Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

IT6750: CURRENT TRENDS AND ISSUES IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

by Dean Raizman October, 2008

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

Introduction It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry. (Albert Einstein, as cited in Schneider, 2007)

I have spent 20 years either studying for, or working in, public education. At the end of this semester I will have earned my library endorsement after working as a librarian for three years while simultaneously attending the University of Colorado, Denver.

When I started working in the school library, I knew that technology would be an important component of my job. This was part of what drew me to the librarian position. But, whatever my expectations were, I vastly underestimated the tectonic shift in job skills demanded of librarians today. In the three years that I have been in the library, the librarian’s job in my district has been totally redefined.

Books, once the central focus of librarians, have now become a subset of a larger information area. Most information is now found

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

online byway of the Internet, and the librarian has become the guide to this larger electronic information domain.

As a consequence of exposure to information technology, the librarian has also become the school leader generally in all matters of technology. Hence I have become involved in my school’s search for technological solutions to instructional problems.

Throughout my teaching career I have found technology to be an authentic and creative tool that allows students to address their learning styles and to access and share the understandings they have constructed. Mostly, the learning was fun and engaging for them. I see my work five years from now continuing in this vein, as I integrate technology into the public schools.

Futures Forecast In his book Disrupting Class (2008), Christensen, Horn and Johnson argued that “disruptive innovation” would occur when a producer would supply a product that filled a gap of nonconsumption. For the longest time education appeared resistant to Christensen’s hypothesis. Technology, now reaching a level of

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

sophistication and economy, was all that was needed to break through this resistance. Consequently, technology has flooded in to fill an educational void: the lack of qualified teachers in certain educational fields.

As a librarian, I have spent eight years addressing schools’ curricular and technical needs. So when my school, Kendrick Lakes Elementary (Klakes), was unable to find qualified instructors to teach Spanish, it seemed natural for me to identify a technical solution to this problem. Answering this problem was important because Klakes has been trying for some time to get certification as an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. Without Spanish instruction, the school will not get the certification.

Where did I finally find a solution? Over the last five years I have watched online virtual-reality gaming change significantly, and I’ve watched as it has become increasingly used for educational purposes. I feel a student could now learn Spanish as effectively from a machine as from a classroom teacher. I didn’t always feel this way. What brought about my change of perspective? Why would I even consider using these technologies?

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

Ideas and theory Tutoring. Marzano (as cited in Hannum, 2007) showed that tutoring provided the biggest effect size for any student intervention. The next closest effect was almost 20 percent less, and the average effect size of the other fourteen variables listed was over a full standard deviation less.

So, if tutoring is obviously the best intervention for students, why don’t more schools use it? Expense. The labor costs of teaching are by far the greatest expense in public education.

Games. Another important impact evolving over the last five years is games. Some educators are dismissive of games. But even simple non-electronic games such as playing chess can have an impact on educational performance (Marinello & Hanke, 2003). Squire (2008) pointed out that historically learning through play has been very common. Paradoxically, in the modern classroom, we have children sitting in rows and facing one talking person. Squires also pointed out that even though gaming has struggled to make it into public education, the military is using it extensively. And the military uses gaming to train those who often fail in the public education system.

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

Why is learning that occurs in a game context fun and effective? Because the student learns through doing, rather than through abstract representation (Gee, as cited in Squire, 2008).

More specifically, Gee (2003) in his book What Video Games have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy says that good learning in games can be attributed to three “central truths” that basically point to the social component underlying learning. First is “situated cognition” with its roots in psychology. This basically claims that learning does not take place solely in someone’s head, but is embedded/situated in a material, social and cultural context. Next, Gee talked about New Literacy Studies. This is similar to situated cognition, but with more emphasis on the political nature of things. Gee’s research also argued that reading and writing does not take place solely inside a person’s head, but should be seen as “...social and cultural practices with economic, historical and political implications.” Finally, Gee mentioned connectionism. He said that this means people are very strong pattern recognizers and that this skill is based on real world experiences.

