Learning with Technology

The skin on your wrist turns into a computer screen as you walk on the street, giving you access to an unlimited database of information (Minority Report by Philip K. Dick). Plugging in to a database to a socket behind your neck and learning Martial Arts (The Matrix trilogy by The Wachowski Brothers). Drop a Babel fish in your ear to understand every language in the universe (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams).

The difference between science fiction and reality is quickly thinning. We may not be able to learn calculus in one hour. But there are advances in technology that we have ready access to. Or even teach children at an extremely young age how to use. From Interactive educational screens and table tops to phone applications. Educational institutions like PhD programs and Museums have been playing with new technologies to innovate teaching tools, but the basic underlying principals behind teaching methodology have remained the same. Educators aim to create an environment that inculcates a thinking mind which wants to learn, in a form he will want to pursue himself.

Some ongoing installations and projects include — The Tune table developed at Georgia Tech teaches you the principals of Programming; As you play with predesigned game pieces with different programming symbols made on each, atop the Tune table, you create linkages that create sound beats. At the MIT Media lab, Hiroshi Ishii, founder of Tangible Interfaces developed an interactive video screen, where the walls allow you to speak, see and interact by writing on a common surface with teachers from remote locations. Museums have started incorporating interactive video walls that speak to you about art, architecture and historic events, like the video wall at Galleria dell’Accademia, which allows you to explore Michelangelo’s David in 3 Dimension and learn its history.

With the advent of the internet, our access to information has expanded a lot in the last 20 years. And the constant bombardment of new information, has led to a drastic increase in retention abilities. Once we figure out what are the basic elements of teaching, we can incorporate future technologies to innovate teaching methods and tools. Parametrically the aspects that encourage and enhance learning remain the same.

1 . CATCH ATTENTION / KEEP STUDENTS ENGAGED

The fundamental aspect of teaching is to hold the attention of the young. In a classroom, no matter how engaging or entertaining the lesson is crafted to be, the students tend to resist the traditional (learning tools like) forms of reading and writing. For shy students, or in a new class, classroom participation is always a challenge. One of the easiest ways of commanding our attention is the unusual and the unexpected. Teachers aim to generate interest in their subjects by exciting the imagination, to engage the mind. Which is why, the teacher may look for a cool, new way to help the students express themselves, learning tools that create a heightened emotional /engaged state of mind, encourages children to focus on the learning material. to more complex forms like interactive Projectors as teaching tools. There has been a visible evolution in classroom teaching tools. It could be an urban space art projects trying to get a simple message across like the musical piano staircase designed and installed by Volkswagen Fun theory to encourage incorporating more exercise in our everyday routine over taking the lazy way out by taking elevators and escalators, to tools designed specifically for educational purpose like interactive museum tables, which enable learning complex subject matter like the Tune Table mentioned before. Technology based education aids are an innovative method we should incorporate into the everyday, to excite and encourage the innovative thinking mind. Emotions like wonder and awe when associated with positive interactions create lasting memories/ affiliations in the child’s mind.

2. OWNERSHIP / EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT

Psychiatrists have proven a deeper understanding and more involvement by students if they are made to take ownership of the work. This can be brought about if the student is encouraged to take personal interest in doing the projects. Some mediums already being used in classrooms are documenting tools like sound and video recording, which allow a student to exploring their surroundings instead of learning only from books. Having to create audio and video tracks also teaches the students about complex compositions and Audio and video materials can be used to enhance learning resources by showing real life scenarios, explaining concepts, observing social groups, and acting as triggers for discussion. They are also able to bring experts and viewpoints to the student learning experience and are excellent at bringing subjects ‘to life’ to engage discussion and inspire learning. And these tools are easily accessible in the form of cameras and smart phones to teachers and students alike.

Another way of building the connection is if the students have an emotional attachment, or, care about the content. Storytelling is one way of personalizing the content, when the student has to empathize with the characters in the story to play the part. Visualization tools that take advantage of Virtual Reality technologies designed to provide engaging and intuitive environments for learning visually and spatially complex topics such as human anatomy, biochemistry, and molecular biology. These applications present dynamic, three-dimensional views of structures and their spatial relationships, enabling users to move beyond “real-world” experiences by interacting with or altering virtual objects in ways that would otherwise be difficult or impossible, allowing the student to empathize with the content while building richer memories.

3. FOCUSED TASKS / REPETITION

Working on focused tasks instead of trying to learn multiple facets of a subject also allow the students to learn faster and the subject matter to stick with them for a longer period.

