Digital Trends eportfolio

ESEM5143 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Muhamad Zul Ikhwan Zahari MC1510MD0062

Five The Latest Digital Trends In Learning And Teaching

Abstract The use of digital equipment in education is a relatively latest phenomenon.There are many thinkers, educators dan researchers have taken up the challenges of using digital equipment since past two decades. This discussion about the latest trends digital in learning and teaching and this article provides decision makers with five the latest in learning and teaching that recommended to the situation in our school.

Introduction As educators in this digital age, our boundaries for teaching have been expanded and blurred to the point that we not only have to be proficiently knowledgeable in the fields we are teaching, but also need to be skilled in the technologies that are being used to convey the educational information and content. The permeation of media elements into the teaching and learning environments has motivated educators to becoming more technology-oriented. The teacher, in other words, not only has to be a content expert, but also a multimedia developer. This infusion of technology into the teaching and learning process is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. It is indeed re-shaping the development of educational content and changing the fundamental concept of learning.

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Learning is all about engagement. As a e-learning guru Roger C. Schank (2002) says, “First and foremost : When learning isn’t engaging, it’s not learning”. The use of electronic and digital equipment at all education levels has grown rapidly over the past two decades. What is the digital learning? According to the Digital Learning Statement by Department Education and Early Childhood Development, digital learning is learning supported by the use of digital technology. Digital technology includes classroom display technology, digital learning resources, networked technology such as online learning environ-ments and devices such as data loggers and handheld, desktop and personal computers, supported by broadband connections to the internet. Web 2.0 tools, multimedia tools, digital tools and social networking tools are also included. These tools and resources support teaching and learning by enabling users to communicate, create, collaborate, disseminate, store and manage information in ways not previously possible.

The issue that surrounds many educators is the need to use multimedia in their lesson plans and curricula. There is a need to adjust the educator's approach to teaching, preparing contents and delivering materials. The more technologically innovative we can deliver the information to students, the better their retention and attention levels will be. As the next generation becomes familiar with computers and the Internet, they are going to expect information in the classrooms to follow the same pattern (Tapscott 1998). The biggest advantage of using authoring packages to create multimedia educational content is that interactivity can be incorporated into the content. Interactivity, in fact, is the heart and soul of multimedia and allows the user to interact with the computer. A key feature in interactivity is that "it empowers the end-users of the application by letting them control the content and flow of information" (Vaughan, 1998). 2

Becta (2007) said, international research shows that integrating digital technology into the learning environment can improve student confidence levels, attitudes towards their own learning and attendance, promote improved opportunities for students to learn through collaboration and conversation. It also improve connections with the real world and provide access to global communities with expertise and perspectives that can enrich learning. New Technologies have changed the way we communicate and the way we live and work. For this reason ICT in Education is an approach that makes the school and the society closer. The 21st century education should follow these conceptions with the desire to contribute positively to the development of a better society and more critical citizens. Technologies are more than ever living in our society and they are important parts of the education. At Primary and Secondary Education, students start to use them in class, but the reality is that nowadays almost every student goes to school with a wide range of technological skills. Schooling and teaching is changing with this new context. For example, students and teachers should have technological skills because they use them in their classroom and in their curricula.1 ICT have some characteristics that make them an essential tool in our daily life and for instance in our schools. In discussing the latest trends digital in learning and teaching, it is almost impossible not to focus globally because of the use of the digital equipment in learning and teaching. The digital trends are more than ever living in our society and there are important parts of the teaching and learning. Teaching and learning is changing with this new context. Digital

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Jose Antonio Marin Marin, ict trends in education, 1st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference, AIIC 2013, 24-26 April, Azores, Portugal

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trends have some characteristics that make them and essential tool in our daily life and for instance, in our schools.

The Five Latest Digital Trends In Education.

