Theoretical Perspective and Research Design
Competencies are measurable portion of a person performing and/or willing to perform in certain instances assigned by a particular guide. It measures observable knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors pertaining to success. Competencies equip a person during lifelong activities and instances of participation. Some portion of the competency become visible like an iceberg floating on the ocean bed. It also defines skills and competence of the individual performing in the context for fulfilling certain objectives. Knowledge is the practical or theoretical understanding of a subject. Skills and abilities are natural or learned capacities to perform acts. Behavior is a pattern of actions or conduct.
Attainment of competency as observed in different individuals varies considerably. For example somebody sings well, some other person is a good painter, some can speak well, some rarely speaks. Lot of examples can be furnished in this regard. Regarding some of the selected competencies (considered as critical) most of the learners feel problem. Addressing these competencies with some learning outcome is to be worked out. It can bring some reflection upon the Application of Computer in regular day to day study and skill acquisition. It may true that computer cannot replace a teacher because of some reason. It may facilitate teaching by availing its mechanized process.
Statement of Problem
Competency non-achievements at school level are frequently reported from the student of 11- 14 years of age-group. Some of the group specific and some individual specific problems identified from the specified age group were as follows:
1. In a classroom having teacher: student ratio- 1:60, a teacher rarely capable of implying individual attention upon all students. A teacher usually follows a stereotype model of curriculum transaction in a generalized way for finishing the job within a time-frame prescribed to him/her.
2. While attending a group, general instructional strategies adopted for all the participant students; and by that way a student having individual specific problems in competency achievements may remain unreached and even unattended by the teacher.
3. Students spending less than two hours a day for study at home usually become non-achievers.
4. Students promoted to upper class with previous history of non- achievements in any subject area may become non-achiever for the second time.
5. Lack of proper guidance at home often makes students poor in study.
6. Lack of interest in study is the major reason of competency non-achievements.
Problems observed in achieving certain level of competencies by all students in common. For instance students rarely attempt questions of Geometrical Portion in common. They also often avoid questions related to measurements, calculation of area of certain space and also problems related angles and straight-line. Plan of study came in mind after observing the commonness to the non- performance or poor- performance of some students of class seven and eight. It also became evident that students losing interest in study due to periodic lecture session running throughout the day.
Set of Objectives
Questions arose about role of teacher in the process of competency enhancement. The process enhancement concerns with up gradation of the quality exhibited by the participant students. How one can improve the level of competency enhancement was also a matter of concern. Application of computer in content delivery system and also designing and applying some software for the regular study can be practiced on an experimental basis. By that process experimental research came on surface with following objectives:
1. To trace-out different areas of Critical Competencies at Elementary Stage ( 6 to 14 years of age-group.)
2. To develop different Computer Aided Learning Packages and Monitoring and Evaluation Tools on the basis of different areas of Critical Competencies identified earlier.
3. To expose students in different learning – teaching environments for evaluating their achievements.
4. To exercise different learning teaching environments for evaluating learner’s achievements.
5. To find out levels of achievements in both the case of administration of CAL Package and normal way of study.
6. On the basis of results preparing modules and models of study for wider application.
Hypothesis
The research hypothesized following aspects:
1. Computer Aided Learning will minimize the instructional gap and thereby it will influence the competency achievements.
2. Activity oriented learning will gain much more attention of students, and thereby competency achievement will be enhanced.
3. All the competencies may not be arranged in as per their inter-relations. Rearranging competencies in different modules will ensure easier competency achievements.
4. Computer Aided Learning will expose teachers to other areas of Curriculum.
Hypothesis can be tested through a process of experimental study where selected students receive special treatment and another group will not receive such treatment. Competency achievements will be tested afterward. Tests were organized both before and after the process of experimentation. For experimentation four competencies selected from the table of basic competencies available. These were as follows:
1. Speaking (Linguistic Competency);
Grammar and Vocabulry2. Mathematical Reasoning(Mathematical Competence);
Factors and Multiples; Decimals and Fractions; Geometric Assumptions;3. Strategic Vision (Perception Competence).
State of 4. Planning & Organizing
Algorithm FlowchartsLearning outcome of all these competencies designed as per the area of competencies concerned (see Table 1.1).
Scope of Computer application on all these competencies considered possible and a system of instruction process for three months designed for addressing these competencies through computer aided content areas and related evaluation tools.
Table 1.1: Learning outcome of Competencies
Competencies | Learning Outcome (After attaining such competence candidate can achieve enlisted abilities perfectly) |
Speaking (Linguistic Competency); | Conveys ideas and facts orally using language the audience will best understand. |
Mathematical Reasoning(Mathematical Competence); | Uses mathematical techniques to calculate data or solve practical problems. |
Strategic Vision (Perception Competence). | Sees the big, long-range picture. Compare the state of matters and also understand the changes in the state of matters. |
Planning & Organizing | Coordinates ideas and resources to achieve goals. |
Addressing each competency separately is not possible, hence the group of four competencies considered in an integrated fashion while selecting content areas of study.
Research Design
Pre-test post - test research design considered for this purpose. That means both the group (Experimental and Control ) will participate in the evaluation process both before and after the special treatment administered upon the Experimental Group ( Table 1.3). Treatment of Computer Aided Learning Package introduced only upon the Experimental Group and changes in the achievement level observed through evaluation. Laboratory engagements planned as per the availability of the computer.
Table 1.3: – Pre-test – Post - test Design
Group | Pre-test | Treatment of Computer Aided Learning | Post-test |
Experimental | O1 | C | O2 |
Control | O3 | O4 | |
This design allows us to compare the final posttest results between the two groups, giving an idea of the overall effectiveness of the intervention or treatment. (C) We can see how both groups changed from pretest to posttest, whether one, both or neither improved over time. If the control group also showed a significant improvement, then we must attempt to uncover the reasons behind this. We planned to compare the scores in the two pretest groups, to ensure that the randomization process was effective. These checks evaluate the efficiency of the randomization process and also determine whether the group given the treatment showed a significant difference. Beyond discovering causal relationships, experimental research further seeks out how much cause will produce how much effect; in technical terms, how the independent variable will affect the dependent variable. We know that turning the knob clockwise will produce a louder noise, but by varying how much we turn it, we see how much sound is produced. On the other hand, we might find that although we turn the knob a great deal, sound doesn't increase dramatically. Or, we might find that turning the knob just a little adds more sound than expected. The amount that we turned the knob is the independent variable, the variable that the researcher controls, and the amount of sound that resulted from turning it is the dependent variable, the change that is caused by the independent variable.
Experimental research also looks into the effects of removing something. For example, if we remove a loud noise from the room, will the person next to us be able to hear us? Or how much noise needs to be removed before that person can hear our sound?
The term treatment refers to either removing or adding a stimulus in order to measure an effect (such as turning the knob a little or a lot, or reducing the noise level a little or a lot). Experimental researchers want to know how varying levels of treatment will effect what they are studying. As such, we often have an idea, or hypothesis, about what effect will occur when they cause something. Few experiments are performed where there is no idea of what will happen. From past experiences in life or from the knowledge we possess in our specific field of study, we know how some actions cause other reactions. Experiments confirm or reconfirm this fact.
Selecting groups entails assigning subjects in the groups of an experiment in such a way that treatment and control groups are comparable in all respects except the application of the treatment. Groups can be created in two ways: matching and randomization. Randomization, then, is preferred to matching. This method is based on the statistical principle of normal distribution. Theoretically, any arbitrarily selected group of adequate size will reflect normal distribution. Differences between groups will average out and become more comparable. The principle of normal distribution states that in a population most individuals will fall within the middle range of values for a given characteristic, with increasingly fewer toward either extreme (graphically represented as the ubiquitous "bell curve").
Thus far, we have explained that for experimental research we need:
• a hypothesis for a causal relationship;
• a control group and a treatment group;
• to eliminate confounding variables that might mess up the experiment and prevent displaying the causal relationship; and
• to have larger groups with a carefully sorted constituency; preferably randomized, in order to keep accidental differences from fouling things up.
But what if we don't have all of those? Do we still have an experiment? Not a true experiment in the strictest scientific sense of the term, but we can have a quasi-experiment, an attempt to uncover a causal relationship, even though the researcher cannot control all the factors that might affect the outcome.
A quasi-experimenter treats a given situation as an experiment even though it is not wholly by design. The independent variable may not be manipulated by the researcher, treatment and control groups may not be randomized or matched, or there may be no control group. The researcher is limited in what he or she can say conclusively.
The significant element of both experiments and quasi-experiments is the measure of the dependent variable, which it allows for comparison. Some data is quite straightforward, but other measures, such as level of self-confidence in writing ability, increase in creativity or in reading comprehension are inescapably subjective. In such cases, quasi-experimentation often involves a number of strategies to compare subjectivity, such as rating data, testing, surveying, and content analysis.
Since we're mentioning the subject of statistics, note that experimental or quasi-experimental research cannot state beyond a shadow of a doubt that a single cause will always produce any one effect. They can do no more than show a probability that one thing causes another. The probability that a result is the due to random chance is an important measure of statistical analysis and in experimental research.
Our Research activity proceeded through following five stages…
• Identifying a research problem
• Planning an experimental research study
• Conducting the experiment
• Analyzing the data
• Writing the paper/presentation describing the findings
The process started by clearly identifying the problem we wanted to study and considering what possible methods one should workout to obtain a solution. Then we selected the method we wanted to test, and formulated a set of hypothesis to predict the outcome of the test.
The next step was to devise an experiment to test our hypothesis. In doing so, we considered several factors, such as….
• how generalizable will be the end results?
• Do we want to generalize about the entire population of high school seniors everywhere, or just the particular population of seniors at specific school?
• The amount of time funding that we want to allocate.
Continuing the fact depicted above, we wanted to organise a small study at one school involving four teachers, each teaching two sections of the same course. The treatment in this experiment was administering Computer Aided Learning Packages referring selected group of competencies having demarcation as Critical one. Each of the four teachers were assigned the same curriculum as per the prescribed framework of regular educational activities; the treatment group participated in experimental process that equipped with Computer Aided Learning Packages, while the control group received only teacher’s comments on their drafts as per the conventional curriculum transaction process known to them.
At the start of an experiment, the control and treatment groups were evaluated for assessing the level of competence they have in specific areas of study. Competencies of similar kind and similar framework were administered upon all groups under consideration. In that way there was no variation in terms of contents to be delivered for achieving the desired level of competence within prescribed time frame assigned to each teacher.
Each teacher expected to handle the selected group as per the frameworks selected for the study. We had two classes for a control groups and two classes for treatment/experimental groups. The written and referral assignments were given and the teachers were briefed not to change any of their teaching methods or contents delivered to them in terms of write-up for the control group and some Computer Aided Programmes for the experimental groups.
The fourth step was to collect and analyze the data. This is not solely a step where we collect the papers, read them, and say our methods were a success. It must explicit certain success as per the desire and expectation that duly objectivated during initial frame of the experimental study. Covering competencies through curriculum transaction was not the motto, also referring certain individual specific problems was not the point of interest, only the fact was the concern of Competency Enhancement; more elaborately to say Enhancement of Critical Competencies. . We must devise a scale by which evaluation of the enhancement process can be made visible on surface. For doing that we evaluated the data being received, therefore you must decide what indicators will be, and will not be, important.
Tools of Experimentation
We considered Computer as a tool of the experimentation. Potential of computer application explored properly to deliver different Computer Aided Learning packages as per our expectation and planned perspective of the research. Computer worked as a powerful interface in between the teacher and the students. In this case teacher worked earlier in advance for reaching the point of learning activity. Computer directly worked on the basis of the process operations delivered to it by experts of the particular experts. Different teaching and learning instances of Computer Application were duly recorded. Statistical test has been used to analyze differences in the scores of two or more groups.
This research activity wanted to examine the effectiveness of Computer Aided Learning Packages upon a selected group of students as a process motivator/ inducer for Competency Enhancement process. The research initiated with a courage and enthusiasm of attaining desired results at the end of the experimentation.
Chapter Two: Survey of Related Literature
Study in the area of computer application considered by different researchers time to time. But attending Competency Enhancement through Computer Aided Learning was not evident as such. It was also application oriented trend of study that observed during a survey of the data obtained from the library and internet.
The term "Computer Aided Learning" or CAL comes from qualitative research conducted in the UK during the mid 1970's examining "learning" interactions between different types of learners (adults, school children, military training, etc.) and mainframe computer systems. These instructional systems didn't claim "teaching" was a substantial part of human-computer interactions involved. The instructional designs employed what was at that time called in the U.S.
