Spring 2005

Online teaching & learning

An emoticon for the teacher?

As the evolution of technology becomes an integral part of students’ lifestyle and culture, OSCAR TRIMBOLI discusses how technology can be more effectively integrated into the Australian classroom and curriculum.

The evolution of technology has changed many things— how we buy our groceries, pay bills and, quite significantly, the nature and dynamics of how we communicate. Traditional communications are now accompanied by a plethora of digital communications, particularly SMS, instant messaging and email. This is particularly evident among the youth of the 21st century.

For today’s students, technology is not new, but something they have grown up with, been immersed in and adopted as part of their culture. With a diversity of ever-present technologies, which delivers access to an online world rich in media content, I don’t believe it is an overstatement to say that technology has become a prevalent part of daily life for Australian youth. SMS is a common way to chat with friends, the Internet is now a preferred research tool and instant messaging has become a popular way to keep in touch, synonymous, you could say, with handwritten letters of the past. In the June 2003 population census, 60% of those aged 10–19 years used personal computers and the Internet at home, the highest rate of Internet use in Australia.

As technology has become such an integral part of communication, culture and daily life, it could be logically suggested that integration of technology in the classroom will be a natural progression.

But technology has traditionally been viewed as an ‘additional arm’ or an added value in education. Today, however, a common view is for the need to embrace technology as a fundamental part of education and learning, rather than a supplementary aspect. This is an important step in ensuring that education and, more pertinently, the curriculum remains relevant and engaging to the technology savvy generation.

The current generation of school-aged students are comfortable with the use of technologies, particularly SMS, the Internet and instant messaging. Research by Lenhart, Simon and Graziano (2001) suggests the Internet is now the primary communication tool for teenagers. Their research showed that 94% of students use the Internet for school research, 70% use instant messaging to keep in touch and 81% email friends and relatives.

Based on this, if the Internet and digital technology are playing such a significant role in students’ lives outside the classroom, it can only be fair to suggest that the integration of technology into the classroom is as important in keeping curriculum, teaching and learning relevant. Hitherto, teachers may have perceived digital technology, such as instant messaging, as an interference with education rather than a support tool. However, with the development of collaboration technologies, such as secure instant messaging and web conferencing, we are now seeing feasible ways in which technology can be embedded into teaching and learning, whether it be peer to peer, long distance education or parent and teacher communications. Technology can add a level of relevance to the curriculum through its integration with pedagogies.

There are many stakeholders who could benefit from these technologies, including teachers, parents and the broader school community. But first and foremost, I believe those who could benefit most from the technology are the students.

Imagine if students in Bourke could join in and interact with a class in Sydney. Or a scenario where students could discuss homework with their peers, long after the school bell has rung. The amazing thing is that these scenarios could become reality with the implementation of collaboration technologies. Collaboration technologies have the potential to improve the educational outcomes for students in a variety of ways. For example, students and teachers in remote learning scenarios could couple voice and video and interact with a city school in real time. The opportunity to deliver curriculum online in a secure, real-time scenario could create a rich and diverse learning experience, not only for remote students, but those in the city as well. Students could participate in the same class, share ideas and build relationships with others through secure communication.

Furthermore, interaction outside school hours could be more feasible. Homework is a valuable part of consolidating what students learn in class, but I have noticed that more and more homework is expected from students. Many Australian students enlist the help of a private tutor. With collaboration technologies, students could interact with tutors on a more regular basis.

Collaboration technologies could assist in bridging this gap. Secure instant messaging and web conferencing have the potential to give students new levels of information access, along with a new community connection through a virtual learning space. The notion of online curriculum could also be brought to a new level by creating an interactive sphere for online communities, as well as personal communication.

Intriguingly, collaboration technologies also have the potential to transform students’ learning experience. Personalised tutorials, group discussions and a more adaptive environment are potential realities with real-time collaboration. Students can create online forums to discuss homework topics, group assignments can be completed online through secure web conferencing and teachers can assist students with a little more one-to-one tuition.

Australian universities are already taking advantage of the positive benefits of collaboration technology. Edith Cowan University integrated Microsoft Real Time Collaboration technologies after student demand for communicating with lecturers outside the traditional nine-to-five university timetable grew. Edith Cowan looked to collaboration technologies, which allowed students and teachers to participate in one-to-one or group communications in real time. The benefits of the technology to date include improved productivity and richer contact with students in real time.

The adaptive nature of technology also makes these possibilities foreseeable. Learning no longer needs to be dependent on time, place and space, and teachers have the opportunity to develop a more engaging curriculum, integrating face-to-face learning and online collaboration.

Collaboration technologies can also change the nature of communication for teachers and their peers. With technology, teachers have the potential to develop online communities or forums, to discuss curriculum, share best practice or discuss professional learning. The possibilities with technology far extend the classroom walls and school playground. Teachers across a city, interstate or around the world can connect with each other more frequently to share expertise. The potential opportunities this creates are quite simply amazing. Never before have teachers had the potential to improve access to learning resources, discuss, shape and create curriculum in real time, on a daily basis.

This could be particularly useful in reinforcing curriculum through homework. Teachers could create silos of online expertise, to assist students with homework, leverage teacher expertise among study groups and discuss final exams for year 12 students. For example, it could be easier for students to learn and understand an English text or a maths problem with the assistance of an online discussion group or web conferencing with students at another school.

The online curriculum possibilities for both students and teachers are numerous. But the possibilities of technology extend beyond the classroom and curriculum. Collaboration technologies are a solution for today’s busy lifestyle. Gone are the days when parents can attend regular student teacher meetings at 3 pm. With the hectic pace of today’s workloads, many parents don’t have time to meet regularly with teachers. Collaboration technologies could help bridge this problem and serve to better engage parents into the teaching and learning process. This could be particularly effective for boarder or international students.

Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, and Australian students are keeping up with the trends. But schools and governments can also embrace technology and leverage the benefits for their students and teachers by embedding it within curriculum and daily practice. Collaboration technologies offer such a diverse range of potential solutions and are easy and affordable to implement. We are, after all, striving for a common goal: to provide a rich, positive, relevant and lifelong education experience for our children. We’re also providing for their futures by ensuring that they are equipped with the requisite skills and expertise to help them forge their way in a digitally enriched and technology-driven world.

Reference

Lenhart, A, Simon, M & Graziano, M (2001). ‘The Internet and education: Findings of the Pew Internet and American Life Project’, Pew Internet and American Life Project, Washington DC.

Oscar Trimboli is Real Time Collaboration Business Group Manager, Microsoft Australia.

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au