Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In Chapter 21 “Windows into Teaching and Learning Through Social
Annotation Practices,” the author argues that applications of the HyLighter
online social annotation system can benefit both the students and the profes-
sor. Applications in this study included collaboratively analyzing documents,
creating concept maps, and developing lesson plans. The author grounded her
study using Vygotsky's social constructivism, Piaget's cognitive constructivism,
and Dede's distributed learning. Some of the benefits are facilitation of com-
prehension, memory, and transfer as students learn from and with each other
and the instructor. The author claims that social annotation practices promote
student and teacher metacognition. The results of the study, according to the
author, are that social annotation opened windows into learners' own and each
other's thinking and learners' structured interaction with the material and cre-
ated engagement with the material. The author recommends further research
on how social annotation experiences affect preservice and in-service teachers'
self-efficacy.
Chapter 22 deals with one-to-one technology in classrooms. This equipment
according to the authors provide ability for teachers to manage each child, individ-
ual group, and whole class learning activities. The authors argue that this technology
solves the problem of “management of the technology-enabled classroom, lack of
support for collaborative and whole class working, design of lessons that switch
easily between activities, and difficulty in re-use of lesson components” in tradi-
tional classrooms. SceDer system is used as one-to-one technologies in this chapter.
SceDer helps teachers to design lessons and a delivery of the lesson in classrooms.
The authors look at response systems such as EduClick, ClassTalk, and Clicker,
which have been shown to be effective in supporting children to learn mathe-
matics in classrooms (Roschelle, Rafanan, Estrella, Nussbaum, & Claro, 2009).
The result of the study shows that SceDer has “clear potential for orchestrating
learning in one-to-one classrooms” and particularly “efficient in modeling inter-
actions to promote collaboration in one-to-one classroom.” The authors further
agree that a well-structured lesson design is an important component for SceDer to
work well.
The focus of the chapter “Designing Online Learning Environment for
Professional Development” is how teachers construct professional knowledge using
Internet-mediated networks. The chapter is based on online courses that the author
has designed and taught to science teachers. The participants in the study are teach-
ers with at least 2 years of experience. The study is grounded in the assumptions
about adult learners from Malcolm Knowles' (1980) work which identified key
characteristics of adult learners as (1) adult learners are autonomous, self-directed,
and strongly goal oriented; (2) adult learners have accumulated a foundation of life
experiences and knowledge and have a need to connect learning to this knowledge
and experience base; and (3) adult learners are practical and have a strong pref-
erence for learning that is most useful to their work. The author concludes that
Internet-mediated social networks provide an avenue for connecting geographically
dispersed professionals. Moreover, the author argues that the technology has the
potential to encourage critical reflection and reconstruction of teachers' repertoires