Since the 1970's the instructional uses of computer systems has undergone a rapid and remarkable transformation. In the US University of Illinois PLATO
The case studies shared here trace the evolution of computer use in the schools from early use of Apple II e's and TRS 80, Model IV's, up to and through the evolution and rapid decline of "Integrated Learning Systems" deployed via "local area networks" in public and private schools. The lessons learned from these educational studies are as relevant today as they were when these now obsolete microcomputers were considered to be "state of the art.".
Why? Because these educational case-studies are about students, teachers, curriculum, instruction and the educational policies conditioning how technologies do or don't fit in classrooms and schools. Even with the rapid growth of on online teaching and learning, the stories are still about students and teachers interacting in schools and communities.
Some Key initiatives
Consideration of Azim Premji Foundation in the application side of the mechanism observed. The Computer Aided Learning program was initiated in the year 2002 to harness the potential of computer technology for education. The objectives of the program were to make learning a play, assessment a fun and equal knowledge for all students. During implementation, the objective of ‘equal knowledge for all’ got converted to ‘equal opportunity for all’. To this end, the Foundation created syllabus-based bi/trilingual multimedia contents. As a part of the program, the content along with a one-day orientation was given to teachers. The program, in partnership with the respective State governments, covered approximately 16,000 Schools across 14 States in the country. The program identified 6 factors critical to the success of computer aided learning. These are
Teacher involvement and leadership
Computer Aided Learning to be an integral part of teachers’ pedagogy and classroom processes and not a stand-alone activity
Dedicated Government resource and ownership
All time availability of the prescribed infrastructure and hardware
Availability of digital learning material of adequate quality and quantity. Continuous ongoing dialogue with teachers to explore the strengths of the available technology. These critical factors provided the ground for developing a demonstrable model of computer aided learning. The model took the form of a systematic research study on capability development of teachers and also to support them to use technology to meet the ends of learning.
 | Fig 2.1: Students working on Computer in a school. Number of Students per computer at a time is 2 to 3. Sometimes it is 4. Students seldom get much time for doing assignments. For example in Mahila Ashram High School of Wardh this Student: Computer ratio is 2:1. |
According to International World Wide Web Conference Proceedings of the 15th international conference on World Wide Web ( Edinburgh , Scotland India
According to a study conducted by David Moore; Paul McGrath; John Thorpe (Computer-Aided Learning for People with Autism - a Framework for Research and Development ) , there is good evidence that computer-aided learning is well accepted by students with autism and is of great potential benefit to them. Despite the potential, however, the field remains relatively unexplored. This paper therefore proposes a framework for further research and development in the field of computer-aided learning for students with autism. The framework is based around the core deficiencies of autism, namely a social impairment, a communication impairment, rigidity and inflexibility in thinking and a theory of mind deficit. Proposals for computer-aided learning systems for each of these areas are put forward, and our current development work outlined.
Genesis of E Learning
As early as 1993, William D. Graziadei1 described an online computer-delivered lecture, tutorial and assessment project using electronic Mail, with several software programs that allowed students and instructor to create a Virtual Instructional Classroom Environment in Science (VICES) in Research, Education, Service & Teaching (REST).3 In 1997 Graziadei, W.D., et al.,4 published an article entitled "Building Asynchronous and Synchronous Teaching-Learning Environments: Exploring a Course/Classroom Management System Solution".4 They described a process at the State University of New York (SUNY) of evaluating products and developing an overall strategy for technology-based course development and management in teaching-learning. The product(s) had to be easy to use and maintain, portable, replicable, scalable, and immediately affordable, and they had to have a high probability of success with long-term cost-effectiveness. Today many technologies can be, and are, used in e-learning, from blogs to collaborative software,ePortfolios, and virtual classrooms. Most eLearning situations use combinations of these techniques.
Bates and Poole (2003) and the OECD (2005) suggest that different types or forms of e-learning can be considered as a continuum, from no e-learning, i.e. no use of computers and/or the Internet for teaching and learning, through classroom aids, such as making classroom lecture Powerpoint slides available to students through a course web site or learning management system, to laptop programs, where students are required to bring laptops to class and use them as part of a face-to-face class, to hybrid learning, where classroom time is reduced but not eliminated, with more time devoted to online learning, through to fully online learning, which is a form of distance education. This classification is somewhat similar to that of the Sloan Commission reports on the status of e-learning. which refer to web enhanced, web supplemented and web dependent to reflect increasing intensity of technology use. In the Bates and Poole continuum, 'blended learning' can cover classroom aids, laptops and hybrid learning, while 'distributed learning' can incorporate either hybrid or fully online learning.
In Datacloud: Toward a New Theory of Online Work, Johndan Johnson-Eilola describes a specific computer-supported collaboration space: The Smart Board. According to Johnson-Eilola, a “Smart Board system provides a 72-inch, rear projection, touchscreen, intelligent whiteboard surface for work”. In Datacloud, Johnson-Eilola asserts that “[w]e are attempting to understand how users move within information spaces, how users can exist within information spaces rather than merely gaze at them, and how information spaces must be shared with others rather than being private, lived within rather than simply visited”. He explains how the Smart Board system offers an information space that allows his students to engage in active collaboration. He makes three distinct claims regarding the functionality of the technology: 1) The Smart Board allows users to work with large amounts of information, 2) It offers an information space that invites active collaboration, 3) The work produced is often “dynamic and contingent” (82).
Bringing Computer at School
Zlatan Magajna studied about school level applications and its impact. Dynamic Geometry Systems (DGS) are powerful presentation and visualisation tools; however, they are not so useful in helping students to prove facts and to understand how theorems and proofs originate in one's mind. To facilitate the learning of proving geometry facts a software program has been developed by the author. The considered geometric configuration is first constructed on a DGS. The programme reads the drawing and lists several 'observable' properties of the configuration. The student then sets the problem space by selecting the facts s/he finds relevant to the proof. Finally, the student builds a proof by connecting the facts in problem space with logical argumentations in an iconic and/or symbolic view. The software can be used as well for exploring configurations and finding out novel properties (theorems). The effect of using the software has been investigated on a small scale experiment.
A Co-operative research project in Computer-Aided Learning, J.W. Brahan and W.C. Brown
In 1967, the National Research Council (NRC) began a preliminary study of the application of computers as aids to learning. This initial work led to the establishment of a central research facility which is used by the NRC and a number of educational research organizations in a co-operative program of research into computer-aided learning. This central facility includes a medium-scale time sharing computer which is accessible to the participating organizations by means of remote terminals.
A major objective of the project is to provide a facility which will allow the active co-operation of research workers throughout Canada
The first participating educational organization to go “on line” was the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Toronto
The project provides a means for close communication between the educational researcher and the system designer. In this way, effective use can be made of available resources to arrive at a system specification which more closely meets the requirements of the user than might otherwise be possible.
This paper, presented at the Canadian Symposium on Instructional Technology, describes the computer-aided learning research project which was introduced in some detail in an earlier paper (Haney, Brown and Brahan, 1973).
A Dissertation prepared by MSc Students (Computer aided learning in teaching special needs pupils),The dissertation aims to investigate the use of computer aided learning (CAL) in teaching special education needs (SEN) children reporting on the development (design, implementation and evaluation) of a CAL system for the teaching of Key Stage 1 English to SEN pupils. A literature review covers the theories and styles of learning, national curriculum requirements in English teaching, the existing CAL
In another Paper presented at the annual AARE-NZARE Conference, Melbourne
Parent’s Perspective
In using computers, parents are left worrying that it is their responsibility to help their children prepare for the millennium. Parents have to make sure they're giving their children a positive experience that's also appropriate for their age. And that means that parents have to be actively involved in the process of learning. Enhancing language and social/cooperative experience among children will be properly attended. According to Linda Henry's writing for your "Baby Today", software manufacturers already tapped the market that involved infants from six months to two years of age. But while it has the power to make our lives easier, many parents are justly concerned about protecting their children from the computer especially the Internet's darker fringes. For parents of a toddler or a preschooler, the true challenge is not protecting him from inappropriate usage or websites, it's finding and guiding him to what's good and beneficial in the use of computers. Cognizant of the above, this research is being undertaken to provide practical guidelines for raising computer whiz kids in an effort to strengthen parents in their role as their children's primary teachers. This means that babies are already reared to become computer whiz kids as early as infancy. Reports and researches indicate that in the coming years more than 50 percent of new jobs will have the need for technological skills. But computers transform at a fast pace, and everyone from teachers to politicians lament about the failure of Philippine schools to give their students or the children the foundation they'll need to succeed in the 21st-century economy. And it promises to become only more so. The company, Knowledge Adventure created Jump Start Baby and calls it as "lapware," since it is designed for babies who are sitting on their parent's lap at the computer.
The Application of Technology
This research examined the issue of the effectiveness of the use of computer in the instructional process. Effectiveness within the context of this research refered to learning outcomes. Definitions of instructional technology typically vary according to the way in which the factor is conceptualized by those individuals constructing the definitions (Saettler, 1994, p. 2). There are two widely accepted conceptualizations of instructional technology the physical science concept and the behavioral science concept.
When instructional technology is considered within the context of physical science, it is typically viewed as the application of physical science and engineering technology to the process of education (Saettler, 1994, p. 4). This concept emphasizes device effects and procedures, as opposed to instructional content and learner differences. The development of the physical science concept of instructional technology was not greatly influenced by the interrelationships between educational needs and psychological theory, on the one hand, and the design of instructional messages and media, on the other hand (Finn, 1960, p. 4).
Computer Aided Intructional (CAI) software programs facilitate this learning process. Similarly, CAI software may be designed to reflect the cognitive processes employed in the acquiring of skills related to mathematics, science, and engineering. Another illustration from a basic education level is that comprehension in reading comes from within the mind, rather than from the text being read (Anderson-Inman, 1994, p. 280). Thus, prior knowledge and experiences are an essential part that equip the process of comprehension. CAI software programs may be designed to take advantage of the knowledge and experience levels of specific student users. The ability of CAI software to relate the learning experience to the learner's prior experiences and knowledge is of inestimable value in the teaching of mathematics. Several specific advantages are provided by CAI software programs in the teaching of mathematics. The most significant of the advantages available through the use of CAI are as follows: 1. CAI software programs permit the placing of emphasis on a comprehensive understanding of a topic, as opposed to specific aspects of a topic.
Tetrahedral Framework
In order to study the features mentioned above, the so called "tetrahedral model" used by Brown, Bransford, Ferrara and Campione (1983) provided a useful beginning theoretical framework because it emphasises the interrelations between the learning task (the material to be learnt), learner characteristics, learning activities, and the criterial task. However, this framework does not distinguish between the learning tasks and feedback provided by the teacher or program, which could be considered as part of the task design, and the learning procedures and strategies the students actually use in undertaking the task. We also wished to distinguish between performance on the initial task and subsequent performance on related tasks. Brown et al (1983) used the term "criterial task" to suggest that learning was being aimed at a particular type of performance. We prefer to investigate "transfer tasks," which may differ to varying degrees from the original task, to describe the means of assessing desirable outcomes.
Learning Companion
The salient curriculum context of the empirical study was that tertiary students were working collaboratively in small groups with a computer tutorial in order to study an aspect of physiology - cell action in gastric acid secretion - that had previously proven difficult for students to understand in the normal course of lectures and related laboratory work (see Weaver, Petrovic, Dodds, Harris, Delbridge, and Kemm, 1996 for a full report, and Kemm, Weaver, Dodds, Evans, Garland, Petrovic, Delbridge, & Harris, 1997 for an evaluation). What had to be learnt were the biochemical and physiological principles and mechanisms involved in this particular type of cell, hopefully to a level where the principles and mechanisms could be applied to a different but related type of cell. Although this tutorial was specifically designed as part of the second-year Physiology course for Medical and Physiotherapy students, it was also used by second year Science students, who did not complete the associated practical laboratory class but who were given the completed data sheets for interpretation after completing the gastric acid cell tutorial. This was an obvious difference in the context of the course groups.
Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.
A Versatile Instrument
The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to asupercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.
In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer, his analytical engine. Limited finances and Babbage's inability to resist tinkering with the design meant that the device was never completed.
In the late 1880s, Herman Hollerith invented the recording of data on a machine readable medium. Prior uses of machine readable media, above, had been for control, not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards ..." To process these punched cards he invented the tabulator, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the 1890 United States Census by Hollerith's company, which later became the core of IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of practical computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.
