PART 2
Design
an artefact which demonstrates clearly how it will enhance adult literacy and
numeracy. Describe the teaching issue/topic the artefact could be used for and
the learners who would best engage with it.
In terms
of the TEC Learning Progressions (2008), the coterie of learners as outlined
previously would typically be at approximately Step 2-3 in the literacy strands of Reading with Understanding,
and Speaking to Communicate, while usually at somewhat higher levels for
Listening with Understanding, and Speaking to Communicate. The tool itself,
however, would not have to be specific to this particular type of coterie, but
could be adapted to suit a wide range of
learner coteries. Assessment would be broadly within Initial, Formative and
Summative categories, within TEC established practice as supported and recorded
by standard assessment forms and with student engagement per prescribed
intervals with the TEC online Assessment Tool. Accordingly, then, assessment
would encompass ongoing student self-assessment, both tutor-student and
student-tutor assessment , and facilitated peer assessment. Evidential
assessment would also be part of the process as reflected in student progress
in terms of being better able to execute and participate in both implicit and
explicit literacy functions pertaining
to the requirements of the module and tasks at hand.
The tool in this case would, as
mentioned, be a shared interactive Facebook page created by the tutor or
administrator, closed to all but the tutor or students or any other approved
persons. This would enable all information posted to the site to be seen and
accessed only by those so approved, but postings and alterations to the site
content would be possible only via the tutor who could therefore monitor site content. While some students may find this an
inhibiting element (Malhotra
2013), I would consider this necessary
for safety considerations.
This Web 2.0 option
means there is only one site to develop, and of course would be free. It would
be fully adaptable and allow text, colour, images, audio and video. The coterie
would collaborate to research and develop a nominated theme or topic. If
circumstances permitted, the students could decide on a topic through
consensus. Pages developed could include such elements as questionnaires,
personal feedback, progress reports and assessments, in addition of course to
postings addressing the nominated theme. Students’ individual blog sites,
including their personal Facebook pages if desired, would also be able to be
linked and accessed from the class site. This would allow them to brainstorm,
share information, or demonstrate some of their work to peers in order to elicit
feedback. It would also allow them to mutually support and motivate without
necessarily having to channel material and communications through the class
site.
The artefact would be
comprised of blended learning elements. Primarily it would be structured to allow
the majority of participation to take place from the students’ own locations
and in their own time as a tool to help circumvent travel and communication
issues attendant to a widespread rural district. But occasional face-to-face
tuition could occur where and when feasible. For instance, ideally the course would commence with a face-to-face
session to help establish rapport between tutor and learners – to help create a
‘community of learners’. As well as introductions, it would enable the tutor to
ensure the group participants were all familiar with the structure and aim of
the task underpinning the course itself, and that students were au fait with
the workings of the artefact itself with the necessary hardware required in
hand. This initial session could be used, too, as an opportunity for the
students to collectively decide on a project of their choice. For the purposes
of this exercise, though, I have provided one myself in order to delineate how
the sub-tasks of the project could be allocated and addressed by the students.
The essence of the project, though, would be to construct an information site
on a specific topic incorporating diverse digital elements and using a Facebook
format.
Once
the topic had been established, students could break into pairs or small groups
and with newsprint and felts, say, brainstorm ways in which they think the
topic could be presented most effectively, and to prioritise the nature of
information to be shared as regards the main theme. The groups could then share
conclusions, reach a reasonable degree of consensus, and allocate sub-tasks
between themselves. They may even choose to continue to work in their
sub-groups online. Essentially students would then continue their participation
online, but occasional further face-to-face support sessions could occur where
feasible. Ideally the group would come together at course end to share and
celebrate their efforts. Formative and summative (both informal and formal)
assessments would occur as appropriate.
Let us assume that the
artefact decided on was a Facebook site
promoting a (fictional) long weekend
kapa haka festival at Ahipara/Ninety Mile Beach being hosted by the local Muriwhenua
Kapa Haka troupe - recent winners of the North Island regional kapa haka final.
Information the site would convey would be festival programme content,
geographical directions, accommodation and camping options, location features
and sightseeing points of interest, food and additional entertainments
available, brief history of kapa haka, significance of the individual waiata
and actions that comprise the total kapa haka performance, local tikanga and
history, and the like. The end result would be an interactive Facebook site
that could be made available on a open basis whereby members of the public
wishing to find out more information pertaining to the kapa haka festival could
go online and access a wide range of relevant material.
Describe
the learning and teaching approach you used to design the artefact in relation
to your philosophy about learning and teaching with technology for LLN
education.
My
philosophy regarding the application of digital technologies to adult literacy
tuition centres around the premise that, while digital technologies can be
highly effectively employed in this field, primary outcomes derive from the
structure, content, context and instructional strategies of the lesson itself.
In other words, the digital technologies are the medium, not the message.
However, having said that, there can be a nevertheless tangible
element present also of the Marshall McLuhan dictum that in many
situations the medium is the message, too
(McLuhan, 1964) whereby use of the medium (for whatever reason) may be an
instructional experience in itself. Basically I consider that most effective
results will be achieved with these technologies through application of
appropriate balance and context within a student-centred framework of what the
intended primary learning goals actually are. In this respect, it is therefore
imperative that appropriate initial assessment establish these goals. The
extent to which a programme incorporating online technologies may help achieve
those goals (and whether digital learning may be more effective than more
traditional learning) may then be evaluated. As Jenkins (2006) asserts, too,
for this reason, if digital learning is to be maximised, it is essential that
online elements be incorporated into any learning programme at the initial
design phase, and not just be ‘bolted-on’ considerations.
Web
2.0 technologies, with their emphasis on sharing, networking, user production,
and the like, then, may serve all manner of useful personal imperatives. But in
terms of identified learning goals, their usefulness can only be measured to
the extent these media help achieve those goals. Simply being engaged with (and
perhaps even spectacularly proficient with) these technologies may be meaningless
in terms of specific student learning aspirations if engagement with these
technologies is not necessarily advancing fulfilment of the explicitly
identified learning priorities.