1. Multimedia Transform the existing white board into an interactive workspace. Can be used with data projectors and asa copyboard. Santosh Bhaskar K (2013) said, multimedia can stimulate more than one sense at a time, and in doing so, may be more attention-getting and attention-holding." Multimedia, the term defines using more than one medium of expression or communication. In other words, it is the combination of various digital media types such as text, images, sound and video, into an integrated multi-sensory interactive application or presentation to convey a message or information to an audience. Using multimedia in classroom helps educators engage students and provide them with valuable learning opportunities. It’s easy to remember a picture than a paragraph, an animated video of a concept worth more of a lecture and a video demonstration of a process (or an instrument) by a scientist gives more real time knowledge than a theoretical explanation. There is no doubt educators consider multimedia as a great tool to improve student learning. Here are a few benefits of using multimedia in classroom: Multimedia empowers students to create and design rather than absorb representations created by others.2

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Santosh Bhaskar K, New Ways Using Multimedia in Classroom, http://edtechreview.in/trendsinsights/insights/746-new-ways-of-using-multimedia-in-classroom.

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It improves reflective thinking. It also provides students with suitable learning resources according to their learning styles and abilities. Most of the educators and administrators are adopting latest educational technologies in order to reach the 21st century learning standards. Of all those tech approaches, usage of multimedia is one of the great tools to engage students. Let’s hear what educators suggest about new ways of using multimedia in classroom.

Multimedia resources help different learners meet their learning needs. As we know, different students have different learning styles, educators can easily provide them with suitable learning resources using multimedia. Educators use YouTube to provide visual learners with online videos, podcasts for auditory learners and interactive games for tactile learners. Multimedia resources make everything easy for students to learn in their comfortable learning style. Unlike traditional approaches, in which only the teachers used to lead the entire classroom delivering long lectures at the same pace, the use of multimedia results in personalization of learning.3

Multimedia tools such as blogs, social networks and wikis enable students to work together in learning a particular concept. Students use these to share their works with others, give feedbacks on others’ works and discuss among others a particular topic. It can be done through either blogging or micro blogging (Tweets). Using these multimedia tools, educators can engage students in several works and watch them collaborating with each other, peer assessing each other’s works and learning as a group.4

Using storyboarding, videos and slideshows is a great way to improve student learning, because it allows them to engage with text in a very visual way aided by multimedia. Multimedia

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Ibid. Ibid.

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tools enable students to express their ideas and works in concise ways that capture the attention of the audience and they develop an ability to communicate thoughts and concepts through a variety of resources, including text and recorded narrations. Giving students a wider choice of software and tools to present their work is an effective approach as it allows learners to decide on the style of presentation that best suits their personality. This is also a way to allow the learners to engage in their education in a more personalized way and also improve their creativity, critical thinking and reflective thoughts.5

2. Game Based Learning

Game based learning (GBL) is a type of game play that has defined learning outcomes. Generally, game based learning is designed to balance subject matter with gameplay and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world. Game based learning describes an approach to teaching, where students explore relevant aspect of games in a learning context designed by teachers. Teachers and students collaborate in order to add depth and perspective to the experience of playing the game. Good game-based learning applications can draw us into virtual environments that look and feel familiar and relevant. Within an effective game-based learning environment, we work toward a goal, choosing actions and experiencing the consequences of those actions along the way. We make mistakes in a risk-free setting, and through experimentation, we actively learn and practice the right way to do things. This keeps us highly

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Ibid.

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engaged in practicing behaviors and thought processes that we can easily transfer from the simulated environment to real life.6

Without being a hardcore gamer it is difficult sometimes to get a scale of the video game industry. We all know it is there, and that clearly millions of people love gaming, but video games just don’t seem to get everyone excited in the same way that, say, movies do. The reality is that the video game industry is twice the size of the movie industry and three times the size of the music industry, going on 2013 figures. Educational institutions have noticed that with a digital engagement model, motivation through gamification can be packed into a device or a Learning Management System to engage an audience of any size while reducing costs. The game industry is one of the biggest in the market even bigger than the music and movies industry. Games are everywhere in our lives now, as they have been integrated with social media, apps, phones and other platforms.7

Some would think that gamifying education is not a good idea but there is a lot of power in making the learning processes fun and entertaining. If you see video game players, they start playing a new game and probably fail within five minutes, next thing you see is they trying again and failing after 10-15 minutes, then they repeat that same process all over again until they finally solve the puzzles to get to the next level, and master the game. Then ask yourself, why can’t that happen in chemistry or physics?