During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.
Alan Turing is widely regarded to be the father of modern computer science. In 1936 Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with theTuring machine. Of his role in the modern computer, Time Magazine in naming Turing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, states: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine." The inventor of the program-controlled computer was Konrad Zuse, who built the first working computer in 1941 and later in 1955 the first computer based on magnetic storage.George Stibitz is internationally recognized as a father of the modern digital computer. While working at Bell Labs in November 1937, Stibitz invented and built a relay-based calculator he dubbed the "Model K" (for "kitchen table", on which he had assembled it), which was the first to use binary circuits to perform an arithmetic operation. Later models added greater sophistication including complex arithmetic and programmability.
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)
[Alejandra MartÃnez1, Yannis Dimitriadis2 and Pablo de la Fuente1 1Dpt. of Computer Science, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain 2Dpt. of Signal Theory, Telecomunications and Telematics Engineering, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain; ]
The area of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a recent research paradigm in educational software, based on the application of computer networks to collaborative learning processes. From a theoretical perspective, CSCL is based on social theories on learning [1,2] that emphasise the role of social interaction in the construction of knowledge. The development of CSCL systems is very complex, due to its interdisciplinary nature, the diversity of actors implied in the process, and the variety of aspects that must be considered: learning improvement, school organization, software design, distributed systems, human-computer interaction, etc. After the initial years of the paradigm, when the main efforts were oriented towards the design of innovative CSCL systems, it is now necessary to focus on their evaluation, in order to detect appropriate lines of research and development that might contribute to enrich the field. Given the nature of the area, these evaluation processes are complex, and can be oriented to any of the aforementioned issues.
CSCL signifies following aspects with utmost clarity:
· Access to the sources of data. The access to the field is a known problem in ethnographic research, and the evaluation designs defined under this perspective consider explicitly how to face them. In the case of studies based on automatically collected data, it will be necessary to solve the technical problems related to data access, such as the need of getting the appropriate rights from the system administrator to access the system logs. The tools will have to include specific functions to collect interactions, which should be independent of the code of the CSCL applications in order to provide modular solutions, and transparent to the users so that they do not interfere in the learning processes.
· Management of large quantities of data with low semantic value. The computer provides the possibility of storing all the actions performed by the users with little or no effort. This can lead to a saturation of data with no meaningful value, impossible to process either automatically or manually. Thus, it is necessary to face the problem of the internal representation of the data so that it can support the analysis process.
· New types of interaction. The introduction of computer networks promotes new forms of interaction, and with them, new challenges for research in collaborative learning. Crook distinguishes between interactions in front of the computer (small groups that work on the same computer); through the computer (communication or actions performed mediated by the network); and around the computer (interactions that take place at classrooms where work is supported by computers). The study presents the relationship among different aspects that must be taken into account in an evaluation process and the possible data sources that can be used in an ethnographic study, showing which of them are the most appropriate data sources for each one of the different aspects. Examining the table, it can be seen that the data collected by the system are the only source appropriate for the study of the interactions that occur through the computer, and thus, they play an important role in the evaluation of CSCL experiences. Additionally, data collected automatically can be used, in a complementary mode with other data sources, for the study of the interactions in front of the computer and the students’ attitudes. The research also shows that the global evaluation process has to consider a number of sources of data and evaluation issues. Therefore, the integration of all these issues should be a main objective in the design of evaluation processes of quality.
·
Linguists in the literature of computers recognised the dual role of computer. That of the computer as a tool and that as a tutor.
Ahmat et al (1985) points out the auxiliary role of computer in education characterising it as a medium applied by teacher to serve him in teaching and not to replace teacher in class. This role is apparent if we analyse some acronyms such as CALL and CAI (Computer assisted Language Learning or Computer aided/assisted instruction) where the letter A stands for the words "Assisted or Aided "indicative of the role of computers as a tool.
Freudenstein (1981:213) stressing out the role of teacher in relation to computer advocates the auxiliary role of computer when he writes that "the use of even the most sophisticated hardware does not automatically guarantee good learning results: It all depends on the most important ‘medium’ in any instructional process: the ‘teacher’. Success and failure of media use in the foreign or second language program are directly related to the way in which teachers have learned to handle machines, have experienced their use in the classroom and are/not willing to accept and work with them."
The generally held view among the language teachers concerning the use of computer is that they are tools and as such should be used both by teachers and students to improve their work in the sense that it can augment human capabilities and provide limitless possibilities for language learning. What distinguishes computer as a tool from that as a tutor is that the latter, according to Taylor
Levy (1997) supports that what is important in CALL as tool is how can computer facilitate teacher in his/her teaching job, that is how can teacher present the designing material more effectively and how can learners acquire most of the teaching process through practice and language use so that learning is succeeded.
Because of its novelty computers transform the "dullest task into an adventure" Geoffrion (1983:50) motivating learners to learn a language because the teacher who uses that "genius tool" in his class can use “different and more exciting modes than the course book to present new materials with text, sound video and hypertext facilities offering high-quality interactive feed back on vocabulary, grammar, language answers, culture issues, etc., whenever the student feels s/he needs it.” (Ypsilandis,1995)
In software where the computer acts as a tutor (e.g. Choice master) computer can be used in a variety of ways to create both tests with or without error messages, and tests which are linked to reading or listening skills. A latest version of this software provides the user with corrections or hints explaining at the same time why a certain selection was wrong. What is notable with software programs of this type is that the learner can learn without the presence of teacher and in a privacy without being too concerned by possible errors whereas in the classroom they would hold back." (Demaiziere 1983:11-12 in Ahmad et al 1985:115). Of course, as it is apparent, the traditional role of teacher shifts in this case from that of classroom operator to that of a language advisor while the students get used to autonomous learning .
Kenning and Kenning (1983:2) see the computer as a tutor "assessing the learner's reply, recording it, pointing out mistakes, giving explanations. In this way, they claim the learner is guided to find the correct answer and also to adapt the material to suit his/her needs and preference. The same linguist does not like seeing the computer simply as a tool for automating educational practices because, as he claims, the computer represents "both an opportunity and a tool for investigating the very practices which are being automated.” (pp.2)
The fact that the acquisition process is related to the effort to convey or interpret meanings and cannot flourish in activities which concentrate on forms has led several commentators on computer- assisted learning (notably van Campen 1980 and Odendall 1982) to state that the computer should be used for formal grammar drilling which favour learning, thus releasing the teacher to run the freer forms of activity which will enhance acquisition. This combination of teacher and computer sounds sensible. Teachers are good at conveying and interpreting meanings. Computers are good at processes which require patient repetition and attention to detail. The teacher, with established skills in communication, analysis and diagnosis, was depended on to assist and, when necessary, assess the learner.
Commenting on the two roles of computer we would agree with what Ypsylantis (1995) said that "the computer as tool unlike the computer as tutor does not make the teacher redundant, as does the computer as tutor nor does it suggest a clear- on line role of the teacher. In either case it seems to leave the freedom to the teacher for class-work with the computer.”
Ahmad et al (1985) evaluating the pedagogical contribution of computer admits that the feelings of enthusiasm and enjoyment that the learners who use CALL programs experience, create a positive attitude to the activity of learning and to the subject matters.
According to the same writer the advantages of computer fall into three types: those which “are part of inherent nature,” those which “benefit the teacher,” and those which “benefit the learner” (Ahmat et al 1985:4). Because of its inherent nature computer can handle a much wider range of activities, and much more powerfully, than other technological aids. More than just this, the computer can offer interactive learning by conducting a two-way learning session with the student. It is much more than a mere programmed textbook, whose powers of interaction are virtually limited to an ability to reveal the correct answer.
The computer can work accurately and precisely. It does not tire, and its attention does not alter. It can repeat an activity with none of the errors which easily arise from repetition by humans. “It can handle a very large volume of interaction and can deliver to students feedback of some subtlety, at more frequent intervals than would be possible for a human teacher in all but individual tuition session.” (Ahmat et al 1985:4)
Computer as a reliable companion:
The computer can also provide privacy to students who can “work freely without being too concerned by possible errors whereas in the classroom they would hold back” (Demaiziere 1983 11-12 in Ahmad et al 1985: 115).
From the point of view of the teacher, the computer presents aspects of a particular promise. Prominent among these is the versatility in handling different kinds of materials. The simplest is the one way presentation of information, in the form of text, graphic, audio and video. “The computer can take the drudgery out of teaching by doing all the boring, repetitive work, leaving to the human teacher the more creative aspects of the job. The computer is an obedient beast and will readily take on the role of drudge if required to.” (Higgins & Johns 1984:9). It can keep score and display the score, records results, errors, success rates, the time spent, and much more information for the teacher to view at a later time. Thus, the teacher can examine students’ errors and scores and other information and decide about the students’ progress and the efficiency of CALL materials. Therefore, the teacher has the possibility to modify easily the exercises and materials he prepares and at the same time the teacher can have access to detail information on his pupils strengths, weaknesses, and progress, which helps them to assess individual learners. So, the computer offers the opportunity to teachers to make better use of their time and expertise and allows them to spend more time on preparation and on activities such as discussion, simulation or project work (Kenning and Kenning 1983). By providing a means of usefully occupying part of the class, it opens up the possibility of small group activities. So in a way computers contribute to a creative and imaginative teaching method in those parts of the course where teacher-student contact is more necessary.
The teacher who uses the computer in his/her teaching should give up the concept of a teacher who is the “knower” giving his students the opportunity to share in his knowledge. Ager (1986: 103-104) seems to share that concept when he admits that “Language teaching has always suffered from the necessity for teachers to play God” The new role of teacher is no longer to disseminate knowledge as such, but how to help students get access and aquire information so that knowledge is succeeded.
For students the computer offers many advantages because of flexibility of time and the variety of educational courses it offers to students who may choose when and how long to spend on studying particular topics. More than this, the computer can also allow students to take courses, or parts of courses, at a distance.
Authoring
Wyatt (1984) refers to Authoring package as "authoring system" and describes it as ready- made computer programs that constitute precast formats into which the course writer (teacher) can insert his own pedagogical material. The emphasis to systems like this is always on ease of use. In the introduction to one such system we read "Neither the teacher nor the learner needs to be familiar with anything more technical in relation to the computer than the ability to switch the machine on and the knowledge of which way round to insert a floppy disk into the disk driver - the ‘package’ does the rest" (Wyatt l984:7). Although so far working with an authoring package seems an easy job for the teacher, however, we think it is important to mention here the significance of the teacher being able to choose the right program to meet his/her need in relation always to the syllabus objectives in which such programs have to be integrated.
Wanting to give an overall aspect of the potential of the authoring packages we cannot but refer to limitations mentioned by Ahmad et al (1985:30) that although they are an easy way to start, however, the package necessarily restricts the form of what the teacher can produce even more than do author languages. The teacher cannot use his imagination to exploit productively the text and develop different form of exercises which he thinks will help students' four skills because authoring packages are “usually confined to the question-answer type of exercise and are generally linear, with no branching facilities.”(Ahmad et al 1985:30).
The program titled Storyboard was developed by John Higgins. It enables the teacher to create a short text, which is displayed on the Computer screen and after a time the text is reduced to dashes indicating the length of the missing words. The student's job is to try to reconstruct the text. The student may follow different strategies. He may begin with low frequency content words, he remembers from the first reading, or high-frequency words such as articles, common verbs, prepositions, conjunctions and pronouns. He may even try collocation skills something which seems more appropriate for an ESP student. Storyboard offers a tremendous flexibility. The student has the option of reading the text first, if the student gets stuck, it is possible to call up the first letter of the word, a whole word itself or to read the text again.
The facility to provide the students with instant feedback sustains student's interest. Moreover, it enables students to feel a sense of accomplishment and progress and the teacher to know whatever the students did to arrive at such an answer. The teacher has access to a detailed information concerning his students, strengths, weaknesses and progress which help him to assess individual learners.
