E-learning: o que é? como se (re)produz? - Parte 1

Não existe o melhor jeito de abrir um blogue, porque se a gente espera a inspiração bater na porta, o melhor conteúdo, o mais abrangente, o mais contundente, a gente deixa pra (licença poética) depois, e esse depois pode chegar quando o momento não o permite.

Resolvi, então, abrir o blogue com algo que tenho feito ultimamente. Tanto a minha troca parcial de objetivos, quanto a pandemia, fizeram-me ir à busca de um certo tipo profissionalização. Como muitos dos meus colegas educares sabem, se o mundo não para, nem mesmo diante de uma pandemia, ensinar e aprender também não o devem. Foi assim que eu fui parar no Coursera, diante do curso E-Learning Ecologies: Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age, organizado e promovido por acadêmicos da Universidade de Illinois.

O objetivo do curso é apresentar e discutir as affordances (provisões ou recursos disponíveis) possibilitadas pelo uso das novas tecnologias no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Bill Cope e Mary Kalantzis, os professores dos módulos, levam-nos a refletir sobre 7 (sete) affordances, e a cada atividade, nós temos a possibilidade de aprender sobre uma série de conceitos da Educação que se entrelaçam com cada uma delas. Claro, se você quer saber mais sobre essa multiplicidade de conceitos, autonomia e persistência são imprescindíveis.

Para que vocês sintam um gostinho do curso e de seu conteúdo, vou compartilhar com vocês os trabalhos (essays) produzidos por mim. Vou fazer disso uma pequena série, talvez com duas ou três publicações, onde eu apresento alguns conceitos ligados às affordances. Para aqueles que não leem em inglês, eu peço desculpa e licença, já que me falta tempo para traduzir; e para os bilingues\professores de inglês por aí, segurem a vontade de criticar meu domínio da língua, 'tá certo? Bora lá.

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1) Primeira affordance: Ubiquitous learning (aprendizagem onipresente)

Is covid-19 a positive driver for ubiquitous learning? a forced virtual schooling to a perhaps blended learning environment

The social scenery of sanitary crisis has increased the importance of technology in education. This is a truth worldwide. However, while I must call attention to the unequal capacity of educational systems (of countries and cities) to insert different technologies into the teaching-learning environments and processes, I cannot hide the fact that some schools in the developing world (especially in the private sector) have altered their praxis to keep their students learning (and also to keep getting paid). This contextualization may seem out of place, but, if it was the reason for me to update my teaching methods (by recurring to this course, for instance), I am sure it is a transformative period for a variety of teachers and students, at least in what it comes to our way of comprehending\understanding\practicing our "methods". I say that because it is a moment that directs our attention towards a new model for formal education, which Kalantzis and Cope refer to as ubiquitous learning. As they have been teaching us in the first module, as well as what they have written in their article entitled "Learning and New Media", this concept, or as they attribute to it, this affordance refers to the ease of access to content. It offers us a new way of understanding how learning can be understood outside the classroom. However, not as informal education, not entirely at least; but as new modus operandi of learning in the formal education práxis.

With that all in mind, it was by thinking about the situation with which I am living as a teacher (and student) that I ended up embracing a couple of the concepts included in ubiquitous learning. And to get there, I would like to take you on a small journey of my life, that will offer you a more understanding of the context of my thinking and somewhat explain the logic around it.

By working as a teacher in a private school, I had to adapt my teaching práxis (from the teaching methods to assessment mechanisms and instruments) to the model of a virtual school; which is an interesting concept comprised in the ubiquitous learning affordance, since it expresses almost exactly what my school became - even if only for a certain period. If we are to look upon the article written by Barbour and Reeves (2009), entitled "The reality of virtual schools: A review of the literature", we will see that this specific concept contemplates the online and distant schooling activities, works, and assessments done and taken by the students. A similar description is also found in Clark and Berge (2003) and Ferdig et al. (2009). But what their concepts all have in is that they are built to describe the schooling done virtually. It means that "virtual schools" can be understood as courses that are applied and taken online, be the whole schooling of a high school student, be it a specific course of universities' curriculum. 

