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GTIP Think Piece - E-Learning
In this Think Piece, David Mitchell (geography PGCE tutor at the Institute of Education, University of London) considers approaches to e-learning in geography teacher education. In addition, there are also suggested PGCE teaching sessions to download.
NB. The University of London Institute of Education refers to its PGCE students as Beginner Teachers (BTs). David uses the term BT throughout this Think Piece.
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Key Questions
Note: for the purposes of this paper, I do not differentiate between e-learning and ICT use. The terms are used interchangeably. I use the following definition of e-learning: the use of digital technology to assist learning.
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Young people use and think about technology differently to the older generation and this is reflected both in what and how they learn. How many British fourteen year olds routinely wear a watch? If you are over thirty five you probably find it surprising that the answer is very few, perhaps 10 - 20%. The mobile phone is the young person's time piece. However, replacing a watch with a mobile phone doesn't mean timekeeping is any better. The message here is twofold. Firstly, technology should be evaluated with the learning outcome of its use kept in mind, and secondly a good starting point for considering e-learning with BTs, is the young person's world.
The part that ICT plays in geographical learning is complex and can be oversimplified, with evaluations of ICT use often boiling down to the motivational benefit. It is quickly apparent that an ICT, be it mobile phone, ipod, or personal computer, influences how young people make sense of their world today. This alone is sufficient justification to spend time considering e-learning, but a BT may be supported to find explicit evidence for a more complex and wide ranging role of ICT in geographical learning. I suggest there are two key areas of focus for geography tutors to equip BTs with e-learning strategies. These are, a range of techniques for e-learning, and perhaps more importantly, the ability to critically evaluate ICT use.
What is e-learning?
'E-learning' (electronic learning) should be clearly defined. Whilst the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) are fond of re-branding the use of computers in school, essentially there is little difference between the terms 'computer assisted learning', 'using ICT', 'e-learning', 'e-competence' or 'use of an e-portfolio'. The frequent changes in terminology may be bewildering, which can be unhelpful given one of the main barriers to developing e-learning in school is confusion and a lack of confidence. E-learning is a rather grand name for using computer power to support learning. Despite the boldness of the term, e-learning is not a new theory of learning in the way that, Vygotskyan and Piagetian theories for example, have influenced teaching practices. There is evidence, however, that e-learning can have a positive affect on learning process and learning outcome.
How does e-learning support geographical education?
Evaluating e-learning
There is more than just motivation to consider in e-learning. It may be that, for many teaching and learning scenarios, motivation is the main reason for using ICT, and there is nothing wrong with that. Furthermore, enjoyment may be linked to differentiation and inclusion and this should be examined by careful teacher evaluation. But the challenge with evaluating ICT use (or e-learning) is to be aware that ICT use can get in the way of learning and to look closely at how ICT use supports geographical learning, disentangling this from generic or cross curricular impacts. A strategy to do this is to use a table and checklist, such as the one below, to encourage critical evaluation of GIS.
Download: Evaluating Learning with GIS (Word, 51.5k)
Potential advantages and disadvantages of e-learning
There is a tendency to skate over the question of how and why the ICT is actually improving pupils' thinking and learning. Many reports and assessments of ICT and e-learning send a rather generalized, positive message about the potential of digital technology – a halo effect. A closer teacher-evaluation of learning with ICT, and more incisive reports about ICT for geography highlight these potential advantages:
- motivation
- inclusion
- differentiation
- range of resources (with implications for the rigour of geographical learning)
- geographical accuracy & precision (including being up to date)
- immediacy and speed
- spatial thinking
- organization
- collaborative learning
But also highlight drawbacks including:
- information overload
- distraction (from geographical learning)
- time wasted
- lack of understanding of technique (e.g. of how a graph or map is produced)
- failure of the technology / lack of the skill to use it
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Certain journal articles in Teaching Geography are a good starting point for BTs, both for developing techniques and for fostering a critical approach.
Research commissioned by BECTA supports critical reflection of the potential of ICT. For example, see What the research says about using ICT in geography (BECTA 2004) and the recent paper Impact of e-portfolios on learning (BECTA 2007)
After the motivation factor, the power to organize is perhaps the most commonly sited, tangible advantage of ICT use. Greater creativity and more collaborative learning (than traditional tools and resources allow) is likely to result from using ICT to create, store, retrieve, share and feedback on work. Areas to consider here are the use of school and department websites (both intranets and on the internet) by teachers and pupils, and approaches to building e-portfolios of work and electronic supports for pupils such as essay writing templates and presentation templates. All use the computer to help organize and structure learning in a clear, editable and easily accessible way.
A geography department website worth looking at as an example is that of Wycombe High School. BTs can be asked to reflect on the question of how the website motivates, organizes, and supports geography pupils?
Spatial thinking is a very important amongst the potential benefits of e-learning for geography. There is scope for further research into how GIS is best used in the classroom, but the power that a GIS has to present, edit, analyze and model spatially referenced data has been shown to mirror cognitive processes to an extent, and so can be used to improve spatial thinking through the practicing of spatial thinking. I advocate most BTs taking a broad definition of GIS to include the web-based GIS viewers, such as Google Earth for instance, as a means to get started and build confidence with simple GIS. Using industrial case studies of GIS use that are available on the web can support pupils in gaining a perspective on how GIS is used in the world of work.
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Some further reading about GIS (see full references in bibliography)
- The GA's Spatially Speaking project shows how a group of UK geography teachers have explored the potential and the pitfalls of GIS.
- Bednarz (2001) is a thought provoking piece looking at spatial thinking and the NRC report (2006) tackles the question of what it means to learn to think spatially.