Computer Application in Teaching of Grammar
[ Faizah Mohamad1 and Nazeri Mohamad Amin2
1Universiti Teknologi MARA Terengganu , Malaysia
2Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia Malaysia
The widespread use of computer courseware in numerous fields and domains has given quite an impact on education especially on the second and foreign language education. With the advent of technologies, courseware with multimedia elements and interactive contents have emerged to assist English language teaching. Since teachers are considered as the guardians of the classrooms, it is important to look into another alternative as a potential assistance to language learning that courseware can offer. However, most readily available coursewares in the market are not tailored to the needs of the local young Malaysian learners. Therefore, this study is to investigate whether a customized courseware specially developed for young learners is effective in teaching specific grammatical items. The study involved 40 young learners in Year 5 at one of the primary schools in the state of Terengganu , Malaysia
Computer Assisted Writing
[American Institutes for Research 1000 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Washington, DC 20007]
Computer programs for writing help students with developing ideas, organizing, outlining, and brainstorming. Templates provide a framework and reduce the physical effort spent on writing so that students can pay attention to organization and content.
The example at the right, similar to the program Inspiration, demonstrates how a student has organized her writing. Her topic is the Chesapeake Bay. She thinks about three main ideas for her topic: food, fun, and jobs. Next, she adds supporting details for each of her
Teachers should review the computer program or the online activity or game to understand the context of the lessons and determine which ones fit the needs of their students and how they may enhance instruction.
· Can this program supplement the lesson, give basic skills practice, or be used as an educational reward for students?
· Is the material presented so that students will remain interested yet not lose valuable instruction time trying to figure out how to operate the program? Does the program waste time with too much animation?
· Is the program at the correct level for the class or the individual student?
· Does this program do what the teacher wants it to do (help students organize the writing, speed up the writing process, or allow students to hear what they wrote for editing purposes)?
Teachers should also review all Web sites and links immediately before directing students to them. Web addresses and links frequently change and become inactive. Students might become frustrated when links are no longer available.
Game based Learning:
A mature theory of game-based learning, we argue, will take into account the underlying principles by which they work as learning environments “naturalistically”, or “in the wild,” to borrow Hutchins’s (Hutchins, 1995) term. Modern video games, with their myriad of toolkits for modeling and interface editing, have increasingly evolved from being compelling mediums that merely engage users passively into spaces (and communities) that empower users to willfully create and disseminate content (Jenkins & Squire 2003; Steinkuehler & Johnson, this volume). As such, video games are not only a pervasive popular culture media, but also form some of the central discourses around 21st century pedagogical practices and what it means to teach or learn in a globalized future. The growing body of literature around video games and learning suggests that games are powerful models for teaching and can potentially affect how people can and ought to learn in the ever-changing landscape of knowledge (Shaffer & Gee, 2006,). A key challenge that remains for educators is how to produce pedagogical models that leverage the strengths of the medium, yet meet educationally valued goals. Restated, we know that players learn through participation in MMOs such as World of Warcraft (Steinkuehler, 2005, Nardi et.al, forthcoming Proc., Galarneau 2006), and that educational interventions that use game technologies (such as networked 3D worlds) can be effective, but how might we harness the simulation, participatory, and aesthetic dimensions of games for intentional learning?
Interactive Multimedia
As a testing device, computers have long been used for test scoring; students or subjects record answers on a special answer sheet, which allows a computer to score the responses (potential benefits and problems are discusses in Anastasi and Urbina, 1997). But, psychologists are beginning to move beyond using computers only for scoring; research-based computer administered testing instruments are finding application as research tools in psychology. Researchers have utilized an interactive multimedia test to measure cognitive abilities and conflict resolution skills (Olson-Buchanan, Drasgow, and Moberg 1998), compared the effectiveness of pencil and paper tests to computerized test versions (Donovan, Drasgow and Probst 2000), addressed the pros and cons of interactive multimedia test development (Drasgow, Olson-Buchanan, and Moberg 1999), conducted validation measures of a Computer Based Performance Measure (a test which serves as a criterion measure of job performance for air traffic controller selection) (Hanson, et al. 1999), and identified the areas of assessment best served by interactive multimedia tests (Burroughs, et al. 1999).
Cartographic research, too, may benefit from implementing interactive multimedia testing instruments. In cartography, interactive multimedia need not only be limited to displays; the method may also be used effectively as a tool in cartographic research. While this application has found limited use to data, more researchers may soon discover the flexibility and power of interactive multimedia as part of their research methodology.
Before incorporating interactive multimedia as a tool in a cartographic research project, five factors must be considered; those factors are: potential applications, technological considerations, research tool design, reliability and validity evaluation, and potential usefulness.
Study on Enhancement Process
There are many studies comparing the impacts on students learning in one-to-one laptop programs to others in less technology-rich settings. The information is from multiple sources, e.g. interviews, surveys, classroom observations and from a variety of studies. Generally speaking, these studies confirm the findings of others, resulting in increased confidence in the results.
‘There is substantial evidence that using technology as an instructional tool enhances student learning and educational outcomes.’ (Gulek & Demirtas, 2005)
Overwhelmingly, studies of laptop programs indicated many positive effects for students. Reports indicated that students:
· have more fun
· are more enthusiastic
· have increased engagement in learning
· are more interested in learning
· are more self-directed in learning
· have greater self confidence and self esteem
· use computers more often for learning
· focus on improving performance
· have greater ICT skills
· increase their research skills
· improve problem solving and critical thinking skills
· write more extensively with improved quality
· have increased access to information
· can present information more effectively
· spend more time working collaboratively
· collaborate better and are more willing to share their work and help each other
· are engaged in more project-based work
· enjoy learning actively.
‘We all know that ICT engages children and engagement, of course, is the key to successful teaching.’ (Holmes, 2008)
Students having continuous access to laptops were much more positive in their responses than students using school laptops. They reported increased computer skills, made learning more fun and interesting and provided motivation for learning.
The power of one-to-one computing is in the availability of the learning device for students during the school and at home. (Cisco, 2006)
Students learning and their ability to transfer knowledge across subject areas can be enhanced by laptops as a result of student-focused project work which is collaborative and includes problem-solving and critical thinking. (Gulek & Demirtas, 2005)
Technology is a tool that adds another dimension to student learning. Laptops provide the motivation for students to be engaged in their learning and seeing a connection between what they are learning and the world beyond the classroom. Motivated students have control over their learning and are challenged with a series of goals and share their learning with others. This is a chance to be recognised and to be proud of the work they have done.
Changes in student’s attitudes and work habits survey data from Maine, 2004 with over 12 000 returned surveys:
· ‘I would rather use my laptop’ 80%
· ‘Laptops help me be better organised’ 75%
· ‘Laptops improve the quality of my work’ 70%
· ‘I do more work when I use my laptop’ 70%
· ‘I am more likely to edit my work with a laptop’ 80%
· ‘I am more involved in school with a laptop’ 70%
· ‘Laptops make school more interesting’ 70%
Teachers report positive impacts of laptops on students with most agreeing that computers have increased opportunities to apply their knowledge and encourages students to think creatively. Almost all agree that using technology in the classroom helps to prepare their students for life in the 21st century. (Zucker & Hug, 2007)
Teachers’ responses in a comparison of teaching with laptops to prior experience without laptops (Grimes & Marschauer, 2008):
· ‘Students spent more time giving presentations’ 74%
· ‘Students are more interested in class’ 84%
· ‘Students help each other more’ 84%
· ‘Students take more initiative outside of class time’ 65%
· ‘Students writing quality is better’ 57%
· ‘Students overall quality of work is better’ 65%
· ‘Students get more involved in in-depth research’ 85%
· ‘Students work harder at their assignments’ 79%
· ‘Students revise their work more’ 78%
A survey of student opinions (850+) in a study in California showed very positive responses to the laptop program:
· ‘Having a laptop helps keep me organised’ 75% agreed
· ‘I would rather not use my laptop’ 78% disagreed
· ‘I prefer to write assignments by hand instead of typing them on my laptop’ 70% disagreed
· ‘I am more involved at school when I use my laptop’ 56% agreed, 29% neutral
· ‘I am more likely to revise/edit my work when I use my laptop’ 73% agreed
· ‘I do more school work when I use my laptop’ 52% agreed, 31% neutral
· ‘The quality of my work has improved since I got my laptop’ 47% agreed, 37% neutral
Students are very positive about the use of laptops with many believing they had a very positive impact on how much they learned at school and influenced how well they could work with others at school. (Zucker & Hug, 2007)
Now we know what students can do with their laptops and how these activities can influence their learning. But, this is only possible in a successfully implemented program. We will examine the factors that affect implementation in the next section. All the studies used CAL packages for speeding up the content delivery process and also used computer as a teaching aid pertaining as a secondary source of curriculum transaction. More elaborately to say application of computer in education never been examined as any inducer or enhancer of skills and competencies. All the research studies aimed in delivering contents and teaching – learning mechanisms with the help of modern computer as a new platform of certain innovative facet of content design and delivery engine. Micro level observations rarely considered for examining the exact role of computer as competency enhancer(Zucker & Hug, 2007, Donovan, Drasgow and Probst 2000). Justification of the proposed study is thus advanced with clear cut distinction in between Curriculum Research and Process oriented research study to be combined for examining the role of computer as a competency enhancer.
Chapter Three: Methodologies
Experimental Research Design and Analysis offers a rational approach to the quantitative methods of educational experiments. In its innovative presentation of the most commonly used experimental designs, this advanced text/reference discusses the logical reasons for selecting a particular design and shows how experimental results can be analyzed and interpreted. Real-world examples from different areas of educational experimentation are featured throughout the paper to illustrate how practical issues of design and analysis are handled.
For many true experimental designs, pretest-posttest designs are the preferred method to compare participant groups and measure the degree of change occurring as a result of treatments or interventions. Pretest-posttest designs grew from the simpler posttest only designs, and address some of the issues arising with assignment bias and the allocation of participants to groups. One example is education, where researchers want to monitor the effect of a new teaching method upon groups of children. Other areas include evaluating the effects of counseling, testing medical treatments, and measuring psychological constructs. The only stipulation is that the subjects must be randomly assigned to groups, in a true experimental design, to properly isolate and nullify any nuisance or confounding variables.
A scientific control group is an essential part of most research designs, allowing researchers to eliminate and isolate confounding variables and bias. Normal biological variation, researcher bias and environmental variation are all factors that can skew data, so scientific control groups provide a baseline. As well as eliminating other variables, scientific control groups help the researcher to show that the experimental design is capable of generating results. A researcher must only measure one variable at a time, and using a scientific control group gives reliable baseline data to compare their results with. For example, a medical study will use two groups, giving one set of patients the real medicine and the other a placebo, in order to rule out the placebo effect. In this particular type of research, the experiment is double blind. Neither the doctors nor the patients are aware of which pill they are receiving, curbing potential research bias. In the social sciences, control groups are the most important part of the experiment, because it is practically impossible to eliminate all of the confounding variables and bias. For example, the placebo effect for medication is well documented, and the Hawthorne Effect is another influence where, if people know that they are the subjects of an experiment, they automatically change their behavior. There are two main types of control, positive and negative, both providing researchers with ways of increasing the statistical validity of their data.
In any of these fields, ethical considerations and the wellbeing of the participants are the single most important consideration. The researcher must ensure that he causes no harm to the group, and it is generally accepted that honesty is the first parameter; the researcher must be open about purpose and intent. The ethical considerations concerning permissions, consent and possible suffering are very similar to guidelines governing psychology researchers. These are the main points, but an in-depth analysis is available here. Wherever possible, the observer should strive to understand the particular community. This may be a knowledge of the language, or some experience with the culture.
One example would be studying sexuality – whilst the observer need not be gay or lesbian to understand those groups, it does help, giving them a unique insight into the unique difficulties faced by gay communities.
There must be no chance of causing psychological or physical suffering to the participants, and they should be treated as partners in research. A researcher using human research subjects must avoid the aloof approach required by quantitative methods.
It is vital that the social science subjects are willing participants in the research, and are not coerced or induced into participating through false promises or benefits.
The social science subjects should be fully informed of the research and the possible implications should be transmitted through a pre-experimental briefing. Verbal and written information, in a language that they understand, should always be sought.
The participants should be fully informed of how their information will be used, how anonymous the information will be, and for how long it will be stored.
The participant should be able to withdraw at any stage during the research, and may also ask that all of their information, including film, photographs and testimonials be removed.
On occasion, the exact nature of the research cannot be revealed to the social science subjects, in case it influences the findings. In this case, the work must be constantly overseen by an independent ethical review panel and peers. In addition, the right to withdraw consent must be maintained.
These ethics are extremely important for maintaining the integrity of participation. It is very easy for researchers using social science subjects to cross the line and cause lasting damage to a group or community.
Historically, the use of ethics have been sloppy in some social science experiments, such as the use of deception in the milgram study, the stanford prison experiment, the bobo doll experiment or theasch experiment. These studies would probably have been disallowed today. This is especially important with the number of documentaries following groups or tribes, because it is very easy to stray into attempting to edit unfavorably and sensationalizing footage for ratings.