Some benefits of using Game-Based Learning is get students attention. Students easily engaged to game activities due to their willingness in playing. Students get a positive experience

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Editorial Team EdTechReview, http://edtechreview.in/dictionary/298-what-is-game-based-learning.

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about learning. The use of games encourages students to keep learning and to erase the idea that learning is boring. Rememorize concepts or facts. Activities such as solving a crossword or alphabet soup are activities more engaging than a regular test. Prepare some contests such as “Who wants to be a millionaire” or “The wheel of fortune”. Encourage students to work in teams to achieve the goal where their knowledge is the clue to succeed. Reinforce and consolidate knowledge in a friendly environment. The most effective way to turn content in something meaningful is to find out where and when to use it. With games students can reinforce and consolidate their knowledge through practicing and getting reward for their achievements. Understand the consequences of our choices. Using games enables users to understand the consequences of their choices. In other words, the students learn through experiences, through trial and error. Games offer a safety environment to test and learn through mistakes so the information becomes meaningful when students understand its use. Games can be your best ally to turn the information in meaningful content. You do not have to throw away your traditional methods and use only game-based learning. Instead try to merge traditional methods with the new ones to make your classes more engaging so students get a positive experience of the learning process. Game-based learning is a learning trend with an increasing attraction in today’s classrooms. At its core, game-based learning deploys learning principles incorporated in the gaming industry in educational settings. The purpose is to enhance students learning and create optimal learning experiences in and outside classrooms. This is usually done through the use of a variety of handson and highly competitive activities geared towards engaging students and motivating them to learn better.

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Below are two new web tools to help you incorporate the principles of game-based learning in your teaching.

BrainRush BrainRush allows you to set up virtual classrooms, assign any BrainRush to any student and monitor the activity and progress of each student in real time. You can also easily differentiate your lesson plans by assigning remedial or advanced work based on unique student needs. BrainRrush library has zillions of BrainRushes, covering just about any topic. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can create your own anytime. Coming soon, our Common Core Navigator will help you find BrainRushes mapped to CCSS.

ClassXP

ClassXP is a new way of tracking and displaying student performance with an interactive and engaging dashboard similar to those found in popular video games. Students and teachers will be able to caves their data rich ClassXP dashboards at any tie and from any web enabled device.

3. E-Learning I agree with Bernard Luskin, a pioneer of e-learning, who advocates that the ‘e’ should be interpreted to mean “exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended and excellent” in addition to “electronic”.

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Understanding eLearning is simple. eLearning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or degree delivered completely online.

There are many terms used to describe learning that is delivered online, via the internet, ranging from distance education, to computerized electronic learning, online learning, internet learning and many others. We define eLearning as courses that are specifically delivered via the internet to somewhere other than the classroom where the professor is teaching. It is not a course delivered via a DVD or CD-ROM, video tape or over a television channel. It is interactive in that you can also communicate with your teachers, professors or other students in your class. Sometimes it is delivered live, where you can “electronically” raise your hand and interact in real time and sometimes it is a lecture that has been prerecorded. There is always a teacher or professor interacting / communicating with you and grading your participation, your assignments and your tests. E-Learning has been proven to be a successful method of training and education is becoming a way of life for many citizens in the world.