- O'Connor (2007 & 2008) speaks with the authority of a teacher who has achieved a remarkable level of GIS engagement in his geography department
- Download these two documents which suggest ways of using free GIS through online GIS 'viewers':
Getting started with GIS on the internet... for free (Word, 88k)
GIS in the world of work (Word, 82k)
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Progression in e-learning
It is worth considering progression in learning about GIS and planning for it. The small group of geography teachers using full functioning GIS, such as ArcView software, can provide BTs with a vision for GIS use in school which takes geographical learning far beyond what is possible with the simplified GIS viewers, like Google Earth. Full GIS power enables pupils to understand the data lying behind a map. Therefore it can develop, amongst school pupils, critical engagement with 21st century geography and questions of who makes maps and for what purpose.
To illustrate this point, consider a task in which pupils select a range of census data to create and map an index of deprivation in the UK. Different maps are created by different pupils, with strong implications for the geographical imagination of a place – some whole regions might be condemned as deprived, others shown as privileged. Questions arise such as which data are used and which left out? How is data divided into a scale from high to low - how many categories on such a scale are there and how are the boundaries created? How are geographical areas selected and at what scale? Does the manipulation and presentation of data mislead and if so is this bias deliberate? Clearly this type of GIS use can amount to more than just providing technical skills for a future workforce and certainly more than just using technology because it is fun.
Webcams
The power of the internet to change the way we think about space- bringing the distant closer, in an instant, through using webcams for instance, is another area of e-learning of particular interest for geographers. To read more about the use of webcams in the classroom, take a look at the Webcams project on the GA website, or read Mitchell (2007) which you can download from the GA website.
Which skills and techniques for e-learning should BTs focus upon?
In very practical terms, time spent with BTs looking at how pupils use internet research will at the least tackle the problem of the cursory 'cut and paste' most of us have seen in pupils' work, which serves little purpose other than to fill pages. The solution must be for the teacher to provide a sufficiently strong structure for pupils to work with, so driving a fuller understanding. It is an excellent teaching discipline for the BT to apply this careful structure, not only to pupils' internet use but for enquiry with any complex resource.
Many other ICT tools and techniques can support geographical learning:
- interactive whiteboards
- internet research leading to written/ presentational output
- images (e.g. with PowerPoint style manipulation)
- music
- watching video clips (see Geography at the Movies)
- video making (editing and filming)
- animations of processes
- virtual fieldwork (e.g. using/making an interactive map)
- data gathering (using a data logger)
- data handling and/or modeling (e.g. with excel spreadsheet)
- drafting writing
- creating a department website/intranet. See the GA project page on building a department website
- blogging
There is not space to discuss these in detail here, but Fred Martin (2006) 'e-geography - Using ICT in quality geography' provides an excellent recent source of both ideas and evaluation.
On the flip side of e-learning, the digital age brings real dangers to young people's learning. Research shows young people today are sleeping less than previous generations, with 24 hour online communication through television, computer and mobile phone in the bedroom a great temptation, and playing a part in the loss of bedtime routine and discipline. Loss of sleep affects school performance and has been linked to obesity. E-learning is a powerful tool but has to be put in context. Although mobile technologies have a growing role in field work, overuse of computers threatens health.
In geography the real world surely holds greater value than the virtual. For young people especially, geographical education (formal or informal) should encourage time spent being physically active outside in the real world, and for some, less time sitting in front of a screen. This may sound negative, but returning to the starting point of this discussion, that we should consider young peoples' geography, digital technologies are seductive (clever design and incessant media messages ensure this) but do young people really wish to watch a screen rather than being in the real world? There has to be a consequential validity to using ICT. BTs should keep the learning aim and outcome in mind when bringing e-learning to their lessons. We should explore how ICT can bring both geographical and other learning advantages, but we must also avoid the Everest effect - of simply using ICT because it's there.
How can beginning teachers (BTs) be supported to evaluate e-learning?
The download below offers advice on modelling learning on the PGCE course and suggestions for two PGCE sessions. Session 1 is focused on developing a critical approach to evaluating e-learning. Session 2 is focused on techniques and resources for e-learning.
Download: Advice and PGCE sessions on e-learning. (Word, 55k)
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Bayliss, T & Collins, L. (2007) 'Invigorating teaching with interactive whiteboards', Teaching Geography, 32, 2, pp 97-99.
BECTA (2004) What the research says about using ICT in geography
BECTA (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) (2007) Impact of e-portfolios on learning
Bednarz, S. (2001) Thinking Spatially: Incorporating Geographic Information Science in Pre and Post Secondary Education
Biebrach, T. (2007) What impact has GIS had on geographical education in secondary schools?
Lambert, D. & Balderstone, D. (2000) Learning to Teach Geography in the Secondary School. London: Routledge Falmer. pp.148-151.
Martin, F. (2006) e-geography - using ICT in quality geography Sheffield: GA.
Martin F. (2006) 'Using ICT to create better maps', In Balderstone, D. (Ed), The Secondary Geography Handbook, Sheffield: GA. pp.106 -122.
Mitchell, D. (2007) 'ICT in School Geography – more than motivation', Geog Ed online journal, Vol 1, GA.
Mitchell, D. (2007a) 'Making the most of your department website', Teaching Geography, 32, 1, pp 60-62.
Mothersole, H. 'From webcams to panoramas', a report for GA webcams project.
National Research Council (2006) Learning to think spatially: Report of the committee on support for thinking spatially: the incorporation of Geographic Information Science across the K-12 curriculum. The National Academies Press: Washington D.C.
O'Connor, P. (2007) 'Progressive GIS', Teaching Geography, 32, 3, pp 147-150.
O'Connor, P. (2008) GIS students' book. Sheffield: GA.
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(18.06.08) |
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