Pretest-posttest designs are an expansion of the posttest only design with nonequivalent groups, one of the simplest methods of testing the effectiveness of an intervention.
In this design, which uses two groups, one group is given the treatment and the results are gathered at the end. The control group receives no treatment, over the same period of time, but undergoes exactly the same tests.
Statistical analysis can then determine if the intervention had a significant effect. One common example of this is in medicine; one group is given a medicine, whereas the control group is given none, and this allows the researchers to determine if the drug really works. This type of design, whilst commonly using two groups, can be slightly more complex. For example, if different dosages of a medicine are tested, the design can be based around multiple groups.
Whilst this posttest only design does find many uses, it is limited in scope and contains many threats to validity. It is very poor at guarding against assignment bias, because the researcher knows nothing about the individual differences within the control group and how they may have affected the outcome. Even with randomization of the initial groups, this failure to address assignment bias means that the statistical power is weak.
The results of such a study will always be limited in scope and, resources permitting; most researchers use a more robust design, of which pretest-posttest designs are one. The posttest only design with non-equivalent groups is usually reserved for experiments performed after the fact, such as a medical researcher wishing to observe the effect of a medicine that has already been administered.
Experimental Research
True experimental design is regarded as the most accurate form of experimental research, in that it tries to prove or disprove a hypothesis mathematically, with statistical analysis.
For some of the physical sciences, such as physics, chemistry and geology, they are standard and commonly used. For social sciences, psychology and biology, they can be a little more difficult to set up.
The independent variable, also known as the manipulated variable, lies at the heart of any quantitative experimental design.
This is the factor manipulated by the researcher, and it produces one or more results, known as dependent variables. There are often not more than one or two independent variables tested in an experiment, otherwise it is difficult to determine the influence of each upon the final results.
There may be more than several dependent variables, because manipulating the independent can influence many different things. For example, an experiment to test the effects of a certain fertilizer, upon plant growth, could measure height, number of fruits and the average weight of the fruit produced. All of these are valid analyzable factors, arising from the manipulation of one independent variable, the amount of fertilizer. The term independent variable is often a source of confusion; many people assume that the name means that the variable is independent of any manipulation. The name arises because the variable is isolated from any other factor, allowing experimental manipulation to establish analyzable results. Some research papers appear to give results manipulating more than one experimental variable, but this is usually a false impression. Each manipulated variable is likely to be an experiment in itself, one area where the words ‘experiment’ and ‘research’ differ. It is simply more convenient for the researcher to bundle them into one paper, and discuss the overall results.
The botanical researcher above might also study the effects of temperature, or the amount of water on growth, but these must be performed as discrete experiments, with only the conclusion and discussion amalgamated at the end.
Selection of Sample
At initial it was a plan to select 120 students for experimental and 120 students for control group. Some students finalized to withdraw from the research study. For maintaining the uniformity of the groups total 200 students were considered for the study and were randomely distributed in 4 groups 2 experimental and 2 control groups comprising 50 students each.
Table 3.1 : Sample
Boys | Girls | Total | |
Experimental Group | 50 | 50 | 100 |
Control Group | 50 | 50 | 100 |
Total | 100 | 100 | 200 |
Note: (All students were selected from the batch of seventh standard of Sushil Himmatsingka Vidyalaya of Wardha)
Statistical Analysis Tools:
For examining the effectiveness of the Computer Aided Learning Packages upon the enhancement of Critical Competencies application of Statistical Analysis tools were considered vital. T Test and Chi Square Test Tools were considered suitable ones in this regard.
Chi Square Test
The chi-square is one of the most popular statistics because it is easy to calculate and interpret. There are two kinds of chi-square tests. The first is called a one-way analysis, and the second is called a two-way analysis. The purpose of both is to determine whether the observed frequencies (counts) markedly differ from the frequencies that we would expect by chance.
The observed cell frequencies are organized in rows and columns like a spreadsheet. This table of observed cell frequencies is called a contingency table, and the chi-square test if part of a contingency table analysis.
The chi-square statistic is the sum of the contributions from each of the individual cells. Every cell in a table contributes something to the overall chi-square statistic. If a given cell differs markedly from the expected frequency, then the contribution of that cell to the overall chi-square is large. If a cell is close to the expected frequency for that cell, then the contribution of that cell to the overall chi-square is low. A large chi-square statistic indicates that somewhere in the table, the observed frequencies differ markedly from the expected frequencies. It does not tell which cell (or cells) are causing the high chi-square...only that they are there. When a chi-square is high, you must visually examine the table to determine which cell(s) are responsible.
When there are exactly two rows and two columns, the chi-square statistic becomes inaccurate, and Yate's correction for continuity is usually applied. Statistics Calculator will automatically use Yate's correction for two-by-two tables when the expected frequency of any cell is less than 5 or the total N is less than 50.
If there is only one column or one row (a one-way chi-square test), the degrees of freedom is the number of cells minus one. For a two way chi-square, the degrees of freedom is the number or rows minus one times the number of columns minus one.
Using the chi-square statistic and its associated degrees of freedom, the software reports the probability that the differences between the observed and expected frequencies occurred by chance. Generally, a probability of .05 or less is considered to be a significant difference.
A standard spreadsheet interface is used to enter the counts for each cell. After you've finished entering the data, the program will print the chi-square, degrees of freedom and probability of chance.
In a 2X2 table (four Cells ) there is a simple formula that eliminates the need to calculate the theoretical frequencies for each cell-
Table 3.2: Achievement – Non-achievement Data
Competency Achievements | Experimental Group | Control Group | Total No of Students |
Achievers | A | B | A+B |
Non-achievers | C | D | C+D |
Total | A+C | B+D | N |
Degree of Freedom = (Rows – 1)(Column – 1) = 1 | |||
X 2 = | N[|AD-BC|] 2 |
(A+B)(C+D)(A+C)(B+D) |
For each level of significance there exists a critical value of chi-square. For rejection of the Null Hypothesis, the calculated value of chi-square must equal or exceed the critical value depicted in the table of Critical Values (Table 3)
Table 3.3: Critical Value of Chi-Square
Particulars | Critical Values at different Levels of Significance and 1 degree of freedom | |
Levels of Significance | 0.05 | 0.01 |
Chi Square Value | 3.84 | 6.64 |
In statistics, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary.
Estimates of statistical parameters can be based upon different amounts of information or data. The number of independent pieces of information that go into the estimate of a parameter is called the degrees of freedom (df). In general, the degrees of freedom of an estimate is equal to the number of independent scores that go into the estimate minus the number of parameters estimated as intermediate steps in the estimation of the parameter itself.
The number of degrees of freedom is the number of independent observations in a sample of data that are available to estimate a parameter of the population from which that sample is drawn. For example, if we have two observations, when calculating the mean we have two independent observations; however, when calculating the variance, we have only one independent observation, since the two observations are equally distant from the mean.
Computer as a tool of Research
Application library as framed for the purpose of Research kept equipped with different tools and mechanisms of learning and instructional designs. Important aspects of those learning and teaching tools made the research activity more dynamic and result oriented.
CALL software is representative of an acquisition-oriented approach because it:
1. Promotes a communicative interaction between the learner and the computer.
2. Provides comprehensible input at a level.
3. Promotes a positive self-image in the learner.
4. Provides a challenge but does not produce frustration or anxiety.
5. Does not include overt error correction.
6. Allows the learner the opportunity to produce comprehensible output.
7. Promotes effectively, acting as a catalyst, the leamer -leamer interaction in the target language.
Traditional CALL software lent itself effectively for developing mainly reading skills, through vocabulary and grammar exercises and secondly writing skills. The use of computer to practise grammar will comfort especially an ESP/T teacher who usually has to teach students, with insufficient linguistic competence. Exercises can range from simple ones as filling with the right article to practicing reported speech which is a fairly difficult area of grammar. This is the case in the Experimental Group Within the group students were taught mainly reading skills and secondly listening and writing in the class, and then they participated in Self Access Centre for further practice with the assistance of the computer aided learning programs.
In some cases a technological attribute distinguishes one medium from others in terms of the learning experiences it affords. The technology of computer based instruction allows the kind of individualisation and interaction not permitted by other media (e.g. video). This situation facilitates learning by presenting the learner with a stimulus and evoking a response. Such a situation has been overlooked in the case of control group.
Curricular Suggestions for CALL course for teachers include familiarity with the history of microcomputers, with technology, and with educational concerns touching the use of CALL. Consideration is given to learner's needs and professional objectives in the use of the new medium. An additional area of consideration in judging the probable effectiveness of foreign language software is the degree to which the materials may directly or indirectly promote the use of particular strategies in the learner. There are several types of strategies that seem particularly well-suited to, being introduced and practiced on the computer. In reading, for example, psycholinguistic research pointed to the importance of skimming exercises. In writing, there are production strategies such as writing dialogues, brain storming, list making and flexible outlining that many second-language learners are either unaware of or ignore.
Simulations vial CAI/CALL is limited only by the scope and imagination of teachers and students. Students can interact with computer programs on a background of illustrations with the simulation itself or they can build screen displays to show their growing control of the competence.
Multimedia programs can display text, high quality sound, animation and video. There are CD-ROM programs like "Longman English Works, for example, which help the learner practice his/her skills in listening and speaking and develop his/her pronunciation. The learner has the ability to listen to the dialogues and passages with or without the written text. He/She can record his voice on the hard disk and incorporate photos through the use of a scanner. So, the emphasis is extended from reading or writing skills to spoken language and listening skills. Using the numerous activity options, the learner can decide at any time how easy or how challenging he/she wants the exercise to be. Multimedia offer great opportunities for differentiation, especially in mixed-ability classes.
Some of the Computer Aided Learning Packages from the evergrowing library are discussed below:
1. Longman Interactive English Dictionary (LIED). It is an exciting learning tool which combines a computer database with sound, video and pictures. The user has the access to many different kinds of information contained on the database( about grammar, the meanings of words, pronunciation, famous people and places, etc.) and can see, hear and read through the use of the compact disk and video. The drawings and photographs it contains, help the user to understand the meanings of the words, and there are short films which show how English is used in real -life situations. It is ideal for practicing pronunciation and listening comprehension. Learners can get help with the pronunciation of individual words by calling up the entries from the Longman pronunciation Dictionary and listening to them. In addition the video mini-dramas provide examples of natural dialogue. The user can have the text of the video dialogues in a separate window on screen while the video is playing.
2. Business Challenges Interactive. It is for learners of business English at false beginners and elementary level who want the freedom and flexibility of interactive learning. It provides over 60 hours of materials including video footage, audio clips, photographs, graphics and exercises to practice English for work and social situations. Tests allow learners to check progress at any time. Records monitor learner's scores in exercises and tests, and show how much of the program has been completed.
3. The Grammar ROM.
4. The Electronic Business Letter Writer (BLW). It is a software package for people who need help in writing business letters. It is also a learning tool for intermediate to advanced students of business English. BLW contains over 200 model texts. These example documents are classified according to Typesetter, fax, memorandum etc.), subject area (banking, Insurance, Credit etc.), purpose( Advice, complaints Enquiries etc.) There is also an Info Bank which contains on-line help in two main areas:
1. How to perform any task in BLW
2. More general topics related to business letter writing.
This section contains:
§ Structure and Layout
§ Content and Style
§ Type of Document
§ Subject Area
§ Purpose of writing
Contents: Information about specific topics, such as Documentary Credit Advice on how to produce effective business letters, faxes etc.
5. BBC English Expressions. It is an English language course on CD ROM. BBC English Expressions is designed to teach you the spoken language required to deal with some of the most common situations you are likely to meet if you visit a foreign country such as: Eating out, Travelling by train, Asking for information etc. The user can select activities for each dialogue from the activity bank. The dialogue starts by clicking at Story. When you need individual words and phrases for the topic the student may click at the Useful words. Speaking Test is a role play exercise: the student speaks in place of one of the characters.
6. Useful Words + provides student with extra words and phrases for the topic he/she has chosen.
In Speaking Test + the student will be presented with unexpected responses and tasks. When clicking at Listening Test the student is given a comprehension test and finally by clicking at Text Exercises the student is given exercises which test both the ability to understand the language he/she has learned and his/her ability to assemble correct text sentences.
