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Assessing the Role of Educational Technology in
the Teaching and Learning Process A Learner-Centered Perspective
Author Barbara L. McCombs
University of Denver Research Institute—A Report from the Secretary’s Conference
on Educational Technology 2000—United States Department of Education
In healthy learner-centered
learning communities, individuals welcome divergent perspectives because they
understand that the underlying outcome is learning and change in a context of
respect and caring.
The learning community that
is healthy works for everyone and encourages rather than eliminates diverse
perspectives.
When different worldviews
and beliefs are held, inclusive dialogue is the process for learning;
relationships become the vehicle for change
Real life learning is often
characterized as
There is an increased tendency
to look at learning from a more integrative and holistic perspective. That
meaningful and sustained learning is a whole person phenomena.” McCombs 2000
A
Key to Creating Learner centered Communities
Zimmerman (1994)
Self-regulated learning by
definition, is only possible in contexts that provide for choice and control. If
students do not have options to choose among or if they are not allowed to
control critical dimensions of their learning, regulation of thinking and
learning processes by the self is not fully possible. Externally imposed
conditions then regulate the content, structure, and process of learning.
Fullan (2000) has argued
that the purpose of education is to build learning communities - communities
that bring moral purpose back into teaching and reconnect teachers with their
fundamental purpose as making a difference in young people's lives and changing
the quality of relationships throughout the system.
For Thornburg (1999), the
purpose of education is shifting due to the exponential growth in access to
information in the past 50 years. He believes that education now needs to foster
lifelong learners, to transform the value we place on what we already know, and
to create new networks for dialog, reflection, and contextual applications of
learning in the real world.
Learning experiences in
school should prepare learners to be knowledge producers, knowledge users, and
socially responsible citizens.
Of course, we want
students to learn socially valued knowledge and skills, but is that sufficient?
Thornburg (1999) has argued,
move beyond the past where information was seen as a scarce resource and
education was a system for imparting information to benefit learners.
Now content is abundant and
not a good foundation for basing an educational system; rather, context and
meaning are the scare commodities today.
The new purpose of education
is that of helping learners communicate with others, find relevant and accurate
information for the task at hand, and be co-learners with teachers in diverse
settings that go beyond school walls.
For example, many educators
are calling for caring, democratic schooling and instructional methods that
build on each student's backgrounds, experiences of reality, and perspectives
(e.g., Bartolome, 1994; McWhorter, Jarrard, Rhoades, & Wiltcher, 1996; Noddings,
1995; Ruddick, Day, & Wallace, 1997)
The
Learner-Centered Principles as a Framework
Education is one of many
complex living systems that function to support particular human needs (cf.
Wheatley, 1999). Such systems are by their nature unpredictable but can be
understood in terms of principles that define human needs, cognitive and
motivational processes, development and individual differences.
The research-validated Learner
Centered Psychological Principles (APA, 1993, 1997)
Task Force on Psychology in
Education, one of whose purposes was to integrate research and theory from
psychology and education in order to surface general principles that have stood
the test of time and can provide a framework for school redesign and reform.
Four validated domains
important to learning:
-
metacognitive and cognitive
factors,
-
affective and motivational
factors,
-
developmental and social
factors,
-
individual difference
factors.
"Learner centered" is the
perspective that couples a focus on individual learners –
-
heredity
-
experiences
-
perspective
-
backgrounds
-
talents
-
interests
-
capacities
-
needs
-
focus on leaning
-
best available knowledge
about learning
-
how learning occurs
-
teaching practices that are
most effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and
achievement for all learners.
The Learner-Centered
Psychological Principles
COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS
Principle 1: Nature of the
learning process.
The learning of complex
subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and experience
Principle 2: Goals of the
learning process.
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance,
can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
Principle 3: Construction of
knowledge.
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in
meaningful ways.\
Principle 4: Strategic
thinking
The successful learner can
create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve
complex learning goals.
Principle 5: Thinking about thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting
and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical thinking.
Principle 6: Context of learning
Learning is influenced by environmental
factors, including culture, technology, and instructional practices.
MOTIVATIONAL AND AFFECTIVE FACTORS
Principle 7: Motivational and
emotional influences on learning
What and how much is
learned is influenced by the learner's motivation. Motivation to learn, in turn,
is influenced by the individual's emotional states, beliefs, interests and
goals, and habits of thinking.
Principle 8: Intrinsic motivation to learn
The learner's creativity, higher order
thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic
motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to
personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.
Principle 9: Effects of motivation on effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and
skills requires extended learner effort and guided practice. Without learners'
motivation to learn, the willingness to exert this effort is unlikely without
coercion.
DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS
Principle 10: Developmental
influence on learning
As individuals develop, they encounter different opportunities and experience
different constraints for learning. Learning is most effective when differential
development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social
domains is taken into account.
Principle 11: Social influences on learning
Social interactions, interpersonal
relations, and communication with others influence learning.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
FACTORS
Principle
12: Individual differences in learning
Learners
have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning that are a
function of prior experience and heredity.
