Distributed Learning Environments

“Logged Out” was the title page of today’s News Review in the Sydney Morning Herald (24 June 2006). In this article, educationalists argued for the advantages of computer-based teaching methods and pointed to the “digital divide”-those students disadvantaged by not having access to the internet. According to Barbara Stone, principal at MLC Burwood: ”If we don’t exploit this technology, which is so much part of our life, we do students a great injustice”.
There are, however, reports claiming that the use of technology in the classroom has failed to enhance learning outcomes (Evans as quoted by Carol Steketee, see: http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/herdsa/main/papers/ref/pdf/Steketee.pdf)

Essays such as Gideon Haigh’s “Information Idol- How Google is making us Stupid” highlight the global nature of the problems educationalists are facing:

“Education is an institution dominated by the pressures of mediocrity. Schools are places where treating the average needs with the average amounts of resources has long been the rule - a fact that, unfortunately has become extremely comfortable and therefore deeply entrenched.” Google delivers every student the same not-very-good and not-very-bad resources necessary to craft a perfectly mediocre response. It lends itself not so much to learning as to the appearance of learning - which to politicians is, frankly, of paramount concern.
http://intermaweb.net/index.php/2006/03/05/information-idol-how-google-is-making-us-stupid.

See also "Google Schmoogle":
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/stories/s1571598.htm

The crucial step is to employ technological tools appropriately in order to facilitate optimal learning processes. The constructivist approach is being extended, the idea of collaborative group activity is now at the forefront. The Distributed Learning Environment(DLE) is a context whereby technology can be used to enrich and ultimately transform the process of learning.

The DLE brings about a significant shift away from teacher-based learning. The learner is seen to be an individual in context i.e. with access to resources, technology and social interaction.
The role of the teacher takes on more the nature of a facilitator, who provides guidance and affirmation. The teacher needs to create the basis for constructive teamwork to emerge. In the classroom this means that communication skills need to be nurtured (such as listening, acknowledging and reflecting). The teacher should be able to assess the contribution potential of the student on the basis of an understanding of the implications of multiple intelligences. Skills such as independent thinking and discernment need to be cultivated. These elements provide the crucial pre-conditions.

Ideally, technology can enhance collaborative learning with tools that are intelligently implemented (such as mind-mapping and blogging). A virtual on-line learning community can access immense resources and an abundance of ideas, so that the whole becomes much more than the sum of its parts.

If implemented wisely, judiciously and collaboratively, the use of technology in education could overcome the current problems of superficial mediocrity and move towards the empowerment of the active creative learner.