Below are new web tools to help you incorporate the principles of e-learning in your teaching and learning.8

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Kathy Dyer, 50 Digital Education Tools and Apps For Formative Assesment Success, https://www.nwea.org/blog/2015/growing-list-50-digital-education-tools-apps-formative-assessment-success/

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Ask3 – This app for the iPad allows students and teachers to collaborate on lessons both in and outside of the classroom. Questions can be posted to specific classrooms set up in the app, and students can add their thoughts, answers, and thinking to the whiteboard. Animoto – Gives students the ability to make a short, 30-second share video of what they learned in a given lesson. Coggle – A mind mapping tool designed to understand student thinking. Conceptboard – This software facilitates team collaboration in a visual format – similar to mind mapping, but using visual and textual inputs. Compatible on tablets and PCs, Conceptboard can work from multiple devices. I>Clicker – A device that helps facilitate all student response to polls, questions and other teacher-led discussions. iLEAP Pick a Student – Helps the teacher pick a student from the class, and uses turnbased selection so every student is selected before a student is picked again. Supports multiple classes and has a number of selection options. Kahoot – A game-based classroom response system, where teachers can create quizzes using Internet content. Padlet – Provides an essentially blank canvas for students to create and design collaborative projects. Great for brainstorming.

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Pick Me! – An easy to use app for the iPod, iPad and iPhone that facilitates random student selection. Can be organized by class for convenience. Plickers – Allows teachers to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices. Perfect for the one-device classroom. ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard – Another whiteboard tool students and teachers can use to check understanding. Socrative – Engaging exercises and games that engage students using smartphones, laptops and tablets.

There are many benefit of e-learning. One of the key benefits of online study is that the students can access course material whenever it is convenient for them. Podcasts and downloadable lectures mean that students are no longer constricted by a conventional timetable of lectures. Neither are students restricted by their physical location. With an Internet connection, they can attend live online tutorials, participate in dedicated discussion forums or download course material and notes regardless of where they are. This saving on the time and cost of travelling to and from lectures makes online study particularly suitable for those with busy lifestyles and those who do not live within easy commuting distance of conventional centres of education. Another key advantage of online study is that it encourages and enables students to collaborate and communicate with their fellow students as well as their tutors. The innovative use of live online tutorials, discussion forums and e-mail ensures that all members of the Hibernia College community are constantly in touch with each other.

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One of the key objectives of Hibernia College is to make education available to as wide an audience as possible. To achieve this goal, the College developed its unique Higher Education Learning Management System (HELMS). This technology infrastructure allows for increased student-tutor contact and encourages and supports self-directed learning in a way that is not possible using conventional modes of delivery. The end result for the student is an “anytime anywhere” educational experience ideal for those who do not have the time to spend travelling to and from lectures at set times and locations.

4. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) A trend to mobility is occurring inside and outside of the classroom. In the olden days of pencil and paper, too few students were engaged in lessons. They doodled, read books, or dipped pigtails in the inkwells. Today, disengaged students turn to mobile devices to chat on Facebook, check Twitter, and message their friends. While educators know students need to be tech savvy when they enter the workforce, today the challenge has been the inability to lock-down devices and keep students engaged. This challenge is compounded by the walled gardens imposed by the large device manufactures. Are schools to choose only one platform, one device, and force them upon the entire student population? The enterprise market has already experienced this problem and has adopted BYOD (bring your own device) programs almost unanimously.9 Students are reaching outside of their classroom walls to collaborate with each other, as well as with experts in the field. In their homes, they use their cell phones, laptops and tablets to do their schoolwork. Not only is collaboration an important component of students in the 21st century, but the research available to them is vast, requiring a good system or filing and organization to 9

Sean Peasgood and Sophic Capital, http://www.cantechletter.com/2015/01/bring-device-next-big-trendeducation/

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keep the student's personal work organized. But during the school day, all this material and organization of data is left at home, at a time when students should be adding even more during the school day than they do in the evening. With BYOD, students can now have the best of both worlds.10

Some people believe that technology in the classroom is not only an important step in staying with the times, but that failure to use it can actually stunt childhood development. “Teachers must use technology in the classroom or their students will suffer academically,” said Joni Kuhn, developmental education instructor at Rasmussen College. “Our world is (already in) a technology age and it’s not going anywhere. It’s definitely not a passing fad.” Other educators believe BYOD can promote greater participation in the classroom. “Children are spending more time on screens (than ever before),” said Cecelia Westby, dean of the School of Education at Rasmussen College. “We use technology intentionally to promote a child’s growth and development, and as part of the curriculum.”