7. Welcome to English for Business. These CDs are for people who wish to improve their English language skills as used within the English speaking business environment. The series aim to enable the user to understand real business English. They use between 25-30 minutes video, which forms the centre of the learning activities. All the scenes contain authentic business people talking about their own situations. By looking at the subtitles while watching the video the student gains a better understanding of the relationship between the spoken and written forms. The main learning features of these CDs are:
ease of use
real authentic business language
develops listening comprehension
uses modem methodology
gives instant feedback on learning tasks
contains over 250 screens of learning tasks
develops business grammar, business language functions and business vocabulary.
1. Computer as a communication tool
Within the scope of this research activity plan has been made to utilize computer as per the scope of application pursuable in making the process more and more effective. It has been also planned to frame computer as a research tool, as a powerful interface and also as a dynamic learning and teaching companion in the experimental group.
As per its nature and configuration Computers can foster communication among local and extended community members. And teachers can give feedback to their students through computer communication tools such as electronic bulletin boards and instant messages. Teacher can also add information on the electronic bulletin boards to guide students through the lessons.
In a study by Blumenfeld et al (1996), they used web-based facilities to support and keep track of synchronous dialogue among students that then serve as a public archive of conversations: “…conversations can be stored, reflected on and reacted to, creating a common knowledge base that is open to review and comment and manipulation” (Blumenfeld, Marx, Soloway, & Krajcik, 1996, p.39)
In a social constructivists’ perspective, the success of these web-based communications depends on the opportunities afforded to students for critiquing the ideas of others as well as soliciting alternative ideas, sorting out conflicting information and responding to other learners. (Linn, 1998) If all students post their ideas on a central database accessible through a network, they can establish a discourse community comparing and reflecting on the multiple perspectives of others. (Kearney
2. Computer as a scaffold
Internet websites provide student centered learning environments. The control over pacing of computer-based learning gives students the flexibility and time to thoroughly build their understandings.
Besides, computers help and guide learning by reducing complexity, highlighting concepts and fostering metacognition. For example, the use of computer program such as e-chem helps students create more scientifically acceptable representations of molecules. Software support complex processes that students are not capable of completing without assistance. (Singer, Marx, and Krajcik, 2000, p173) Therefore, extensive use of learning technologies helps students develop deep understanding of scientific concepts and processes by themselves.
3. Computer as a backdrop of real world
Learning technologies expand the range of topics that can be taught in the classroom. Especially, computers and its Internet access extend student-learning experiences beyond the classroom by introducing real-world issues with movies, simulations and animations. They promote contextualized understanding of scientific phenomena in real world. In his research, Kearney
We expect students to interact effectively in front of computer. For ensuring this task minimum standard of learning of Computer operations must be ensured for enabling them in handling different teaching learning tools entangled with computer. It is expected that the Categorical list of standards should be used for standardizing the level of understanding of learners. (Appendix J: Computer/Technology Standards of Learning).
Tendency toward delivering online instructional materials and evaluation schemes increased substantially these days. Consideration of the quality perspective and standard of the content used for preparing subject materials remain questionable affair. Users and facilitators of Computer Aided Learning are still not completely aware of the importance of such package in bringing vibrant change in the Curriculum transaction process and dynamic learning mechanism.
____________
Chapter Four:
Data Collection and Analysis
Experimental research lasted for three months, covering one unit of the academic session. Idea behind such plan was not to disturb the normal academic process of the learner and the teacher. In all total 200 students participated in the experimentation and evaluation process. Evaluation conducted at the project laboratory at Wardha (a district headquarters of Maharashtra ). Some of the ICT (Information Communication Technology) Skills as recorded during curriculum transaction were recorded during the process documentation and tabulated for tracing out impression of ICT Skills within the scope of experimental group. ICT Skills reflected differently within the regular.
Both quality and quantity perspective of experimental study duly recorded in the form of Process Documentation. Teaching and learning activities was quite different in a one-to-one Computer Aided Learning environment.
Documentation grouped in accord to the objectives and the set of hypothesis accompanying that objective.( Table 3.1). First and foremost objective pointed out the need of identifying different areas of Critical Competencies and their status within the referred group of students.
Table 3.1 : First Set of Objectives
Objective: | Hypothesis | Null Hypothesis |
Objective 1:To trace-out different areas of Critical Competencies at Elementary Stage ( 6 to 14 years of age-group.) | H2: . Activity oriented learning will gain much more attention of students, and thereby competency achievement will be enhanced. | H02: . Activity oriented learning will not gain much more attention of students, and competency achievement will never be enhanced. |
Objective 2 To develop different Computer Aided Learning Packages and Monitoring and Evaluation Tools on the basis of different areas of Critical Competencies identified earlier. | H3: All the competencies may not be arranged in as per their inter-relations. Rearranging competencies in different modules will ensure easier competency achievements. | H03: All the competencies may be arranged in as per their inter-relations. Rearranging competencies in different modules will never ensure easier competency achievements. |
Different areas of critical competencies were traced out from the result sheet and answer papers of the Pre – Test Papers. Statistical data reflected majority of competency non achievements in specific areas such as Decimals, Fractions, Geometry and English Grammar. Students rarely attended questions related to property of elements and problems related to Valence
Critical Competencies duly enlisted for consideration for furtherance of the research activity. Enlisted competencies were…
1. Understanding Decimals and Fractions.
2. Ability to solve geometrical problems.
3. Understanding English Grammar.
4. Knowledge of Space in Geometry.
5. Understanding Scientific Concepts (e.g. Property of Elements, Valency of Elements and Compounds).
The list may vary as per the knowledge base of the group under consideration but the competence of specific type will remain unchanged. We, therefore , kept our research bias free by providing similar contents and frameworks to all participants of the research. Simply the medium and mode of instructional strategies changed.
In a CAL Laboratory:
· technology is used frequently with utmost interest;
· technology is incorporated to a much greater degree than other classrooms;
· attendance and discipline rates improved;
[ Evidence where Hypothesis H2 will be established and H02 as null hypothesis will be rejected).
· Student motivation and engagement recorded higher than the classrooms of Control Group.
· Student’s (and parent’s) attitudes to school improved.
· student achievement increased.
· Students access a broader range of resources ensured.
· there tends to be more student-centred strategies such as project-based learning and independent inquiry/research
· there were more examples of cooperative learning than in control classrooms
· the teacher was more likely to act as coach/facilitator and participant.
· The relationship between teacher and student recorded as more dynamic one.
· computers recorded as the main writing tool (and students wanted to write more with higher quality text)
· Students primarily worked alone or in a large group during interactive session upon CAL Packages.
· Students used computers at home more frequently for school work.
A comparison of regular classrooms and technology-rich classrooms suggest that pedagogical approaches are different. In a regular classroom: teachers spend more time giving instruction, leading discussions, asking and answering questions and managing the classroom; students spend more time asking and answering questions, working individually and as a whole group. In a technology-enabled classroom: teachers spend most of their time in demonstration, directing activities and talking to students; students spend more time working on projects, working in small groups, talking to and listening to other students. Participatory process amongst students revived with much higher rate of interactive phases. A CAL
What about the transaction process in CAL Package?
Teachers spend less time lecturing in a Computer Aided Learning process. They got the higher challenges for addressing the enhanced interest level of participant learners. The process explored all sort of efforts for getting all students involved in the networked learning process impregnated with closest possible interactions duly empowered with use of a more constructive approach than compared to one way information transfer in control group. As students were more engaged in learning, there was less classroom management problems.
What Teaching Approaches will be ideal for implying CAL
Computers provided students with frequent and immediate access to the dynamic source of information through offline directory, internet and educational software placing technology in a converged position in relation to traditional classroom interaction. CAL CAL CAL CAL
The 1:1 CAL CAL
Now we have a feel for the potential of a one-to-0ne computing environment, let’s look at what students actually do with laptops in the classroom.
Development Phase
[ Second Objective: To develop different Computer Aided Learning Packages and Monitoring and Evaluation Tools on the basis of different areas of Critical Competencies
identified earlier.]
Different sources of data banks explored for finding out suitable materials having similar kinds of combination enlisted as critical competencies. Some of baseline materials obtained from different sources ( Table 3.2 ). Some other materials and question banks developed for the better convenience.
Table 3.2: CAL
Competencies | Subject Area | Name of The Package and Source |
Understanding Decimals and Fractions. | Math | Presentation edited by Chandan Sengupta |
Ability to solve geometrical problems. | Math | Presentation edited by Chandan Sengupta |
Understanding English Grammar. | Language | E Learning Package of Azim Premji Foundation. |
Knowledge of Space in Geometry. | Social Studies | E Learning Package of Azim Premji Foundation, Google Earth ( an application software). |
Understanding Scientific Concepts (e.g. Property of Elements, Valency of Elements and Compounds). | Science | Microsoft Encarta, Presentations Edited by Chandan Sengupta, British Encyclopedia |
Accommodation of Competencies in a lesson
(a sample study for examining the hypothesis H3)
It was only a sample survey of the contents used by the control group for examining the batch of competencies and sub-competencies accommodated there (Table 3.3). It was also a study to find whether the content areas and contents housed within particular unit fit better with each other.
Table 3.3: Analysis of Content
Title of the Content | Decimals and Fractions |
Subject Area | Mathematics ( Standard 6) |
Content Area supports the Competencies | Definitions and explanations of the concept are not adequate. |
Graphical Portions are adequate | No. |
Exercises planned on the basis of the contents delivered | Exercises planned on the basis of content delivered but variety of contents are less in number. |
Whether contents are repeated in any section | Contents repeated. |
No of exercises (below 20/ 20/ above 20) | Above 20 |
Time to be allotted for delivering the content | Inadequate ( three session in plan) |
Whether any hidden questions or queries left untouched | How fractions and decilmals are inter-related and how all numbers are decimal numbers. |
Presentation considered for the experimental group designed on the basis of parameters of competency representation through contents. Different tools of computer also identified as useful appliances for competency enhancement. For conceptualization of three dimensional models a programme called Microsoft Word Logo (MSW) was useful. Through “Perspective” and “Rounded Rotation” command different three dimensional designs presented as learning instruments. Even learners participated in the activities of logo commands assigned to them.
Different Learning Teaching Environment
[Objective 3: To expose students in different learning – teaching environments for evaluating their achievements.
Objective 4: To exercise different learning teaching environments for evaluating learner’s achievements. ]
It was evident from the observation that students exposed to Computer Aided Assignments actively participated in the learning prodess and therefore they all completed their assignments in time. Not only that new things such as logo command, interactive stories and powerpoint presentations appeared infront of them as means of eye opener of their conceptualization process. They started questioning ( step I advancement), they started consulting peer group members(step 2 advancement), they started exploring possible frame of solutions at their own (step 3 advancement and they started verifying their understanding through computer application tools (Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint etc). Not only the question of competency enhancement, Computer Aided Learning has opened a new horizon of learning that made them interactive as per their wishes and desires.
Table 3.4: Recorded Visits of Students during Free Practical Session they logged in | |||||||
Programmes | Word | Excel | Powerpoint | Logo Command | Games | ||
Recorded Visits | 16 | 21 | 32 | 18 | 65 | ||
 | |||||||
Affinity toward games were identified by analyzing the instances of students logged in for different purposes in practical session of computer laboratory. Only learning games have been accommodated within the system for ensuring the fulfillment of objectives. It was also evident from the analysis of instances of visits that interactive software attracts them to a greater extent.
Statistical Analysis:
Computer Aided Learning Package administered successfully upon the Experimental Group and results were examined for fulfilling objectives( Refer Table 3.5). The comparative study of the test result undergone through statistical analysis.
For considering fifth objective of the research a statistical analysis of data being organized for testing both Hypothesis(H5) and Null Hypothesis(H05).
It was a special case where a computational formula for the chi-square test was used. Specifically, since we had a two-way factorial design and there were only two-levels of each independent variable, we used the following computational formula( Table 3.6).
Table 3.5: Set of Objective - Hypothesis
Objective: | Hypothesis | Null Hypothesis |
Objective 5:To find out levels of achievements in both the case of administration of CAL Package and normal way of study. | H5: CAL Package will influence the Competency Enhancement and Students participating in Computer Aided Learning will improve their status in examination and there levels of Critical Competencies will be enhanced. | H05: CAL Package will not influence the Competency Enhancement and Students participating in Computer Aided Learning will not improve their status in examination and there levels of Critical Competencies will not be enhanced. |
H5: Classroom Learning will influence the Competency Enhancement and Students participating in classroom Learning will improve their status in examination and there levels of Critical Competencies will be enhanced. | H05: Classroom Learning will not influence the Competency Enhancement and Students participating in classroom Learning will not improve their status in examination and there levels of Critical Competencies will not be enhanced. | |
In this regard Competency Enhancement was placed against administration of CAL Package. Both the positive and negative records floated in the 2X2 table for getting the matrix.
