V International Conference on Multimedia and ICT in Education (m-ICTE2009)

"Anatomy of Digital Resources in Learning Generation"

Gina SoutoMINISTERIO EDUCAÇÃO, Trainer Teacher, Teacher Assessor, Languages & Technologies Department (Portuguese and French), Escola Francisco Torrinha, 4150 Porto, Portugal

Corresponding Author: email: gisouto@tvtel.pt

Aims

Some guidelines about the changing face of

teaching/ learning languages in classroom, considering the different generations, the digital-natives - “net-generation” - using Digital Resources, Virtual worlds in Education. The assessment quality of Digital Resources used in classroom, observing students, their interaction, in different contexts or situations where informal learning is linked.

The New learning generation, elearningeuropa.info papers

www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=home

Children and adolescents in digital societies are growing up in a world where digital technologies are ubiquitous. Internet is used by net-generation also for education and learning purposes, often outside the classroom.This emergence of digital native learners has major potential implications for Education. The objective of the assessment is to analyse this "new learning generation" in classroom and outside classroom (networks), understand their expectations and attitudes facing the "new ways of learning", using digital resources. CERI-NML1)Education is no longer bound by the limits of the teacher, textbook, or the reference books in the school library. Rather it is limited only by the student’s interest. Carew, (2003)2)There are some basic questions about how well the digital resources meets classroom needs.It’s essential that Digital Resources present an identity, autonomy, scientific quality, creativity, for developing and encouraging “innovative mindsets”. Kirah ( 2008)3)

Methods and Materials

Evaluation Digital Resources have two important phases: descriptive evaluation (by a teacher assessor) and context evalutation (by teacher and students, in classroom or outside classroom (web).Descriptive evaluation must look for technical dimension, linguistic dimension, pedagogical dimension and civic dimension. These are the fundamental criteria.The impact of digital resources on cognitive skills and on learning expectations, and the evolution of social values and lifestyles are important issues.Quality is not a given, stable characteristic of educational environments. It evolves only from the relation between the learner and the learning environments. So, quality can be perceived and assessed only in the actual context. Ehlers (2009)4)

Results

Open Educational Resources can be an efficient way of helping to bridge the gap between informal and formal learning. Schuller, OECD (2007)5)eLearning environments, social netwotks, collaborative communities, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds, podcasts, cell or mobil phones, 3-D Internet, some of the potencial “interactive and collaborative web“ which e-teachers can use to improve learning resuts. Straub (2008)6School time have more impact if “millennium learners” can relate it to the real-world. By providing relevant and current contexts, education moves from being purely academic, to where digital natives can make a connection between formal and informal learning and their own lives and interests.Additional to the academic subjects “millennium learners” need to know how to apply skills by thinking critically, applying knowledge to new situations, analyzing information, comprehending new ideas, communicating, collaborating, solving problems, and making decisions. Carew (2003)6)

The idea of Digital Resources in Education recognises that learning is ongoing and seeks to provide a quality to support learning on schools. The educational objectives will be achieved when the students use the digital resources in classroom and outside classroom (PLE‘s). The e-teacher, after previewing the digital resource, should put it in context phase, that means in the classroom, observing his or her own students, as they interact with the digital resources. The digital resource selected must be the most desirable in terms of educational objectives and constraints. It take place in different contexts and situations and will not be provided by a single learning provider. Linked to this is an increasing recognition of the importance of informal learning, and the role of the individual in organising his or her learning.Consumers themselves become producers, through creating and sharing. One implication is the

potential for a new ecology of ‘open’ content, environments, resources, tools, learning materials and multimedia, through learners themselves becoming producers of learning materials with e-teacher’s tutoring. Attwell (2007)7)Modern project-based on Education requires students to be able to work with digital materials both in and out classroom. Field trips are often an integral part of such projects and greatly benefit students’ learning by allowing them to engage with real-world environments first-hand. Hansen, Bouvin (2009)8)Intercultural and collaborative learning challenges us to face new experiences and enables us to develop a global mindset, not only physically but also in the cyberspace. Kirah (2008)

Discussion:

The emphasis of the educational process indicates at this point already that it is not possible to certify such a learning process orientated quality. It can be perceived only when the actual educational process takes place and is always a co-production between the learner and the learning environment.Such an active participation of learners will play an important role in future quality development systems. Ehlers (2009)Teacher feedback must be accepted at all times, although it should not be taken at face value.The role of the learner, the teacher, the classroom, the school environment, the everyday life context outside school is crucial for the qualification feedback of Digital Resources in Education.

Are Digital Resources,” Virtual worlds”, the future of learning for the wired generation? Research has shown that “millennium learners” engage deeply in virtual environments, gaining a conceptual and ethical understanding of school subjects. Olsen (2006)

Acknowledgements: The support by elearningeuropa.info is gratefully acknowledged.

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