I must say that the concept of "virtual school" words exactly what students and school staff from all over the world have been experiencing currently - in different degrees. So my experience may not be that different from most of you lectors, but I think it is a great example of the hardships and achievements of forced virtual schooling. Having said that, the school I work at was forced to change its praxis. Almost everything became\acquired an online feature. A series of new technological devices\activities were implemented to replace what we had going on in the physically-present classrooms - or best, at school. Classes became online, students and their parents were almost only able to contact school staff remotely etc. Certainly, although the school has been using some virtual mechanisms and tools for some time, the dramatic changes required by this "new time" were not immediately satisfactory. And when I say school, I include the teaching staff as well. We had to implement new ways of establishing communication with our students, of interacting with them in class and outside it, of teaching itself (continuous assessment, tests, instruments, methods etc.). Also, since the students are underage, everything was and still is even more complicated. 

My reality is: the method adopted by the school is not a simple issue of "distant education", where students can access its content anytime and anywhere. We have been calling it "remote class" or "remote teaching and learning" because it better symbolizes the "live" content; or, the attempt of imitating the presentational school environment - which I think would be an interesting concept to be further studied and even really conceptualized. Certainly, this new "pandemic-emerged" school is not close to providing a "perfect" present school environment, nor even the feeling of it. The reasons around it are various, for instance, computers and the internet are not easily available to all students and teachers, at least not in its best condition necessary to the best teaching-learning práxis. Furthermore, students particularly have been struggling with this new environment and its requirements, such as a more autonomous mindset and habit. Enfin, all that denotes exactly what Clark and Berge (2003) address in their article, when they invite us to pay attention to certain components when operating a virtual school: such as the technology, the students' services, the access, and the assessment. 

With the context and explanation delivered, what I need is to address a bit of the discussion I had with my brother. Keep with me! During lunch, what came into the debate was the chance for me to go back to presential teaching. However, at least two changes are to be executed: first, the students will not be required to go to school (as long as the situation in my country does not improve); second, the classes are to be recorded and performed live for the students at home. Regardless of my opinion towards this decision (or plan, I think), the point here is that the school is again being forced to adjust to the demand (to the reality). And for doing so, it is finally improving the usage of what was already available and of what students and teachers (in different degrees) have been using for a long time as learning\teaching tools\techniques. This movement towards a more technology-accepting school environment (as well as adapted to them) is inducing changes and shifts to how we teach and learn, prioritizing the new technology, which helps to bridge time and space, as said by Bryan and Volchenkova (2016) when addressing the concept called "blended learning". According to them, this concept combines the two formal learning environments\models: the presential and the remote (online\virtual). Which I must say is quite appealing.

Even though I am sure these changes are not here to stay forever, some of them may prove their worth and be further accepted and implemented permanently. In conclusion, it was the possibility to add the virtual and remote (distant ?) aspects to the traditional classroom methods of teaching that made me realize how a "blended learning" environment may contribute to the teaching-learning process. If the school realizes the potential the technology and the Internet have for education (educational experiences), inasmuch it overcomes the idea of replicating the traditional pedagogy, the school may finally rise to the 21st century.

References

Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2015). Learning and new media. In D. Scott & E. Hargreaves The SAGE Handbook of learning (pp. 373-387). 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications Ltd DOI: 10.4135/9781473915213.n35

Clark, Tom & President, Phd & Consulting, Ta & Berge, Zane. (2003). Virtual schools and e-learning: planning for success. 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228451489_Virtual_schools_and_elearning_planning_for_success

Ferdig et al. Jl. of Technology and Teacher Education (2009), 17(4).

https://www.academia.edu/217484/Virtual_Schooling_Standards_and_Best_Practices_for_Teacher_Education

Bryan, A. & Volchenkova, Kseniya. (2016). BLENDED LEARNING: DEFINITION, MODELS, IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION. 8. 24-30. 10.14529/ped160204. 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303815166_BLENDED_LEARNING_DEFINITION_MODELS_IMPLICATIONS_FOR_HIGHER_EDUCATION

2) Segunda affordance: Active learning (aprendizagem ativa)

Is the new technology building a path to a progressive education?