Table 3.6: Record of Competency Enhancement
Group | Pre – Test | Post – Test | ||
Achievers | Non-achievers | Achievers | Non-achievers | |
Experimental Group 1 | 13 | 37 | 31 | 19 |
Experimental Group 2 | 16 | 34 | 36 | 14 |
Experimental (Total) | 29 | 71 | 67 | 33 |
Control Group1 | 19 | 31 | 21 | 29 |
Control Group 2 | 13 | 37 | 18 | 32 |
32 | 68 | 39 | 61 | |
69 | 131 | 103 | 97 | |
Overall results were floated in forming 2X2 tables for different groups ( Table 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10)and then the data used for generating chi square values.
Table 3.7: Experimental Group: Pre-Test – Post Test Score Card
Group 1:
Before CAL Package Administered | After CAL Package Administered | Total | |
Competency Enhanced | 13 | 31 | 44 |
Competency Not Enhanced | 37 | 19 | 56 |
50 | 50 | 100 | |
Table 3.8: Experimental Group: Pre-Test – Post Test Score Card
Group 2:
Before CAL Package Administered | After CAL Package Administered | Total | |
Competency Enhanced | 16 | 36 | 52 |
Competency Not Enhanced | 34 | 14 | 48 |
50 | 50 | 100 | |
Table 3.9: Control Group: Pre-Test – Post Test Score Card
Group 1:
Before CAL Package Administered | After CAL Package Administered | Total | |
Competency Enhanced | 19 | 21 | 40 |
Competency Not Enhanced | 31 | 29 | 60 |
50 | 50 | 100 | |
Table 3.10: Control Group: Pre-Test – Post Test Score Card
Group 2:
Before CAL Package Administered | After CAL Package Administered | Total | |
Competency Enhanced | 13 | 18 | 31 |
Competency Not Enhanced | 37 | 32 | 69 |
50 | 50 | 100 | |
On all the four instances the value of n is 100, and there are two independent variables (Students received CAL Package and Level of Competency enhanced), each with two categories/levels. This is a 2 x 2 factorial design. The computational formula for a 2x2 chi-square is:
The letters a – d refer to specific cells within the 2 x 2 contingency table. The cells associated with each letter are listed in the table below. The value n is total frequency.
Plugging in the values associated with each cell in the example above into the 2 x 2 chi-square expression, we have calculated chi square values for each group(Table 3.11). Because there are two rows and two columns in the 2 x 2 design of the test for each group there is only 1 degree of freedom. If we set our alpha-level to α = .05, the critical chi-square is 3.841.
Table 3.5: Chi Square Value for Each Participant Group
Format of Calculating Chi Square Value … | |||||||||||
Before CAL Treatment | After CAL Treatment | ||||||||||
Achievers | Non Achievers | Achievers | Non Achievers | Chi Square | |||||||
A | B | C | D | ||||||||
Experimental 1 | Table 3.4 | 13 | 37 | 31 | 19 | 13.14935065 | |||||
Experimental 2 | Table 3.5 | 16 | 34 | 36 | 14 | 16.02564103 | |||||
Control 1 | Table 3.6 | 19 | 31 | 21 | 29 | 0.166666667 | |||||
Control 2 | Table 3.7 | 13 | 37 | 18 | 32 | 1.168770453 | |||||
Note : Degree of Freedom =
(Number of Rows-1)*(Number of Columns – 1)
The obtained chi-square value of Experimental Groups (13.14935065, 16.02564103) were more than the critical value for rejection of Null Hypothesis. Therefore Null Hypothesis ( H05 ) is rejected and the H5 hypothesis is retained; hence, we would conclude that CAL Package will influence the Competency Enhancement and Students participating in Computer Aided Learning will improve their status in examination and there levels of Critical Competencies will be enhanced. In case of Control Group 1 and 2 the chi square value (0.166666667, 1.168770453) calculated below the critical value for rejection of null hypothesis H06 hence the null hypothesis H06 was retained and the H6 was rejected. From both the angles the role of Computer Aided Learning in enhancing Critical Competencies were established.
Computer and Internet as educational aids
It has been recorded through process documentation that the use of computers and Internet in education increased the rate of interest amongst students and it continued to increase at an extraordinary speed. There were several advantages of using computers in the learning process:
· Computer provided individual attention to the learner at the console and provided timely replies.
· Computer acted as a tutor, it acted for assessing the learner’s reply, recording it, pointing out mistakes, giving explanations.
· Computer guided the learner towards the correct answer, and generally adapted the material to his or her performance.
· Computer offered privacy, which relieved learners from the fear of being ridiculed for their mistakes by their classmates.
· Computer allowed learners to work on their own, in their own time, and most importantly, at their own pace.
· Computer worked patiently and maintained capacity tirelessly to go over the same points for as long as is necessary.
· Computer found consistent, unbiased, and had no “off days”.
· Computer has recorded the test and tracked the progress of the learner.
Both qualitative and quantitative data placed in the analytical tables for examining different hypothesis and null hypothesis.
--------------------------
Chapter Five:
Major Findings and Suggestion
In much of educational practices, an important goal is for students to grasp principles and mechanisms that are central to understanding a wide range of related topics. In many cases at least some students experience difficulty with such ideas. This is a situation in which, because of their capacity for presenting information, animation, hyperlinks, and individualisation, interactive multimedia computer tutorials might serve a special function. In the usual higher education environment, where multimedia programs are most often introduced to the students in a particular course in the hope of solving a specific problem of course delivery or student difficulty, it is often impossible to arrange for adequate experimental controls, which may explain the lack of quantitative testing. In any case, questions of superiority in outcomes may not be the only, or even most useful, ones to ask, particularly when new materials are being developed. It may be more important to understand how different students actually use the materials, how the decisions they make in using them actually impact on the outcomes, and whether learning outcomes reach acceptable levels.
Findings
How is ICT used with the youngest pupils, age 6 – 8?
Among the youngest it is most common to use educational programs to practise basic skills such as arithmetic, reading and spelling. Teachers claim in the interviews that those are useful for drilling and a good way to provide diversity in learning approaches. They also stress that the computer programs are good for training attention and coordination of mind and body. We have cases where pupils are taught to use PowerPoint presentations to set up text and pictures and one example where 8 year-olds are independently collecting information and presenting it in the form of their own drawings and text on the web-site of the class.
In about half of the cases we see a learner-centered approach where the pupils move forward at their own pace while in other cases the teacher controls the pace with an overhead projector and pupils are supposed to follow her and all do the same thing at the same time. In those cases the risk is that many pupils are wasting their time waiting.
“Many pupils knew this program and had finished way ahead the others”
The affordance of using educational programs for practice is the interactivity which automatically gives the right answers and rewards and motivates pupils with multimodal representations which often combine play and learning. The risk of this affordance can though be that instead of thinking before they act, pupils use the mouse-click to do just anything and see if it works.
“Most of them were doing their best, counting on their fingers before they answered while some just put some numbers in some boxes”
Collaboration and access to diversity of learning materials, age 9-12
In classrooms of 9-12 year-olds ICT is most commonly used for accessing educational webs on the Internet. The webs are used as resource of information and pupils are supposed to find relevant information, and present them in the form of text and pictures, both their own drawings and/or photos they may find on the web, using word processors. A learner-centered approach is common setting. The teacher normally will start the lesson with some input on organization of the work, then the pupils work independently and in groups on projects using ICT among other tools. Here we often see teachers collaborating, for example the school library teacher or the IT teachers and the class teacher. Here is one description of ideal computer-supported collaborative learning of 9 year-olds:
“One group was browsing books in the library, finding pictures of whales; another group was sitting at a computer and one of the pupils was typing in handwritten text in a word processor. Another group was trying out what kind of text they should use, the text itself was ready but they had not decided the lay-out. A group was finishing the final look of their poster, printing out a picture of the kind of whale they had been working on. Two pupils were browsing a web on whales in the computer, checking if the information they had found in books were right and if there was something new to be found….. One was at a computer looking for pictures and another was drawing a whale on his poster.”
In this case the atmosphere is described as relaxed; pupils even sing while working and the librarian puts a music CD on and the pupils continue to sing along.
In half of the cases though, we see the teacher controlling the pace at which pupils work, expecting them to work all at the same task at the same time.
The risk of temptations when having access to the Internet
The affordance the use of ICT offers here is again access to more diverse learning material, presented in multimedia and hypertext form which are perhaps likely to motivate pupil interest. The risk of these affordances is that it is easy to duplicate texts, photos and even sound. Teachers will have to think carefully about how the pupils are supposed to first evaluate and then process the information they get. What are they supposed to do with the information in order to learn? In our cases we see many examples where pupils are supposed to find information on the web and reproduce their own text on what they learned in a word format. In a case like that the danger lies in the easy (and for them strategic) way pupils can choose – namely cut and paste.
Another risk that follows independent or collaborative work of pupils where they can access the Internet from a computer in the classroom is the easy access to all kind of temptations on the Internet. Here the gender differences become striking in our cases.
“Most of the boys are not doing what they are supposed to do, but are on the msn, on the Internet looking at games or looking at pictures on the schools’ web-site. […] They write two lines and then they go to the Internet to fetch pictures. They enlarge one of the pictures so that it covers the entire page. […] They play with fonts and colors and duplicate the pictures.
Most of the boys stop working on the project when the teacher is not observing them. The girls work conscientiously on what they are supposed to do.”
In cases like this the teacher has to deal with new forms of discipline or control and this is something teachers have to deal with seriously. The traditional way of controlling might not work in these conditions. What kinds of learning tasks are likely to interest pupils, both boys and girls, enough to keep them working on tasks that are self-rewarding? The school might have to reconsider the stress on text for processing knowledge and widen their text concept to embrace multimodal representations.
ICT supporting and extending traditional teaching methods
Many have predicted that ICT will transform the pedagogical settings in schools. It is therefore interesting to point out that two of our cases show what seems to be effective and powerful use of ICT-tools in traditional school settings. In one of the cases we have an art teacher using a PC and a projector to access an educational web on art with 6 year-old boys. She is standing in front of the class, presenting the material empowered by multimedia web which no doubt evokes interest. She uses the web material to open a dialogue about forms and colors and they can suggest actions that show changes on the screen. Although the teacher is in control the boys are interacting with the program and actively participating in what happens. At the end they see a drawing modeled on the screen and then they make a drawing on a paper for themselves. The risk that lies in the affordances of that tool is that the teacher controls too much and does not engage the pupils in discussion and activity.
Another case is an English teacher who does not have enough access to the computers in the school to be able to use it effectively.
“Like I use the computer, I am in connection with the pupils on the Internet, e.g. those who need extra assignments I would send them web-pages or interactive assignments. Then they are supposed to do the assignments at home and send to me by e-mail. In fact they send me all their assignments, essays and stuff by e-mail. They work at home, send me their solutions by e-mail, then I correct using track changes in word and then I send it back to them by e-mail. That is the way I use the computer in my teaching. Those who do not have access to Internet at home can use the computers at the library. It is a good thing not to have to deal with all the papers flowing around any more.”
In this case the English teacher is in a privileged situation because there is so much diversity of material to be found on the Internet that can ease the job of the teacher as just as it can be very useful for the pupils. What is new in this setting is the way the teacher uses the communication-tools afforded on the Internet to contact her pupils. The risk could be in limiting personal contact when the sphere of communication between teachers and pupils is no longer the public sphere of the classroom.
Innovative use of ICT in schools
If we look at the criteria for innovations presented in the introduction – how do these cases live up to them?
In many cases we see that ICT is used to enhance collaboration among students.
Access to the Internet is used for information searches and the computer for information processing but we might need more sophisticated methods and consider what kind of learning tasks are likely to bring about learning.
In some cases we see new kinds of collaboration between students emerging and collaboration of teachers seems to be a good way to organize learning with ICT.
When it comes to development of collaboration projects outside the schools we do not in this study have any example of that, but some years ago projects built on communication between kids all around the world were quite common e.g. the Kid-link project.