Research from Concordia University found that if new technology is introduced into a classroom and used as part of the everyday curriculum, students are more interested in the material and are more likely to succeed. The National Association for the Education of Young Children agrees that when technology and interactive media are used intentionally and appropriately, it supports learning and development in young children. In addition, school districts looking to stay ahead of the curve are adopting BYOD in an effort to appear technologically savvy and forwardthinking, which can then attract families from outside the district.

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5. E-Portfolio An e-Portfolio is a collection of digital materials which ascertains a person's learning and understanding. The items most often found in an e-Portfolio include documents recounting a student's progress such as reflections, ideas, feedback, projects, and papers.11 As education continues to change to meet the expanding needs of the diverse learners and the needs for success in the workforce, schools must raise student skills and find ways to embed technology into the curriculum and pedagogy. This trend allows learners to set goals, plan, and record their achievements. e-portfolio have the ability to empower a student to collect a duration of prescribed documents, confirm accomplishments, and identify personal development planning throughout the learners lifelong journey in school, college, work, and professional growth. An eportfolio empowers students to increase their understanding by showcasing their work and giving them the chance to reflect. It also provides a storage of work throughout their education including records of achievement, transcripts, and assessments. E-portfolios can be used in a variety of capacities including demonstrating to a perspective college or university a student's accomplishments throughout earlier schooling and for employers it can be a resource to validate skills and abilities, such as communication and teamwork skills.12 Below are new web tools to help you to create e-portfolios incorporate the principles of eportfilio in your teaching and learning. Here some of the best web tools to help you create eportfolios: 1. Evernote

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https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Trends_and_Innovations_for_K-12_Ed_Tech_Leaders#e-Portfolio Ibid.

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2. Googlesite 3. VoiceThread 4. Weebly 5. Mahara 6. One Note 7. Wix 8. Strikingly 9. Glogster 10. Edmodo 11. KidBlogs 12. EduBlogs

Latest Trend Selected

I have picked one of the trends which to integrate so as to enrich the learning opportunity of our students. I suggest the implementation of e-portfolio for our college because the implementation of e-portfolios is easy and free. As education moves towards integrating and implementing technology new visions arise, which includes e-Portfolios. Education has been driven to produce more outcome based results, increasing learning effectiveness, and being held accountable. Through e-Portfolios students will be empowered in managing their achievements, work, and learning goals.

Why should we used e-portfilio? An e-portfolio can reflect the students learning process and progress. Technology enables the use of a range of media – video, sound and images – as well as 16

text to show both the learning process and final products. A student's teacher, peers, parents, and can participate and provide feedback on their learning. Students can take increasing responsibility for their own learning by recording and reflecting on their learning in an e-portfolio. Students can carry their e-portfolio throughout their learning journey and use it to record, assess, evaluate, and reflect at any time.

How about the format of an e-Portfolio in our college can be work? Referring back to the earlier definition of an e-Portfolio, an e-Portfolio is a tool or system with a series of processes that produce a product. Each component of an e-Portfolio will now be outlined. Students can create digital sketchbooks of examples of digital media artefacts that may form reference for future additions to show evidence of their work. For example: Producing multimedia galleries that may be arranged in an order to show progression of results or learning over time, collecting usergenerated digital media content from informal spaces: these artefacts may be used as evidence of interpretation and video screencasts or an audio recording may be used by the student as a tool to provide commentary for the decisions made or critical thinking during a piece of work

Besides that, students can sharing the digital artefacts may be spread widely over the web for multiple purposes including sharing. Technologies like RSS can be used to push and pull content within the e-Portfolio and other locations. Examples of sharing include: using media sharing sites such as Flickr, participating in an online community but reusing for e-Portfolio purposes (e.g. evidence of learning, submission of course work).