Principle 13:
Learning and diversity
Learning is most effective when differences in learners' linguistic, cultural,
and social backgrounds are taken into account.
Principle 14:
Standards and assessment
Setting appropriately high and challenging
standards and assessing the learner and learning progress-including diagnostic,
process, and outcome assessment-are integral parts of the learning process.
Teachers Role
Learner-centered is also
related to the beliefs, characteristics, dispositions, and practices of teachers
practices primarily created by the teacher.
When teachers and their
practices function from an understanding of the knowledge base delineated in the
Principles, they
-
include learners in
decisions about how and what they learn and how that learning is assessed;
-
value each learner's unique
perspectives;
-
respect and accommodate
individual differences in learners' backgrounds, interests, abilities, and
experiences;
-
treat learners as
co-creators and partners in the teaching and learning process.
Others who have used the term
"learner-centered" (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 1996; Sparks & Hirsh, 1997)
refer to learning new beliefs and new visions of practice that are responsive to
and respectful of the diverse needs of students and teachers as learners.
This means that all learning,
including that for students and teachers, must include strategies that support
diverse learner needs and perspectives, provide time for critical reflection,
and opportunities for teachers to co-create practices with their students that
enhance learning, motivation
and achievement.
What defines
"learner-centeredness" is not solely a function of particular instructional
practices or programs (McCombs & Lauer, 1997; McCombs & Whisler, 1997).
Rather, it is a complex
interaction of qualities of the teacher in combination with characteristics of
instructional practices - as perceived by individual learners.
That is,
"learner-centeredness" is in "the eye of the beholder"
An example-----Technology will
also require them to engage in more powerful roles - roles that include not only
using technology appropriately such that it opens new pathways to learning not
previously available, but also require teachers to find ways to build in
meaning, purpose, connections, and relationships to the larger world and
community outside the school building.
A helpful guideline is
McKeachie's (1995) description of the characteristics of great or
"learner-centered" teachers:
-
presenting material in
interesting ways
-
stimulating intellectual
curiosity
-
giving clear explanations
and quality feedback
-
being fair and skillful in
observing student reactions
-
being helpful and friendly
-
providing clear structure
and organization to the materials presented
Too often attention is given
to what we think are the important variables, only to discover they don't make a
difference to student motivation, learning, and achievement.
The focus is on maximizing
natural learning and motivation with instruction that . .
-
is meaningful and relevant
from the individual learner's perspective,
-
provides appropriate
learning challenges and standards,
-
accommodates needs to be
supported in critical thinking and learning skills,
-
attends to the climate and
context in which learning occurs,
-
honors individual needs for
choice and control, that provides for emotional safety
-
supports individual
interests and creativity,
-
provides positive social
interactions and interpersonal relationships,
-
adapts to a variety of
individual differences.
Providing a context and
opportunities for people networking and collaboration is another important
feature of learner-centered school.
Collaboration includes
sharing, trusting, and support; collaboration is central to daily joint work
that facilitates growth.
Working collaboratively,
however, often necessitates overcoming problems.
These include:
-
problems of overload
-
isolation
-
untapped competence and
neglected incompetence
-
narrowness in the teacher's
role
-
administrative resistance to
teachers playing leadership roles
-
poor solutions and failed
reform –
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studied 15 school sites and found it was the human networks that enabled the
successful integration of technology into schools and the surrounding community
through key partnerships, community support, and key people. It was people
networking that also brought innovations in technology that benefited both the
school and the community
Use of technology:
To bring exciting curricula
into the classroom that is based on real-world problems and that involves
students in finding their own problems, testing ideas, receiving feedback, and
working collaboratively with other students or practitioners beyond the school
classroom;
To provide tools and scaffolds that enhance
learning, support thinking and problem solving, model activities and guide
practice, represent data in different ways, and are part of a coherent and
systemic educational approach;
To give students and teachers
more opportunities for feedback, reflection, and revision, including those where
students evaluate the quality of their own thinking and products, have
opportunities to interact with working scientists, receive feedback from
multiple sources which include their peers, and experience cognitive tutors and
coaching in areas where improvement is needed;
To build local and global
communities that are inclusive of teachers, administrators, parents, students,
practicing scientists, and other interested community people, expanding the
learning environment beyond the school walls;
To expand opportunities for teacher learning
that include helping teachers to think differently about learners and learning,
to reduce the barriers between students and teachers as learners, to create new
partnerships among students and parents, and to expand communities of learners
that support ongoing communication and professional development of teachers.
An important outcome of
facilitating this kind of change from within, as reported Joyce and Calhoun
(1995), is that faculty begin to realize that teaching and learning involves a
never-ending process of trying to reach all students in the best ways currently
known.
These communities must
themselves be a model of the processes they want to engender in learners.
The learner-centered framework
adds a constant reminder that the human element cannot be left out of even the
most advanced technology-supported networked learning communities. Beyond that,
it must be recognized that one of the biggest factors to the success of
information technologies in learning, following people, is the context of safety
and support for learning that is established. |
