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Opinion TEL: Technology Enhanced Learning for both teachers and students
Technology Enhanced Learning for both teachers and students
Sue Ollerenshaw is an experienced educator who has worked with all age and ability groups, from primary to tertiary level. Originally an English teacher, Sue retrained mid-career as a digital technology teacher. She is now about to undertake an MA in Education and Design, focusing on how Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) may best be implemented in educational settings. Here Sue shares her thoughts on why TEL is so important, the barriers to setting up a coherent TEL programme in schools, and how these may be overcome.
Digital technology is part of our lives. Our education system should therefore prioritise the use of technology in teaching and learning and implement technology in education in a systematic and logical way.
A recent Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report on the ‘global education industry’ emphasised how “imperative” it is to innovate and implement digital technologies in teaching and learning. Yet the same report, Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital Technologies and Skills, also highlighted how, unlike in other areas of modern work, communication and entertainment, “the world of education and learning is not yet going through the same technology-driven innovation process.”
Why is this the case? Why does international research (and the anecdotal experience of many of my fellow educators) indicate gaps in the digital skills of both teachers and learners, and a corresponding mismatch between the potential and the actual use of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) in today’s classrooms, despite its ubiquitous presence elsewhere? Why is technology often underutilised in our schools?
‘Enhanced’ what?
Uncertainty on the part of many teachers is one problem – most especially, confusion about what TEL actually is. For example, what does ‘enhanced’ mean in the term Technology Enhanced Learning? The lack of a clear definition is exacerbated by a similar absence of shared understanding of what enhancement is or could be.
In addition, it is very difficult for already overloaded teachers to decide on which TEL solutions to opt for. There is such a vast range of offerings, from social media forums to screencasting software to online voting tools – all coming with their own bewildering array of acronyms: VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), BL (Blended Learning) or FL (Flipped Learning) sessions. An introductory MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on “Blended Learning Essentials: Getting Started” from the University of Leeds mentioned over 60 different software possibilities! It is any wonder that teachers are struggling to keep up? contributing to the slow up-take of TEL in education is probably time. For instance, in the Q&A session of the Leeds MOOC, the lecturer, Prof Neil Morris, is very clear about the preparation time necessary for creating digital content: “The time investment is high.”
He estimates that it can take up to five times as long to create TEL materials, at least initially, as it does using more traditional methods. At the same time, however, he also makes it clear that the payoff in TEL comes in the quality of the student experience – e.g., learning gain, increased flexibility of access, inclusiveness and engagement. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the preparation of TEL materials requires a great deal of additional time – especially in the first instance and/or for inexperienced teachers.
More than just time
But it is not just the development of TEL materials that is extremely time-consuming. Maybe as a teacher, you are lucky enough to be in a department where TEL is already in place; if not, the first thing you have to do is find appropriate software to use. This entails ploughing through the internet, signing up for endless accounts and testing the software. The chosen application must then be thoroughly learned and practised so that you are confident in its delivery. Next, coherent and appropriate materials have to be created and tested with students. Technology has the tendency to be problematic first time round and things will have to be modified after the initial testing. (In the online technology industry this process is called “usability testing” and it is a full-time job and distinct subject in itself.)
Additionally, the creation of TEL materials by classroom teachers will sometimes entail learning new skills in video, audio, animation and information graphics production needed to create good quality digital resources. Yet can we expect a time-strapped teacher to be totally responsible for this whole process?
Realistically, it is unreasonable to expect teachers to just ‘get on with it’ by themselves. After all, a teacher’s main job is teaching, with little time for extra work when potentially dealing with classes of 30+ students who all need attention. And that’s not even counting the marking, meetings, parent interviews, curriculum development, special needs, open days, and a host of other necessary activities that are part and parcel of a teacher’s job.
Yet while TEL is in competition for teachers’ valuable time, it is essential that it is given space to be developed. TEL should be implemented on a department- or institution-wide basis where all staff are given a clear direction, a clear choice of software to use and a support network where individuals can learn from/help each other.
