London Calling!

A Synthesis Essay on Some of My New Realities

Sue Koski

For a change of scenery and a cup of my favorite coffee, I often head to the local internet café to work online.  As I headed into one last week, the phone rang – it was my son Mike, who is in London for a MSU study abroad program this summer.  London calling!  I quickly told him to hang up and I would ‘Skype' him.  I was in his world for about 10 minutes, hearing and listening to his experiences in London, living vicariously through this wonderful educational opportunity abroad.  When the call ended and I returned to my surroundings, I noticed another woman who was also on Skype.  She wasn’t speaking out loud -- she was using sign language.  I stopped in my tracks, and had to catch my breath, as I realized the full impact of what I was seeing.  My world has never included someone who is deaf or mute, and I stopped to think more about how educational technology could benefit those with hearing or speaking impairments.  At this moment I was seeing firsthand the far reaching effects of using technology to communicate and learn; an ‘open door’ where there might not have been before, providing new perspectives and an added dimension to my understanding of how technology may be used to facilitate learning.



The Collaborative Nature of the Internet Provides a Platform that can be used to Support Learning.​

I couldn’t help but continue to glance at what she was doing, but didn’t want to distract her from her conversation.  The use of Skype as a technology to help communicate was now part of her reality.  Something that we might take for granted was now feasible for those who may have been left out because of their physical challenges.  That thought caused me to think further about my new reality, or, how am I using technology now to support learning that I wasn’t aware of before?

 
Prior to 2009, Skype and Web 2.0 technologies were not a significant part of my world.  I had always thought of myself as one of the leaders in using technology – but I was more focused on helping others learn new software or how to set up a web site, or helping teachers and administrators create and use databases for their benefit.  Although I was often consulted on how to integrate technology into a curriculum, I discovered that I needed to expand my horizons.  At first glance, the use of Web 2.0 technologies seemed like a fad, with limited educational benefit.  While I was aware that these new technologies were still coming into their own, the courses in the technology certification program (CEP 810, 811, and 812) provided the opportunities for exploration, and to help me understand when, why, and how these tools may be used in teaching and learning.  During these courses, we had an opportunity to ‘test drive’ and experience the benefits of online learning, exchange ideas with other professionals as online learners, and develop learning modules of our own.  Skype, wikis, podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds and various applications on the Internet were our tools, bringing in the outside world, allowing for collaboration, enhanced communication and learning, and increasing our knowledge of how deliver similar instruction.  In short, the collaborative nature of the Internet provides us a platform that can be used to support learning. 



Learning theories presented in The Psychology of Learning in School and Other settings (CEP 800) support the use of technology in education, and learning on the Internet as an educational setting.  In this course, content was presented from a historical perspective, evaluating and applying early philosophers' theories about how people learn and what learners bring to the educational setting.  Dewey's theories would support a learning environment that encourages online research, and scenario-based instruction that allows one to apply what they know.  I would suggest that Skinner and the behaviorists would approve of the use of serious online games that use positive reinforcement to build confidence and a desire to learn more. Piaget might acknowledge that through the use of web sites, blogs, videos, wikis, and discussion forums, one would be able to use higher order thinking skills to analyze others' perspectives, think more abstractly, theorize and hypothesize, and predict and evaluate outcomes.

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While the platform and the tools for learning are easily accessible on the Internet, one must have the drive to use them.  For one who takes the initiative, the opportunities are seemingly endless.  The 'student' is at the center of the learning process, and at the center of taking responsibility for learning. If the Internet is considered a comfortable, familiar, and engaging setting for learning, then the learner is more likely to be successful in his learning efforts on the Web.  Our role, then, as educators, can place us as 'guides on the side', providing a vision and direction for a student-centered and student-directed learning experience.