How about the reflecting between teachers and students? Both teacher and student can use a range of digital media and techniques for reflection and feedback purposes including the collection of the iterations made to produce digital artefacts can be shown to demonstrate the 17

progression of a finished resource, audio or video (screencast) can be used to provide reasoning for decisions and show proof of reflection and audio and or video feedback may be used by both teacher and student.

Finally, based on the evidence I have showed, I suggest that the e-portfolio is a best trend that to be adapted to our college as the facilities that we have at present is very limited for students are also easy to access. The current trend is most suitable for our college is e-portfolio.

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References 1. Luciana Carabaneanu et.all, Trends In E-Learning, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest. 2. Larry Johnson et.all, NMC Horizon Report, 2015 Higher Education Edition. 3. Leslie Paas, IISD Associate, How Information and Communications Technologies Can Support Education for Sustainable Development Current uses and trends, January 2008. 4. Global trends in education and ICT. 5. Zahraa Muhsin et.all, E-learning Tools and Technologies in Education: A Perspective, IT Faculty, Isra University, Amman, Jordan. 6. Gail Ring and Barbara Ramirez, Implementing ePortfolios for the AssessmGeneral Education Competencies, International Journal of ePortfolio 2012, Volume 2, Number 1, 87-97 7. Gerard Tulodziecki, Approaches to Learning with Media and Media Literacy Education – Trends and Current Situation in Germany, The National Association for Media Literacy Education’Journal of Media Literacy Education 4:1 (2012) 44 – 60. 8. Barbara Mayer, The Implementing Electronic E-Portfolio : Benefit, Challengges and Suggestion. 9. Gerald K. White, ICT Trends in Education, Australian Council for Educational Research 10. Caroline Greener, The Top Three Trends In E-Learning For Generation Z, http://elearningindustry.com/the-top-3-trends-in-e-learning-for-generation-z. 11. Erchun Chen and Jie Liu, Applying Multimedia Technology to the Teaching and Learning of College English in China: Problems and Solutions, Journal of Information Technology and Application in Education, Sept. 2012, Vol. 1, 108

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12. Jose Antonio Marin Marin, ict trends in education, 1st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference, AIIC 2013, 24-26 April, Azores, Portugal 13. Sean Peasgood and Sophic Capital, http://www.cantechletter.com/2015/01/bring-device-next-big-trend-education/ 14. Kathy Dyer, 50 Digital Education Tools and Apps For Formative Assesment Success, https://www.nwea.org/blog/2015/growing-list-50-digital-education-tools-appsformative-assessment-success/ 15. Sach Chaudari, Gamification Of Education http://www.paradisosolutions.com/blog/gamification-of-education/ 16. https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/three-social-trends-that-willinfluence-education-in-2014/ 17. http://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/12/social-media-as-a-primary-source-a-coming-ofage 18. http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2013/11/18/ibm-these-are-the-top-7-socialtrends-that-will-emerge-in-2014/ 19. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/11-essentials-for-excellent-eportfolios-vicki-davis 20. http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/education/us_education/case_studies.html#~one 21. http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/byod-new-classroom-trend-passingfad/ 22. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235974973_Trends_of_Social_Media_usage_am ong_students_an_opportunity_for_higher_education_marketers 23. http://blogs.cisco.com/ioe/summary-top-10-ict-trends-in-2015-are-you-ready-for-digitaltransformation

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24. https://www.noodle.com/articles/32-innovative-online-tools-to-use-in-2015 25. http://www.inc.com/aaron-skonnard/5-top-trends-in-education-technology-2015.html 26. http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/02/05/three-trends-that-define-the-future-ofteaching-and-learning/ 27. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/using-digital-media-for-your-e-portfolio

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