We have one example in our study where the emphasis is entirely on creative products. This is a music teacher using a computer program to teach pupils to compose their own music. In the other cases the use of creative programs or the use of computer programs for creative purposes seems to be under-utilized. The results of the analytical study concluded that
“ICT was mainly used in traditional settings and the diversity of programs used was below the average of the countries taking part. Traditional programs like word processors were more commonly used than use of e.g. creative programs for artistic work and virtual simulations.
Lack of access to computers as well as lack of IT skills with teachers was hindrance to use”
In the interviews with the teachers in our cases it is clearly stated that lack of access to computers in the schools is still the biggest hindrance. The teachers express interest in using ICT more and in a more diverse way e.g. as a creative tool. But the problem is not only insufficient access to computers but also that the computers are too old or not good enough to manage the creative music and picture-processing programs.
To pursue these issues, in this paper we propose a schematic representation of the relationships between major elements that may be of importance as students carry out the learning tasks involved in a particular multimedia tutorial. We discuss not only issues related directly to the computer environment, but also a number of associated aspects of learning. These include: what has to be learnt; aspects of the design of the tutorial setting (the tasks to be undertaken, the feedback provided, and the number of students collaborating at each computer); learner characteristics (the course being undertaken and self perceptions of approaches to learning, efficacy, and prior knowledge); the learners' thoughts about and decisions during the tutorial tasks; and success in a delayed transfer task. We then examine these various factors in an empirical study of a particular tutorial and use this case to suggest how the factors and their relationships might be taken into account in tutorial design, evaluation, and research.
General observations of the process noted down below:
1. The relationships explored in the study may be discussed generally in terms of the arrowed segments in Figure 1, which represent unidirectional influences. What has to be learnt, the overall goals of the tutorial, refers to the durable learning outcomes desired for the students. As well as the pedagogical logic of the discipline, these goals may also take into account learners' characteristics, such as the type and level of course they are pursuing and assumed prior knowledge. In some cases, students' own perceptions of learning needs may influence curriculum goals. The goals inevitably influence the design of the computer tutorial and its learning tasks, together with the ways students are asked to use it, for example by working collaboratively. The design may also take into account the learner characteristics just mentioned and difficulties experienced by past students. The tutorial design may be seen as a special case of curriculum development that can make use of computer capabilities for offering learner choice and control through animation, tracking, feedback, review, and variable access. Both the tutorial design and the learner characteristics are, in turn, posited to affect directly the learning activities of the students, including their strategies, decisions, and performance on the tasks. Students' learning activities may be influenced also by what has to be learnt, that is by the overall goals of the program, but only if it is clear to them what these goals are. While what has to be learnt should ideally decide the choice of transfer tasks, the tutorial tasks may affect their difficulty, which depends in part on the degree to which the students perceive the original and transfer tasks to be similar. Both the students' characteristics, e.g., prior knowledge, and their learning activities during the tutorial itself would be expected to affect their actual performance on the transfer tasks.
2. The interactive tutorial utilised three instructional principles: high self involvement in constructing the cell, alone or in small groups, feedback from the consequences of each decision made by the users (Butler and Winne, 1995), printed hints specific to that decision,
3. and animation in showing the feedback (Rieber, 1996). Students were to work in small groups on the tutorial and a tutor or demonstrator would be available to students. The particular focus for the study was the first part of the tutorial, where students are introduced to the stomach, then to the parietal cell where acid is secreted, and then to the learning task. The screen reproduced in Figure 2 shows the task context. Groups are required to place the four ion transporters, shown on the left, in the correct location, on the cell diagram and facing the correct direction. There are 49 combinations of the placement of the four transporters, each combination recorded in a computer generated audit trail for each students' session as a 'routine.' For example, when Routine-A is recorded this means that the users have placed only the hydrogen-potassium ion exchanger, and done so correctly on the apical membrane (top in the diagram) with hydrogen ions moving out of the cell. Students may place one, two, three, or four transporters at a time although the program requires them to correctly place the hydrogen-potassium ion exchanger either alone or with others before proceeding further. After each routine, the users are prompted to start an animation that shows the pathways the ions would take with that placement and indicates qualitatively changes in ion concentrations. They are also shown a feedback screen that summarises the state of the cell so far and prompts on the problems yet to be solved. In this way students build up the complete model of the cell and are shown an animation of the theoretically correct pathways. For the present study, the one available set of data on a transfer task was an examination question taken six weeks later. The question was intended to examine students' knowledge of the principles and mechanisms involved in the action of this class of cells by asking students to construct a hypothetical cell that differed from the original in specifics, but which had a similar secreting function.
4. The questions for this study are concerned with the match between the course designers views of what has to be learnt, the tasks set in the tutorial, and the examination question, considered as a transfer task
5. In considering learners and learning, the personal learner characteristics studied were concerned with students' approaches to learning (e.g., Biggs, 1987), their disposition to intentional learning (Bereiter, 1990, Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1989), and their feelings of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1993) in studying Physiology. Biggs's (1987) analysis of approaches to learning posits three learning styles - surface, deep, and achieving. A surface approach is indicated, for example, by a focus on the words and phrases of a passage rather than the meaning, while a deep approach focuses on meaning and relationships. An achieving approach is indicated by the degree of organisation a student brings to a task, and may be linked to either surface or deep approaches. According to Bereiter (1990), intentional learning is posited to arise from goals of personal knowledge construction, and goals for solving problems of comprehension, and overcoming obstacles to learning, rather than simply goals of task completion and assessment (Dweck and Leggett, 1988; Evans, 1994). There appears to be considerable similarity between the ideas of deep approach and intentional learning, which may both be assessed as self-perceptions. Another important type of self-belief is self-efficacy, the belief that one can cope well in a particular situation, for example tasks requiring computer use. According to Bandura (1993), self efficacy is also related, although not perfectly, to a person's actual ability, and prior knowledge and skill are therefore likely to be important correlates of success on both the original and the transfer task, both because the students can make direct use of them and because of the feelings of self efficacy they confer.
6. Learning activities refer to the overt and covert actions students actually take. Overt actions include the decisions taken by the students as they progress towards a solution of the cell construction, in this case made observable by use of a computer generated audit trail. Covert actions include strategy formation, reflection, the degree of challenge, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for the task students experienced, and the amount of effort that they thought was required to complete the tutorial. Student strategies may include guessing or discovering by active trial and error the pathways that describe the mechanism of gastric acid secretion but not necessarily discovering or using the underlying principles that explain these pathways.
7.
Computer Aided Learning as Visualized…
During a workshop of teachers at Wardha some facts reflected were as follows:
1. Students rarely receive any guidance at home.
2. Lack of proper assistance and even positive support is a fact.
3. Guardians rely totally on tuitions and course notes that purchased from market.
4. Students prefer preparing notes for examination only. By that process the whole syllabus and the content areas prescribed for the same remain untouched.
5. Lack of confidence in achieving anything plays a major role in loss of intellect.
6. Fear is also a big regulating factor in this case where children learn a lot and by another circle they forget a lot. Learning often turns a superficial effort without the involvement of all the senses.
7. After examination students never try to go through learned parts and since the activities of higher class demands involvement of some competence from lower class, a continuous chain of competency non-achievement occurs throughout the learning cycle.
3. Value of Chi Square
a. “Computer Aided Learning Package will minimize the instructional gap and thereby influence the competency achievements.”
b. Students achieve higher score with the help of computer, their knowledge base enhance speedily while interacting with the machine.
c. Critical competencies enhances with the help of computer aided learning packages.
d. Activity oriented curriculum transaction gained much more attention of students, and thereby competency achievements duly enhanced.
e. Teachers and learners exposed to other areas of Competencies.
f. Computer exposed a student to different learning environment at a moment. Choice factors worked prominently supplemented with a guided force available within the laboratory allowing a learner to explore different subject areas.
g. Programmed instructions facilitated the pace of learning of a student.
h. Computer supplemented Content Areas of study, books, guides, instructional programmes and many other learning and teaching activities.
i. Computer assisted planning of lesson and teaching proved helpful a lot in covering the span of competency based teaching and learning practices.
j. Growth of Primary Reinforcement influenced greatly by the process of Computer Aided Learning.
list of '21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in near future.
1. Desks
The 21st century does not fit neatly into rows. Neither should your students. Allow the network-based concepts of flow, collaboration, and dynamism help you rearrange your room for authentic 21st century learning.
2. Language Labs
Foreign language acquisition is only a smartphone away. Get rid of those clunky desktops and monitors and do something fun with that room.
3. Computers
Ok, so this is a trick answer. More precisely this one should read: 'Our concept of what a computer is'. Because computing is going mobile and over the next decade we're going to see the full fury of individualized computing via handhelds come to the fore. Can't wait.
4. Homework
The 21st century is a 24/7 environment. And the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear. And despite whatever Secretary Duncan might say, we don't need kids to 'go to school' more; we need them to 'learn' more. And this will be done 24/7 and on the move (see #3).
5. The Role of Standardized Tests in College Admissions
The AP Exam is on its last legs. The SAT isn't far behind. Over the next ten years, we will see Digital Portfolios replace test scores as the #1 factor in college admissions.
6. Differentiated Instruction as the Sign of a Distinguished Teacher
The 21st century is customizable. In ten years, the teacher who hasn't yet figured out how to use tech to personalize learning will be the teacher out of a job. Differentiation won't make you 'distinguished'; it'll just be a natural part of your work.
7. Fear of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the greatest democratizing force in the world right now. If you are afraid of letting your students peruse it, it's time you get over yourself.
8. Paperbacks
Books were nice. In ten years' time, all reading will be via digital means. And yes, I know, you like the 'feel' of paper. Well, in ten years' time you'll hardly tell the difference as 'paper' itself becomes digitized.
9. Attendance Offices
Bio scans. 'Nuff said.
10. Lockers.
A coat-check, maybe.
11. IT Departments
Ok, so this is another trick answer. More subtly put: IT Departments as we currently know them. Cloud computing and a decade's worth of increased wifi and satellite access will make some of the traditional roles of IT -- software, security, and connectivity -- a thing of the past. What will IT professionals do with all their free time? Innovate. Look to tech departments to instigate real change in the function of schools over the next twenty years.
12.
13. Organization of Educational Services by Grade
Education over the next ten years will become more individualized, leaving the bulk of grade-based learning in the past. Students will form peer groups by interest and these interest groups will petition for specialized learning. The structure of K-12 will be fundamentally altered.
14.
This is actually one that could occur over the next five years. Education Schools have to realize that if they are to remain relevant, they are going to have to demand that 21st century tech integration be modelled by the very professors who are supposed to be preparing our teachers.
15. Paid/Outsourced Professional Development
No one knows your school as well as you. With the power of a PLN in their backpockets, teachers will rise up to replace peripatetic professional development gurus as the source of schoolwide prof dev programs. This is already happening.
16. Current Curricular Norms
There is no reason why every student needs to take however many credits in the same course of study as every other student. The root of curricular change will be the shift in middle schools to a role as foundational content providers and high schools as places for specialized learning.
17. Parent-Teacher Conference Night
Ongoing parent-teacher relations in virtual reality will make parent-teacher conference nights seem quaint. Over the next ten years, parents and teachers will become closer than ever as a result of virtual communication opportunities. And parents will drive schools to become ever more tech integrated.
18. Typical Cafeteria Food
Nutrition information + handhelds + cost comparison = the end of $3.00 bowls of microwaved mac and cheese. At least, I so hope so.
19. Outsourced Graphic Design and Webmastering
You need a website/brochure/promo/etc.? Well, for goodness sake just let your kids do it. By the end of the decade -- in the best of schools -- they will be.
20. High School Algebra I
Within the decade, it will either become the norm to teach this course in middle school or we'll have finally woken up to the fact that there's no reason to give algebra weight over statistics and IT in high school for non-math majors (and they will have all taken it in middle school anyway).
21. Paper
In ten years' time, schools will decrease their paper consumption by no less than 90%. And the printing industry and the copier industry and the paper industry itself will either adjust or perish.
Conclusion and Recommendations
It can be concluded that the purpose of the research activity appeared with a positive result by examining the effectiveness of Computer Aided Learning Packages in enhancing Critical Competencies of participant learners. Benefits and limitations of Computer Aided Learning were presented separately. For availing benefits we shall remain at our standpoint for regulating some of the demerits by any suitable instructional strategies. First risk factor of the research was early exposure of teenagers on internet, chatting and abuse of conferencing. It can be avoided by implying parental care software for screening the content and switching the system off after any kind of recorded abuse.
Teachers can involve themselves in collaborative learning and can simultaneously observe the progress of students using CAL CAL
Administering CAL