Unfortunately, in my experience, what actually happens is that TEL occurs in a haphazard way. More enthusiastic staff members just get on with creating and using TEL materials themselves, while less tech savvy teachers simply avoid it. This results in an unbalanced implementation across the school, with students receiving very different learning experiences.
Practice makes perfect
The New Zealand Ministry of Education’s 21st Century Learning Environments and Digital Literacy document states that “[i]nsufficient time and limited exposure to what is possible are two of the most quoted reasons to explain why the technology already in a school is not being well used”.
The report goes on to recommend that teachers work together rather than individually and highlights the need for “a significant shift to viewing teaching as a team practice rather than an individual practice”.
A lack of training in TEL is often seen as a factor contributing to the slow development of TEL in education – the OECD report mentioned above, for instance, points to “insufficient pedagogical preparation on how to blend technology meaningfully into teaching”.
Although training is important in establishing a strong core of committed and knowledgeable TEL teachers, as a digital design tutor and web builder/designer I am aware that the actual training instruction is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning how to confidently use technology in classroom contexts. Once again, time is the key factor; time spent at the computer face practising, repeating and experimenting with technology. It can take a long time to become fully familiar with new software, especially if you are not completely up to speed with how programmes generally work.
Given this reality, is it any wonder that the successful implementation of TEL is easier said than done? Yet, to repeat an earlier point, in order to properly educate and equip our children for their futures the use of technology in the classroom is essential. TEL must be a priority – and it would be so much easier to sustain the implementation process if teachers had a clear direction and a framework coming from knowledgeable experts, and if TEL was implemented into each school in a systematic way.
Start anywhere!
One small step that may help teachers could be to offer a premade resource that includes some of the most used or most popular TEL activities, such as screencasting, blog forums, quizes, videos or collaborative documents.
This, at least, will form part of my MA in Education and Design, with a key focus being to produce (and test) a resource that could serve as an introduction to TEL for teachers who have a limited experience of how TEL can work.
The difference from existing TEL materials will be a resource designed as a “click and go” system. It will be self-contained so there will be no need to prepare anything. Obviously, ease of usability will be a key design factor, so there will be no need for the teacher to do much more than review the material beforehand.
The main aim, however, is to provide teachers who don’t know where to begin with TEL a starting point. I once saw a poster in a classroom that said “If you don’t know where to start, start anywhere!” Hopefully, my resource can help these teachers just to begin. And that’s a start.
Sue Ollerenshaw
Supplier Profile | sKIDS
A positive ‘whanau vibe’ with out-of-school care
There is “a great ‘whanau vibe’ with sKids,” says Manurewa South School principal Tone Kolose, and this is due to their positive philosophy “around supporting families, and providing students with life skills and diff erent experiences through the programmes they run”.
sKids – Safe Kids in Daily Supervision – has been providing structured out of school care for Manurewa South School since 2012.
We chose sKids because “they were an established before/after school programme” says Mr Kolose. “Multi Site Owners Rose and Luke are awesome to work with and are a very special part of our school community. They are very accommodating, for example, when the school has had to close early for parent conferences they supervise students whose parents are unable to get them earlier,” he explains.
“sKids also go above and beyond what you would expect from an Out of School Care Provider. Not only do they provide our students with before, after school care and holiday programmes. but our kids also get opportunities to develop new skills through their specialty cooking programme ‘FoodStorm’ and music programme ‘Jellybeans’ and we ALL love these programmes – the kids because they have so much fun, and the school, because sKids come in and deliver the programmes so we don’t need to worry about finding extra staff .”
In addition, sKids “give back in many ways to our community through their Charity Kiwi Kids Education foundation,” Mr Kolose says. require care (before or after school), and making costs aff ordable for our families to attend, they always find ways to make things work financially, supporting the school with activities that relate to current learning programmes.”
Feedback from parents and teachers is always positive, Mr Kolose says. And if there are any issues they are dealt with immediately and in a way where there is a win-win outcome.”
Of particular importance is health and safety, where once again Skids gets a big thumbs up.
“The adult ratios are always what they need to be, whether they are based at school or on a trip during the holiday programme.
The quality of the programmes sKids off er are obviously working because their roll is booming.”
