APLING678 Week 9 - Study Skills & Knowledge Management

Guiding Questions:

• How do we process information and manage knowledge based on a socio-cultural approach to learning?
• In what ways can technology facilitate the way we process information and manage knowledge effectively and efficiently?
• What are the considerations we should take into account when we incorporate Web 2.0 tools into our classroom for these purposes?

Readings:

• TEXT: Walker & White (2013) Chapter 7
• e-Journal: Tergan, S.O., Keller T. and Burkhard, R.A. (2006). Integrating knowledge and information: Digital concept maps as a bridging technology. Information Visualization, 5(3):167-174.
• Weblink: 8 excellent timeline creation tools for teachers (http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/08/8-excellent-free-timeline-creation.html)
• Weblink: 18 free mind mapping tools for teachers and students (http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/18-free-mind-mapping-tools-for-teachers.html)
• Weblink: Welcome to Google Sites http://www.google.com/sites/overview.html
• Weblink:  Google Sites Help Center https://support.google.com/sites/?hl=en#topic=1689606

Substantive Post:

Week 9 Discussion Post       

Walker and White begin their chapter on study skills and EAP by asking how technology has changed the way we study. I was a college student at the very end of the 20^th century. The tools used in my education were so different from what is commonly used now. That has greatly influenced how this class is set up, how we interact with each other, and how I take notes and study these materials, as opposed to how I did it in undergrad. In this class (my first course this century), we use VLEs, word processing, online library services, online journals, ebooks, online registration and course management, presentation software, email, and blogs (p. 94-95). These high-tech tools were almost all brand-new to me (as far as use in an educational setting goes) when I started this class. The only tool from that list that existed widely when I was in college was a word processor. I did bring a word processor to college with me in the 90s. Here is what it looks like:

It displayed a few lines of text on that tiny screen, and I could save my work to a floppy disk or print it out. None of the features detailed by Walker and White – headings, captions, comments, track changes – were available on this word processor (p. 102-103). Collaboration through such a word processor was impossible.

In my undergrad Educational Psychology class, we learned about Pavlov, Skinner, Piaget and Bloom’s Taxonomy. I don’t remember learning anything about sociocultural theory or Vygotsky. I’ve been reading some articles on my own, trying to get a basic understanding of sociocultural theory and how it relates to education, but I don’t feel comfortable enough in my knowledge base yet to answer the question: “How do we process information and manage knowledge based on a sociocultural approach to learning?” Based on what I have read and this week’s optional readings, collaboration seems to be a big part of it. Scardamalia wrote that collective responsibility “refers to the condition in which responsibility for the success of the group effort is distributed across all the members” (p. 2). That collective responsibility is definitely facilitated by all the technology available to us today. The ability to work together on a document with someone halfway around the world, simultaneously editing and commenting, is mind-boggling and brilliant. And it changes the way individual students view an assignment. It’s not a competition; it’s a collaboration.  Itai, I also like how you point out that this ability to collaborate with students all over the world can change our perception and broaden our perspective.

As we bring Web 2.0 tools into our classrooms, we need to consider that many or most of our students have already “seamlessly integrated the social tools they use for communication with friends into their academic toolkit”; they already use the collaborative nature of the social web to share and discuss ideas with their classmates (Lomas, Burke & Page, p. 2).  As we discussed last week, they may or may not be familiar with particular tools we choose to use in the classroom (Facebook, for example), but they are digital natives and are much more used to collaborating than I am.

I had to laugh when Itai wrote that he remembers teachers rolling in the cart with the TV and VCR. I was that teacher, and yes, I enjoyed movie days as much as students! That is why I applied to this graduate program; I want to make sure I don’t go back to the classroom expecting things to be the same as they were 20 years ago. New theories and new technologies have come up, and I want to know them and be able to use them in a wise and pedagogically sound manner.

Jonathan, thank you for sharing Michael Scott’s opinion on Wikipedia. That was a great illustration of Itai’s point that the student AND the instructor need to be cautious when using online resources. How do you all teach this in your classrooms (the ability to discern credible and reliable sources)?

I, like Jonathan, also took note of Walker and White’s recommendations for listening skills. They suggest reminding students “that slides will always be available after a lecture…whereas the oral information is presented only whilst the tutor is speaking” (p. 105). During our Blackboard Collaborate session this morning, I reminded myself of that and tried to only take notes on what Dr. Compton said, not on the slides, which I knew I would be able to access later. I have been to several AFPA (American Fitness Professionals Association) conferences over the past few years (because I’ve been a kickboxing teacher for the past 6 years), and at almost every lecture, we were handed print-outs of the slides as we walked in and sat down. There were lines to the side, where I could take notes. Do any of you do this for your classes? Is this still common practice? Is this something you would use in your class, Jonathan, to keep students from scrambling to write down what is on the slides? Personally, I thought it was a huge waste of paper because the lecturers had also provided us with digital access to their PowerPoint presentations, but it was a very concrete reminder to listen to the speaker and not waste time writing down what was on the slides.

My children attend schools where they are issued an iPad (middle school) or a Macbook (high school) at the beginning of each year. Their teachers use Schoology to upload their PPTs and notes, so students can have access to them at any time. My daughter’s iPad came pre-loaded with some of the tools we are looking at this week – like “Lucid Chart”. Both of my children have been using Google Docs, Sketch Up, and many other Google Classroom tools to collaborate digitally for years. I feel like they are naturals at using technology to facilitate the way they process information and manage knowledge effectively and efficiently because they have grown up with it. For me, personally, and for future students of mine, who may not have had this constant exposure to using technology efficiently and effectively, there will be many hours of exploration and practice before it becomes second nature. As we incorporate Web 2.0 tools into our classrooms for these purposes, we will need to consider the learning curve of our particular populations, and that there might be a lot of time spent learning the new technology before it leads to efficiency in studying.