a multi-theoretical model that merges both the Constructivism and Connectivism theories together with the potential of technology to make a difference in those teachers' professional lives.

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Created by BigHugeLabs and edited by Snagit 9.1.2


Please, Click the image below to view "Click Connect" project!


Leave you with this video summing up what is behind our project !





Saturday, July 24, 2010

Week 5: Technology Knocks My Door?

Technology knocked my door this week with a very valuable array of ideas that can make a difference or change for my students.

Literary tracker tool, online calendar, digital avatars, plagiarism checker, wikis, blogs, webQuest, e-mailing, chatting, online discussion boards, delicious.com, podcasts, websites, and digital camera to record students’ presentation are among many tools which my colleagues will use to change their classrooms.

Thanks my dear colleagues for these thoughts and ideas that can help me approach many issues and problems in my classrooms. What I think about now is how to know the results of using these tools with your students as some of us are on holiday. Even If we prepare a well-organized plan for our suggestions , there will be a difference between what is on paper and what is on realty.

When I thought for the first time to use blogs as a technology-inspired change in my classroom, I find it very motivating and interesting. This is before even this course as an idea for my Ph.D. I spent two months to search for this change and after I found it, another problem appeared. The main point is not related to integrating blogs in teaching, but how to use it effectively with students. When Deborah asked us to create blogs at the beginning of this course, I expected an approach to frame our use of blogging. I mean blogs are just a tool by which students publish their work. Of course, there is a drafting cycle that enables students to write, edit, rewrite, publish and even after publishing, students can edit their work again and again many times. I suggested this framework in one of my blog’s posts: http://azharreflections.blogspot.com/2010/06/week-1-framework-for-using-blogs-before.html#comments. However, I want a broad approach under which I can use blogs as a tool. May be the process approach is suitable here, but I want something new for using this new tool.

If we look at blogs theoretically, we will find it based of a new learning theory called “Connectivism”. It places emphasis on the importance of instructing students to search for, filter, analyze, and synthesize information in order to obtain knowledge. Siemens (2004) advocates this theory pointing out “When knowledge …. is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than the learner currently possesses.

Siemens compared the “flow of information …. in a knowledge economy to the equivalent of the oil pipe in an industrial economy. Creating, preserving and utilizing information flow should be a key organizational activity. This pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.

In short it is a theory of the digital age and the 21st century. Then, how to use it in our classrooms. This can be done through developing new approaches, models or strategies involved its principles. I searched a lot for frameworks to use it as I liked its idea very much, but until now there are just tools for applying its potentials. All of you know the web 2.0 tools. They are wonderful means to add flavor in our classrooms. However, I’m still searching for an approach to frame my use of blogs or even wikis.

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