Children can be divided into different cognitive and physical development based on age. But experiences in their environment play a vital role in learning. Similarly, repeating experiences plays an important role on memory. This is why the cliché — practice makes perfect became famous. While recursive learning is a good way of learning and memorizing, we need to move past just plain repetition. Recursive learning is not an opportunity to pack more information into a lesson or simply reinstate your point using different words. Students tend to lose interest. The need for repetition or practice needs to be done slowly and carefully, since predictability makes the students lose interest, especially if the content is boring. Using different devices and changing the pace or creating a challenge, periodically arouses interest.

Let’s use Video Games as an example. As you start playing a video game you may fail after the first level. But as you play again and again you manage to finish a game reaching expert levels. In the video game apart from the game you have also created a challenge in the form of levels to be cleared and opponents to beat.

4. THINK METHODICALLY BUT CREATIVELY. CONNECT DOTS WHERE NONE EXIST

It is important to teach children to take on challenges, solve problems by setting goals and learning to think methodically and communicate their findings effectively. A teacher in a classroom or a parent aim to encourage social interaction, raise cognitive and analytical abilities, increase general awareness.

A person is born with tabula-rasa, a blank slate. We are formed by all that we experience from the day we’re born. All new ideas including those in technology work in a catalytic manner, born from experiences we undergo. When you come across something unusual or unexpected, it inspires you, and gets you to start thinking about alternate theories. It is said that when you read a book you are reborn as a new person. So it is with every experience that leaves an impact on you as you learn something new.

One of the easiest ways of engaging attention is by getting students to do tasks with your own hands. The process of hands on learning by its very nature is interactive. The learning process is based on a system of getting feedback to accomplish the task. If you read books without being asked questions about what you have read. You would not give yourself the time to think about the book. You may not even put yourself in the author’s shoes and understand it from his perspective. The reasoning, analytical part of the brain develops the more feedback it receives and is allowed a chance to think and connect dots across different spheres in the brain.

Scratch, a project developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT Media Lab. It helps children graphically understand the concepts of programming. Allowing immediate visual feedback from any moves made by the child. Scratch is an ideal platform for learning, that is playful allows them to think creatively and develop their reasoning systematically. It also allows students to work collaboratively.

5.PLAYFUL LEARNING

Another way of engaging children is encouraging the playful aspect of learning. We can identify and plan for purposeful play, guiding children to make conscious choices, engaging them in complex thinking. The National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC) support the notion that play can lead to learning with guidance and support, helping them work towards mastery of important developmental concepts such as sharing, taking turns, identifying colors, shapes, numbers, counting and learning the letters of the alphabet. Playtime can also be used as an opportunity to share ideas, thoughts and model problem solving skills.

The VTech Ultimate Alphabet Activity Cube for Preschoolers’s design is based on interactive art therapy. It aims to teach through play, engaging the mind, muscles and imaginations of children with emphasis on early childhood education and school readiness. Kids learning toy has 5 sides that encourage exploration; 4 light-up buttons introduce animal names, animal sounds and shapes. The 14 interactive features aim to develop motor skills.

Psychologists recognize that children have innate sensitivity to specific kinds of patterns of information which leads to their cognitive development. Even at an age where children are unable to formulate hypothesis and have difficulty understanding abstract concepts. However, they are able to classify similar items into groups, use the keyboard, control the mouse and use computer software. It has also been proven, that children still admire and value software that incorporates playful activities.

MIT Graduates have also developed another project called Processing. It was developed for students just beginning to learn programming for simple art projects. Where you could write simple programs creating amazing visual outputs. The program has become so widely used, that it has a wide array of tutorials created by the developers and quite a few communities of artists and students solving problems and helping each other out. It is another good way to get students interested in programming and think creatively.

Simply put, there is just not enough use of technology today in education. And where you do see it is mostly in the form of computers, laptops and tablets. This is today 10 years from where we focused on using only books and hand crafted models. We need to start envisioning the future of education with the resources of advanced technology available at our disposal today. Imagine subjects like Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics being taught in 3 dimensions and not just in the form of lines and formulas. Atoms, molecules, gases and liquids magnified 1000 fold to enable experiential learning. Formulas turn into 3D models and colors and you are able to traverse the universe, skipping planets within galaxies, understanding the evolution of the universe starting with the Big Bang. Maybe the next class project, the students will be creating an interactive virtual solar system instead of a physical model made of cardboard...

Related posts:

Rohel Santa Cruz es un sacerdote reconocido por crear una fusión entre la magia blanca andina y la magia hindú, generando así su nuevo postulado, el Curanderismo Sasmara. Es así como este sacerdote…

Poem describing gender dysphoria. Transman dealing with binding for masculine look. Anxiety that comes with all of this.

It had been three long days now, I was lying alone in bed, sick and down with a fever. I did not even have the strength to get up and eat. My hands and legs were trembling and I was burning with…