When addressing "active knowledge-making!", Cope and Kalantzis introduce us to a series of new ways of thinking and envisioning in the educational process. We dive into this fantastic schooling práxis which almost completely shifts the centrality of producing knowledge from the teachers to the pupils. The "active" adjective refers to the focus on agency. Or may I also say, to the focus on the individual capacity to make their own choices, to autonomously inquire, search for answers, and to make changes and provide meaning to\for their experiences. Regarding the second attribute, in my interpretation, the "knowledge-making" indicates the educational aspect of the agency. Thus, the student agency in search and creation of knowledge is the pinnacle of this great shift provoked by the idea of "active learning". 

The affordance called "active knowledge-making" comes associated with tons of concepts, as demonstrated above at the main post. Among all of them, each one more interesting than the other, I am particularly interested in "progressive education". It allows me to study\inform myself with a macro perspective, a movement on education, rather than specific methods. What I mean is that it provides me with a general view of education. 

As most of you lectors may already grasp only by looking at the name of the concept, "progressive education" refers to an education that "progresses", that moves towards something, instead of stagnating, of being immutable, immovable. If we are to look at what it means, you all may be somewhat disappointed. It certainly contrasts with traditional education, where the process of teaching and learning rests in a classroom idealized in the 18th century. Sure, small modern updates may be added, but without changing any of the logic supporting the educational process. From what my modest research tells me (ex. Pecore 2016; Waks 2013; Dewey and Dewey 1915; Muraro 2013), there is no perfect definition of "progressive education". The concept was born with Park but resonated especially in the works of Dewey. Here, in Brazil, Freire is its most important enthusiast and contributor. Plus, throughout the decades, it has mostly been used to address the movement in education opposing to what we identify as traditional, as I said before.

Stating that there is no precise definition of it does not mean "progressive education" lacks any definite meaning. It suggests an education paradigm\ideal in which the pupil is at the center of the teaching-learning process. A process that should be carried around the students' interests and in which they hold the freedom to research, to discuss, to question, to inquire, to create, to think. Additionally, schooling in a progressive manner stands also for developing students' critical use of their cognitive faculties, meanwhile, promoting humanistic and democratic values.

Surely, listing those traits of progressive education may somewhat satisfy our curiosities and promote some understanding. But I would like to go a bit further. I would like you (and me) to immersively examine each of its traits (student-centred, interest, freedom, critical thinking, and humanistic and democratic values). Can you see how progressive education may be produced through the use of new technology? How the Internet, computer, cellphone, tablets can help educators to build a path towards a progressive education? I am going to try to address that by using a personal example. I will try not to make too many judgements, focusing on observations.

So, let's think about what new technology offers us. As Cope and Kalantzis showed us, the Internet and other technologies may help disrupt the traditional classroom setting, where students are all lined up and facing the teacher at the front. The environment it creates allows a more democratic and free environment since students can choose the best way to be seated (be it on a chair, on the bed, on the sofa), when and at what they want to pay attention to. At some level, there is less control of students' habits, since teachers are not able to see it all. For instance, at the virtual school at which I am currently working (a consequential shift caused by the pandemic), I am not able to see the students through the whole class (it includes how they are dressed, or where they are seated at a chair, or if they are eating etc.). I tend to tell my students I do not mind if they are eating, or whatever they are doing, as long as they are present and interacting. Therefore, the virtual environment certainly is cohesive to what progressive education proposes. It helps to break up the "authoritative práxis" and promote a more democratic environment (another feature of progressive education). There are, however, other ways of exerting control, such as asking students not to talk at the chat about frivolous stuff or not to leave their microphone turned on when a student is or I am talking. At the same time, though, it can be done in such a way that it reflects a respectful environment instead of an obedient one.