         

Responsible Use of the Internet must Continue to be Addressed


I consider myself fortunate to have been around the Internet since its infancy.  At that time, its roots were just forming.  A blinking cursor beckoned one to enter a command, to give it a go, to see where it could take you if you knew how to unlock its potential.  FTP protocol was the norm, and seemingly the only way to access its growing database.  But its interface was not user friendly, and seemed to cry for attention, waiting for someone to give it a façade and a personality, and was far different from today’s browser-driven Web. 

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It may be an understatement to say that the 'face' of the Internet has changed as dramatically as the demographics of its users.  Virtually anyone who can use a mouse can use the Internet.  While the Internet provides a learning platform and many educational benefits, it also brings some serious online safety concerns.  As a parent and as an educator, I have seen too many incidents of cyberbullying.  Bullying has been around for thousands of years, but cyberbullying is a relatively recent phenomenon and, unfortunately, part of our new online reality.

In CEP 822, Approaches to Educational Research, I researched this phenomenon in the form of a literature review.  The more I researched, the more I wanted to dig for more information.  My goal was to examine the research to help determine if school policies and educational practices are doing enough to help prevent cyberbullying.  According to the National Crime Prevention Center, 43% of teenagers were victims of cyberbullying in 2009.  That’s almost half of our nation’s middle school and high school students!  Moreover, kids who are cyberbullied are almost twice more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.  The effects of cyberbullying are becoming increasingly alarming and cannot be downplayed.  During the past several years, I have coordinated several Internet Safety workshops in the local schools, not only to raise awareness, but to encourage and take part in multidimensional approaches to teaching digital citizenship and responsible use of the Internet.

 

Technology Leadership through TPACK and a Shared Vision



Enrolling in CEP 815, Technology and Leadership, this past spring was quite timely for me.  The course provided insight, guidance, and practical advice for me, both as a leader and as a developer of blended learning solutions for a Fortune 500 company.  I have started to put the concept of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) into practice in my workplace, helping instructional designers and subject matter experts make decisions about which technologies are appropriate for the lessons that they develop, and how those technologies impact the way that teaching and learning takes place.

We are fortunate to have many technological tools at our disposal (including a sophisticated learning content management system); and the expectation is that we are the experts at determining which tools suit the purpose.  We start our course development process with an analysis of what is to be learned, and create tangible, observable, and measurable learning objectives.  Using those objectives, we develop instructional strategies (modeling, demonstrating, using analogies, explaining, discovery, diagnostic troubleshooting, etc.) and discuss how the learner might best learn the content.  Our list of objectives is then grouped by the media and delivery method best used, understanding that multiple media may be used to teach new concepts and reinforce existing knowledge and skills. Ensuring that our course developers are equipped with TPACK, I believe we can improve the quality of our courses.

As I learn and grow in my career, I am more aware of the implications of my actions as they represent and form my leadership style.  A team of instructional designers look to me for support, validation, and confirmation of their ideas and suggestions.  Moreover, they look for insight, creativity, and innovation.  As I work toward continued inspiration and maintaining their confidence in me as a leader, I recall the advice from To Lead, Create a Shared Vision, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (2009):



Buddy Blanton, a principal program manager at Rockwell Collins, learned this lesson firsthand. Blanton asked his team for some feedback on his leadership, and the vast majority of it was positive and supportive. But he got some strong advice from his team about how he could be more effective in inspiring a shared vision. One of his direct reports said to him, “You would benefit by helping us, as a team, to understand how you got to your vision. We want to walk with you while you create the goals and vision so we all get to the end vision together.”  As counterintuitive as it might seem, then, the best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present. The only visions that take hold are shared visions—and you will create them only when you listen very, very closely to others, appreciate their hopes, and attend to their needs. The best leaders are able to bring their people into the future because they engage in the oldest form of research: They observe the human condition.



In Summary​

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​When electricity was discovered, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison never dreamed that it would have as many and diverse applications as it does today.  Similarly, the potential of using computer technology and the Internet to facilitate teaching and learning continues to unfold, and is limited only by our imaginations and our needs.  My work in this MAET program has helped me see the Internet as a sociotechnical entity, as a platform for learning, and as one source of connection with others to help lead them into the future.