Matt’s notes
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Welcome to our fourth episode within ten days! This pace is surely good for creating… continuity… as far as delivery and process! Which are exactly the kind of abstract, borderline jargon that I would like to think I eschew… work in progress wins the day, I daresay!
Doug sent his notes over a couple of days ago… and Matt tried looking up “barrier” in Secwepemctsin through FirstVoices.ca… and came up empty… thinking further… for metaphors… he tried looking up “rock”… and had rather more success… including Coyote Rock… referring to a very specific geographical feature… of major cultural significance to the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc… some accounts of this appear in local tourist literature… There is also a strong resemblance here, as noted by Doug… between the vigilant Coyote Rock… and the Coyote statue looking vigilantly across the TRU campus and the surrounding environs from the top of the the House of Learning building…
Coyote, and his significance to the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc, are discussed in depth and at length in Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws (Ignace & Ignace, 2017). Again, this adds to Matt’s understanding of the land, culture, and people of where he is an uninvited guest…
Doug’s notes
Using tech can cause barriers to learning.
Though there have been large investments made to integrate technology into K12 classrooms to equip students with the skills needed to prepare for college and a career, the practical use of this investment has not been impressive
Delgado, A. J., Wardlow, L., McKnight, K., & O’Malley, K. (2015). Educational technology: A review of the integration, resources, and effectiveness of technology in k-12 classrooms. Journal of Information Technology Education, 14.
A total of 123 technology integration barriers were identified in previous empirical studies. Hew and Brush systematical investigated the previous literature and concluded that there were 6 main categories that limited and hindered technology integration: (a) resources, (b) knowledge and skills, (c) institution, (d) attitudes and beliefs, (e) assessment, and (f) subject culture.
Hew, K. F., & Brush, T. (2007). Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: Current knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55(3), 223-252.
Further barriers of education technology
Cost implications; technology is disruptive; entrenched organisational culture focussing on traditional learning; technology can disrupt classes when opened in class; availability and access to information can lead to increased cheating and plagiarism (The Economist, 2008).
Dawes (Bingimlas, 2009) holds the view that change, might not be easily accepted-there will be some degree of resistance
Challenges around the those who have access to this technology an those who don’t (digital divide) ; differing levels of computer literacy levels; less involved due to decreased teacher-learner and learner- learner interaction in the learning experience continue to persist (Koller, Harvey & Magnotta, unknown). Barriers of technology include lack of motivation due to poor social skills, poor computer skills and a lack of availability of access; a lack of time and class time and a lack of motivation and social awareness and school culture (Catherall, 2005).
Bingimlas (2009, 1) said that the major barriers of education technology include a lack of confidence, competence and a lack of access to resources.
Misalignment between teachers and administrators creates difficulty for teachers (Park, Lee, Blackman and Belland (2005)).
Joseph, J. (2012). The barriers of using education technology for optimizing the educational experience of learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 64, 427-436.
Teachers are constantly challenged to prepare graduates who can effectively use technology as a learning tool, yet the teachers themselves are new to various technology uses and have no personal experiences as students themselves in technology-infused classrooms (Jacobsen et al. 2002).
Various studies (Beggs, 2000; Newhouse, 1999) reported lack of time, lack of equipment, and lack of training as barriers to technology integration. Lack of time is also a big barrier: teachers need time to learn how to use the hardware and software, time to plan, and time to collabo- rate with other teachers. Teachers also need time to develop and incorporate technology into their curriculum. Some teachers are unable to make appropriate use of technology in their own classrooms, while others are unwilling to try because of anxiety, lack of interest, or lack of motivation (Duhaney, 2001). Most teachers cite ineffective technological leadership in their institutions as a big challenge to computer technology integration (Duhaney, 2001; Krueger et al. 2000). Cuban (2001) reported lack of time and poor technical support as barriers to technology integration at technology-rich Stanford University. Effective teacher need amble time to effectively organize and prepare instructional materials (Stronge, 2002).
In summary, major barriers identified by teachers in the use and integration of computer technology in the class- room include: lack of computers and relevant quality software, lack of time, lack of funding, technical problems, teacher attitude toward computers, lack of teacher confidence, resistance to change, poor administrative support, poor training, and a lack of vision to integrate technology into the curriculum. However, the real challenges of integrating information technology into the classroom depend on the behavior, investments, and commitment of individual teachers.
Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., & Wachira, P. (2008). Computer technology integration and student learning: Barriers and promise. Journal of science education and technology, 17(6), 560-565.
*Doug adds: This article has articles from both of my advisors, my Masters Supervisor and my PhD supervisor. I have also published many book chapters with the lead author of this paper. I did not know this synchronicity existed before I started doing some work for this article.
Significant barriers about Handheld Computers (PDAs) in school include:
- Cost,
- Lack of support and training,
- Printing and battery problems (the necessity to charge battery every day),
- Small screens,
- Lack of print-out capability,
- The time it takes to input data and text,
- Costs of software.
And, further, to technical difficulties with the devices used in M-learning by handheld computers, such as: synchronizing the device with a PC, or laptop, navigation and file storage, short battery life, paucity of appropriate mobile software, lack of teacher confidence and lack of training impacted negatively on their teaching, together with uncertainty as to how the devices might best be used to enhance teaching and learning. Furthermore, Krämer (2005) presented some challenges of mobile learning that need to be addressed, such as, the small screens of mobile devices limits the type and amount of information that can be displayed and made it difficult to read the details. Lack of input devices such as mouse, keyboard or stylus pen slow down text input speed and reduce the device’s usability with respect to the interaction between man and machine. The lack of suitable multimedia player and viewer software (flash, Java, video, audio, etc.) on mobile devices disallows the use of animations and moving graphics. Finally, limited storage capacity and intermittent or slow connection rates since requires downloading, uploading, caching of educational materials.
Cherian and Williams (2008) indicated a few barriers to the distribution of course content in an M-Learning environment; content hosting and network infrastructures exist. Also, Chanchary and Islam (2009) clarified that the factors of M-learning environment can be treated as technical challenges, like, memory size of mobile devices is crucial while downloading learning materials. Battery life: shorter battery life of handheld devices can create negative stimuli among learners. Smaller screen size and compact buttons (keys) can discomfort learners. Interfaces of mobile phones are reduced to the essentials. Furthermore, learning materials could be in various file formats and not all formats are supported by the processing platforms of mobile devices.
In 2011 Martin Addison listed other three barriers related the learning content that is deliver by using of mobile devices in learning and that were preventing organizations from adopting M-learning, the first barrier is the lacked engaging educational content since the existing platforms focused on text-based content and had a very narrow breadth of subject areas related training, the second is too long content, which was designed for e- learning not for a learner on-the-move, the third barrier is that the content was designed for a large screen devices not designed for a small screen devices, e.g. learning navigation designed for a laptop screen was not easy to use on a touchscreen device (Addison, 2011). And also, Saleem (2011) classified the challenges hinder the implementation of mobile learning to three categories, technological, educational and general challenges, first, technological challenges: small screen and small keyboards used in mobile learning applications, short battery virtual age, and low storage capacity, second, educational challenges: designing and preparing educational mobile curricula, digital and technological gap between students in using mobile learning applications, and cheating in M-learning process, finally, general challenges: high cost, needs an infrastructure, wireless networks and modern mobile learning devices, and some security breaches for wireless and wire networks.
Al-Said, K. M. (2015). Students’ Perceptions of Edmodo and Mobile Learning and Their Real Barriers towards Them. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 14(2), 167-180.
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