Moreover, students tend to interact with the class content, with me and their colleagues if they are interested. It is not that different from a traditional classroom. But in a virtual one, as I showed before, the possibilities for me, as a teacher, to demand attention are minimized. So, the pressure to innovate is greater, since the less power I have towards student habits in class, the more I need to do to make them interested in attending and continuously interact in class. Once again, the virtual environment offers us an opportunity to focus even more on students' interests (a feature of progressive education), because a lack of participation (attendance and interaction) is a tremendous indication of uninterested\unmotivated students.

Enfin, surely, you all must take into consideration that my examples and analysis concern a rapid and unexpected change in the modus operandi of the school I work, so it not only needed (and still needs) adaptation of the school staff but also from the students and their families. I could go further on, although I believe what I have reported and analyzed tell you all enough about what progressive education is and how it communicates with the new technology.

References

Waks, Leonard J. John Dewey and the Challenge of Progressive Education. International Journal of Progressive Education, v9 n1 p73-83 Feb 2013

Thorburn, Malcolm. (2018). John Dewey, subject purposes and schools of tomorrow: A centennial reappraisal of the educational contribution of physical education. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. 10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.04.001.

Pecore, John L. In Section One: Past: Introduction: Aims of Progressive Education (John L. Pecore), (Bern, Switzerland: , , n.d. ) accessed Jun 14, 2020, https://doi.org/10.3726/978-1-4539-1522-6/6

Muraro, Darcísio Natal. (2013). Relações entre a filosofia e a educação de John Dewey e de Paulo Freire. Educação & Realidade, 38(3), 813-829. https://doi.org/10.1590/S2175-62362013000300007

3) Terceira affordance: Multimodal meaning production (produção multimodal de significados\conhecimentos)

The use of digital media to teach Geography

In traditional schooling, the blackboard\whiteboard and the textbook are those instruments used by educators and students to grasp (to expose and to understand) the content of the disciplines. While teachers write and draw to explain and illustrate, students copy and read words and images - although they may also creating their artefacts. In Geography, we teachers may go a bit further to using maps (when provided by the school). In the end, though, the mode of representation is the same as in the textbooks. While this mode may be enough for some students, others stay behind. Not only because they are different individuals with individual capabilities, but also because the students of today grow with technological diversity (television, computer, cellphone, and tablet) and use and play with different social media, youtube, Whatsapp, online\digital games, and much more. That is the reality of a large number of kids and adolescents we encounter at our schools. They are bombarded with those different ways of grasping and dealing with reality, and these ways exert immense influence in their capacity to pay attention \ to be interested in what the school has to offer, as well as minimize, for instance, their interest (capability?) to memorize things that are available by a click of their fingers. Then, as Cope and Kalantzis have shown us, teaching and learning are not (or should not be) restricted to a sole mode of meanings' representation. As educators, we must introduce to our teaching new ways of making meaning of reality, and it certainly includes digital media. 

So, in this multimodal perspective of Education, how can digital media improve the educational process? If I am to look at the discipline I teach, how can geography teachers make use of what this media has to offer? Those are the questions I would like to address.

If we are discussing digital media, the first thing we need to do then is understanding what it designates. Different from analogical media, digital media refers to communication channels built with digital codes, that is, instruments and resources that use digital technology, such as computers, cellphones, digital TV, e-books, online content, etc. As we can see, digital media are not necessarily linked to the Internet, although their separation has been diminishing over the years. Digital media refers to all those tools that schools have been trying to incorporate to their modus operandi and educators to their práxis; and sometimes, even to exclude, such as the before-mentioned cellphones. 

