A Look at Online (learning problems) Tutoring and Learning
No commentsBy Musa Aykac
For the past few years, advanced technology has been employed to educational contexts with many intentions and goals. These technologies have very often been adapted to with reference to an economic constraint, in order to enable cost efficiencies. In the schools, these have been embraced with the idea of generating more effective settings for the learning process.
In the distance education field across all sectors, these new technologies are applied in order to create more accessible and open learning programs. Some brave attempts to solve education related problems through the prudent use of new technologies is observed in all the above applications. The pace which with modern technology is applied in the field of education and training is rapidly increasing in the recent years. Its applicability is well visible in the online teaching and learning that is fast gaining momentum each minute.
Evolution of learning and teaching On-line
The emerging need of the importance of successful and effective teaching according to university settings, and the advent of online technology together act as catalysts to transform the whole setting of university learning and teaching. We are thus able to create learning environments that work best through online technologies. Tomorrow’s classroom is emerging today, and is different from the classroom that many are accustomed to. The most noticeable is the responsibility of the participants who do things differently.
Changed of role for learners
The primary and foremost observation about beginners in the online classroom is the level of self-determination and self-regulation. Online environments provide both students and teachers with a right to more open forms of content, without the need to adhere to rigid structures that we have been used to. Some of the main advantages are:
- Freedom of information
- Active learners - Online education can be an engaging and active experience.
- Authentic activities - many case-based, problem-based and workplace learning activities are possible as the classroom looses its boundaries.
- Generic skills - These can be developed in students through task management, networked guidance including information literacy.
Changed roles for teachers
- The coach - online teachers provide learners with a right to a variety of autonomous learning experiences.
- Teaching for results - learning used to be limited to a pre-set curriculum in the past. The learning activities now reflect how it would be used in future.
- Assessment - The assessment strategies are made to with a move to have an outcome-oriented approach.
Conclusion
Online teaching can be as worthwhile and rewarding as teaching in person. By incorporating a variety of interactive approach and maintaining the communication, instructors are able to create a learning atmosphere that encourages students to be trained and explore more. It is important to bear in mind that it is vital to be present virtually for the students when they need them. They could be staying miles away and feeing isolated. You need to respond to requests immediately and offer comprehensive feedback. Availability, patience and accessibility will help you stay connected with students.
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Children’s Toys - The Educational Benefits Of Wooden Toys
By Roberto Garabell
Children grow in many ways, mentally (cognitive development), physically (motor development), and emotionally to name but a few, developing and learning through interaction with the people, environment and objects around them. Into this mix of elements come the toys that seem to build up at an alarming rate from the high tech ‘learning toys’ to the humble traditional wooden toys from yesteryear. So exactly what should a buyer be looking for when buying toys for young children and are the high tech gadgets really the panacea of learning that they purport to be?
Physiologists have been studying the development of children for over a hundred years from the early concepts of Piaget and Freud to the modern highly controlled test being carried out by Universities and Institutes around the world. In the last few decades extensive research has been applied to the science of play, studying the way children interact with their toys and how this play can stimulate development. Judging by the plethora of ‘electronic learning toys’ that major manufacturers have produced over the years it would be easy to believe that the research had indicated an identifiable benefit to these toys. It is surprising therefore that most research has shown quite the opposite and indicating that traditional toys may in fact be the most beneficial partner to stimulate a growing child’s mind and body.
Christine Rosen the author of My Fundamentalist Education (Washington Post Non-Fiction Book Of The Year 2006) believes we are too quick to see technology as a fast track method to nearly everything in life, including development and that we need to appreciate that there is in fact no ‘microwave’ method to understanding.
Two recent studies suggest that the oft-touted educational benefits of such toys are illusory, and child development experts caution that kiddie electronics, even those bought purely for fun, can have negative side effects such as inhibiting creativity and promoting short attention spans. A government funded 2 year study by Stirling University looked into the direct benefits of so called ‘targeted electronic learning toys’ and found that such offerings from the market leaders such as Leapfrog and V-Tec offered no identifiable benefits to children. Researcher Lydia Plowman told the Guardian that parents were wasting their money on expensive educational electronics.
Further studies have also demonstrated that electronic toys can limit or inhibit a child’s ability to think beyond the limits of their electronic device. For example most electronic games had a defined start and end with a single purpose that limited a child’s imagination whereas the majority of traditional toys proved less restrictive allowing a child to ‘dream up’ various games and outcomes that stimulated role play, interaction and general cognitive development.
In addition many of the electronic learning toys on the market have a significant price differential with their traditional wooden counterparts meaning that a child can have a more limited range of toys due to the costs involved with making the purchase of such electronic games.
So it would seem that the old fashioned wooden toy is long from dead and that far from being relics of the past, traditional toys, used correctly can in fact give a child an advantageous start in life.
Gary is an expert on the development of children and the uses of traditional toys in stimulating growth. He writes extensively on childrens toys and especially the benefits of wooden toys.
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 11:30 pm and is filed under education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