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

These last five years I have seen games become an individualized tool, or tutor, in which an artificial social learning environment is constructed. The game used is chosen based on the student’s learning style. The student learns Spanish while interacting with relevant contrived surroundings and characters.

Tools and technologies Electronic tutors. Lester (as cited in Cole, Wise, and van Vuuren, 2007) demonstrated that students would respond to a virtual teacher in a fashion similar to the way they would to a real teacher. Reeves & Nass (as cited in Cole, Wise, and van Vuuren, 2007) showed that these interactions were engaging, satisfying and effective. Cole, Wise, and van Vuuren (2007) also found that 95 percent of students who had an electronic tutor in their study wished that they could have spent more time with the tutor. Furthermore, the quantitative gains of younger students using the electronic tutor were significantly greater than those in a control classroom.

Virtual reality. Virtual reality games have emerged in a big way into the public life. Steinkuehler (2008) found that the combined number of individuals globally playing virtual games back in 2008 numbered almost eleven million people. This rivals the population

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

size of New York City. Economics also extend into these virtual realities also. Castronova (as cited in Steinkuehler, 2008) said that the economy of Norrath, one such virtual reality game, was actually the 77th largest economy in the real world. Steinkuehler defined these virtual worlds as “...persistent social and material worlds loosely structured by open-ended (fantasy) narratives, where players are largely free to do as they please...” and in which both fantasy and realism are combined.

Five years ago, Second Life was just emerging into the public consciousness as a virtual reality world. In 2008 there were only 200 colleges that had a presence in Second Life. Now almost all companies do. Part of the criticism of the use of this kind of virtual world in education and training is that there is a lot of sexual innuendo and bullying in the teen Second Life world (Berge, 2008). Second Life has since addressed this by allowing individual organizations to buy private space. Berge predicted correctly that when software and hardware issues were addressed, and use of this virtual reality was simplified, the artificial environment would be adopted for instructional purposes.

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

Reflections How will this emerging technology affect me? As mentioned at the start of this paper, individual tutoring/instruction is the most expensive component in public education. In addition there are times when tutors/teachers are not available. Simple online tutoring is already emerging. The foundations of my future are being laid. As software and hardware sophistication grows, I believe that it is only a matter of time before the Christensen’s non-consumption gap in education is filled by technology.

While researching for this article, I have learned about, software tutoring that assists primary learners in reading. It is my intent to contact the authors of one study to discuss the current availability of one of their products.

In finishing this article I find myself somewhat more optimistic about the learning possibilities available in virtual space and I believe these things are coming sooner rather than later.

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

References Berge, Z. (2008). Multi-user virtual environments for education and training? A critical review of second life. Educational Technology, 48(3), 27-31. Christensen, C., Horn, M., and Johnson, C. (2008). Disrupting class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: McGraw Hill. Cole, R., Wise, B., and van Vuuren, S. (2007). How Marni Teaches Children to Read. Educational Technology. 47(1), 14-10. Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillon. Hannum, W. (2007). When computers teach: A review of instructional effectiveness of computers. Educational Technology, 47(2), 5-13. Marinello, B., & Hanke, T. (2003, November). Chess: Ancient Game, Modern Learning Tool. Connect Magazine, 17(2), 5-7. Retrieved November 2, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Schneider, J. (2007). Chalkbored. United States: Pace of Mind. Squire, K. (2008). Video games and education: Designing learning systems for an interactive age. Eductional Technology, 47(2), 17-25.

Future Reflection

noitcelfeR erutuF

Steinkuehler, C. (2008). Massively multiplayer online gamnes as an educational technology: An outline for research. Educational Technology, 48(1), 10-21. Van Vuuren, S. (2007). Technologies that empower pedagogical agents and visions for the future. Educational Technology, 47(1), 3-10.