Now that digital media is defined, we can try to understand what are the advantages and disadvantages of its use in the educational process. The sources I studied (Silva and Gomes 2015; Chien 2012; Mattos, Festas and Seixas 2016; Bento and Celchior 2016) agree that the digital media raises the number of opportunities and information available, promotes interactivity and instant communication, creates new spaces and forms of social interaction, provides different tools of media production and sharing. Moreover, the use of digital media in the educational process helps to develop the digital citizenship (be able to participate in society and politics, to comprehend the complexities of public and private, to form a social identity, and to deal with ethical and legal concerns), to raise new media literacy (understand, interpret, and critique media), to foster individuals' social and creative expression, to advance technological skills, all that by also influencing students' behaviour towards formal and informal learning. However, "not all are flowers", as we say here we Brazil. The use of digital media has its challenges. The constellation of information on the internet is an incredible source for knowledge seeking but it also turns the research an even more meticulous endeavour, and students must be able to look up for information, analyse, select, and evaluate it. Plus, the instantaneity of the communication allowed by digital media can encourage impulsive or thoughtless behaviours - although it also fosters greater control of the communication, since people can reflect more before posting (I am going to call it the paradox of online communication).

Take the school I work at as an example - and have in mind that it is a small private school in a low middle-class neighbourhood. Before the pandemic, the teachers were incentivised to use their computers in class, alongside with the projector. That allowed me to prepare my classes with a mix of media (whiteboard, textbook, PowerPoint slides, videos, images, and sometimes even music), abolishing, for instance, those large printed maps. This small shift in school policy and infrastructure transformed my teaching práxis and allowed my students to interact with different media that previously would only be allowed by switching the environment (to the computer room and video room) or by bringing another tool alongside. Certainly, as Silva and Gomes (2015) found in their study, the technical incentive sometimes is not enough. Teachers' interest, fear and insecurity, and unfamiliarity are among the factors that influence the use of digital resources in class.

That was then. Due to the pandemic, in the current remote school(ing) we are living, the changes were more drastic. Everything has turned into an online\digital feature. The classes became live (and recorded) video-conferences, the digital textbook usage escalated, Google became a quick-answer and active tool for students and teachers, Instagram became a form of expressing interest in the class and in the content (even for students!), websites for building posters and maps became part of my classes and students activities. All that happened alongside the adjustments I had already made to my classes, which now have suffered only small modifications (ex. no need to download a video).

With that exposed, we can now examine how those modifications may contribute to teachers' práxis and students' learning by understanding how they have affected my teaching and my students' studying habits. As I told beforehand, I have been using multiple modes of representation of meaning (texts, images, videos, and music) but the personal use of the Internet and computer\cellphone amplified the range of media use. Now I can use (I am using) websites for a range of activities in and outside class (to research, to create posters, maps, mental maps, image assemblage, and much more). The usage of these tools not only helps me to replicate a bit of the physically present classroom, to create a more interactive and multimodal learning environment, and develop. With the application of "Google" in class, I can help my students to search for information, to select and to assess it, which is not easy at a physically-present class. Even the new-class structure, which is more writing inviting than voicing, helps me to follow my students writing skills more easily and concomitant to my explanation and their pronunciation. 

References

Matos, Armanda & Festas, Maria & Seixas, Ana. (2016). Digital media and the challenges for media education. Applied Technologies and Innovations. 12. 10.15208/ati.2016.04. 

Bento, Lucianda & Celchior, Gerlaine. (2016). Mídia e Educação: O uso das tecnologias em sala de aula. Revista de Pesquisa Interdisciplinar, v. 1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24219/rpi.v1iEsp.98

Chien, Jemmy. (2012). How digital media and Internet transforming education. 

Silva, Scheilla Maria Orlosqui Cavalcante da & Gomes, Fabrícia Cristina. (2015). Tecnologias e Mídias Digitais no Contexto escolar: uma análise sobre a percepção dos professores.

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Espero que tenham gostado das reflexões. Se vocês se interessarem, tragam novas referências e conceitos; concordem e discordem; reflitam, opinem e discutem!