Graphics in Education

• When do you prefer animated graphics to static ones?
• Why do you prefer one to the other?
• How beneficial are they for you?

I personally prefer animated graphics for learning and understanding complex tasks that require special skills to accomplish. In everyday life, we refer to books that provide both graphics and text to explain several concepts that I need for my education or primary profession. However, beyond that there is a wealth of subjects that could be learnt only through an instructor or by an animated sequence. Here are a few examples:

-         YouTube video explaining how to assemble a stroller or a piece of furniture. Surely it’s possible to follow the manual instructions but it’s a lot easier to understand when someone physically explains it and reminds you of the potential road blocks

-         YouTube video explaining how to tackle a plumbing problem. Specific instructions can save a lot of time and money in this case

-         Educational videos for my 2 year old son to learn alphabets and numbers. Books and pictures can do the job but the videos hold his attention

-         Lessons on specific skills like playing piano, perfecting a dance move or mastering a tennis stroke

These are just a few of the several situations where I prefer an animated video over a book or manual. Most of the consumer goods these days also come with a DVD disk that covers assembly, troubleshooting and maintenance instructions which are more efficient.

I prefer videos when it is easier to learn by watching or by following instructions than by trying to comprehend a subject matter through written text. There are several areas where the books are the only way to learn better and faster as it is impossible to use graphics and animations to teach certain concepts in literature, political science, education and mathematics. However, the progresses of internet websites like YouTube, Wikipedia, Google have immensely changed the fundamental way in which I learn today.

Learning through animation and videos has been tremendously beneficial for me. As I mentioned in the examples above, I would have to go through a lot of difficulty to learn many things that I currently do through videos on the internet. In addition to the above examples, animation has also helped me understand abstract principles which would have been otherwise taken me longer to grasp. In my last course, I had to understand the ‘stable marriage problem’ for my final project and the Wikipedia website had an accompanying animation sequence which helped me easily understand the steps of the algorithm.

My choice of educational and interesting video clip.

Link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I definitely recommend this video titled "Pay Attention" to all of us who are excited about technology and its potential in changing the classroom of future. The video makes a spirited appeal to educators to pay heed to the world around us which is changing at a rapid pace with the advent of technology. The impact of technology applications in our society have changed our daily lives, our habits and preferences over last decade and have brought about fundamental changes in the way we learn. However, our schools have seen little change or innovation in this period and still rely on the conventional mode of teaching in classrooms using the same tools and techniques of last century.

The video reminds us of the myriad ways people learn and empowers themselves naturally everyday using technology. It exhorts the teachers of today to find inspiration from the basic facts about the success of internet, mobile technology and other tools and appeals them to use these in enriching education. The video also takes an opportunity to present cautionary facts on the dropout rate of our schools and attributes them to the inability of our education system to engage students through their curriculum. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the central theme of the video which asks us to care and contribute to bring about a change. It doesn't really take a big effort to bring a difference but only it needs all of us to collectively "pay attention" to be a better teacher.

NPR Science podcast on advanced Tornado technology

Podcast URL:

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/137199914/advanced-tornado-technology-could-reduce-deaths

NPR (http://www.npr.org) website hosts a wide variety of podcasts on current events, science, arts, health and many other topics of interest which are both informative and educational. I chose this particular posting as it discusses a very relevant topic of interest. Tornados this year alone has killed hundreds of people in US and the science to track and forecast its destruction path is relatively new. However, research in this area, particularly in the invention of early warning systems can save numerous lives and minimize property damages. This podcast introduces a new radar system developed and deployed by CASA (Collaborative Adapting Sensing of the Atmosphere). It discusses how this new system is designed in a simple, intuitive manner and gives a firsthand description of how it worked during the recent Tornado events.

While listening to a podcast, the NPR website also lists the related stories and other recent podcasts in the same section. The audio controls are in a pop-up window which also allows you to add the current podcast into your playlist that you can access as a registered member (registration is free).The content of the stories and the convenience of use makes NPR one of my favorite websites.

Week 4: Cognitive Design Principles for Automated Generation of Visualizations- A summary

This paper defines the cognitive principles associated with creating effective visualizations. It further applies these principles to analyze two problem domains that we encounter in our daily lives, creating route maps to find a destination and crafting assembly instructions to construct an object of daily use. Finally, the paper introduces us to concrete Computer algorithms that were designed on the lines of the cognitive principles and that automates the task of laying out route maps and generating assembly instructions.

Visualization helps us in learning a concept and is sometime more powerful than written words in comprehending ideas. In order to create meaningful visualizations, one needs to be trained in the graphic design tools and also need to have a clear understanding of the domain for which the visualization is designed.  Principle of Congruence requires visualizations to follow the mental picture and the Principle of Apprehension states that it should be easily understood by the readers. In that regard, the author talks about route maps and discusses how they are an important example of visualization that is studied in detail. Well compiled maps conform to the cognitive principles by

-          Representing the routes in sequence of paths and the turning points

-          Simplifying the geographical aspects of the path

Based on the above principles, the authors developed a Computer algorithm called LineDrive that automates the task of creating route maps and are used by popular internet map services like www.mapblast.com. The algorithm is designed based on the design ideas that were refined over a period of time and it applies them to perform the labor intensive task to draw the route map based on destination information.

An instruction to assemble an object is another set of visualization that we encounter in our daily life. We have to understand these instructions and apply them to meet our objectives. It is easy to see the differences between a well written and a poorly compiled instruction. Well designed instructions have the following features in common:

-          Sketches to illustrate the structures and spatial relations between assembled components

-          Multiple sketches breaking up the tasks into a sequence of steps

-          Use of 3D constructs to give a better perspective

-          Additional guidelines and illustrations commonly known as Morphograms

-          Accompanying text notes explaining the diagrams in detail

The authors cite studies which show that good instructions consistently improve productivity for people with average craftsmen skills. The authors then describe an algorithm that can automatically generate assembly instruction when it is provided with the geometric model of the completely assembled object and with the information of its individual components. The algorithm derives on the principles of Robotics to automate a complex and repetitive task.

On a final note, the authors discuss the strength of the algorithms by referring to studies which show that the algorithms produce visualizations that betters hand crafted versions. They also reflect the fact that other types of visualization problems can also be automated with cognitive design principles to create powerful solutions.

Week 4: Weather websites compared

The use of images and graphics in websites generally improves the content and enhances its usability. As a result, graphics contents are extensively used in popular websites and with the advent of better design tools, the look and feel and navigation has scaled new heights. However, there’s still a few instances where as a designer you feel that certain aspects of visualization could be tweaked for better results and in the rare occasions you almost wish that the entire site should be reworked for meaningful presentation of data. For the purpose of our discussion, I planned to review weather websites and compare the use of graphics and other illustrations between two sites that (in my opinion) handles similar data but varies significantly in the ease of use and level of clarity.

The Weather Channel (www.weather.com) is a widely visited website, which provides forecasts, alerts, travel updates and other related information. However, the graphics content of the page might be overwhelming to a new visitor as it is packed with information that’s not quite relevant at first appearance. The main area of the webpage carries a rolling snapshot of the top six video clippings where the topic could be as diverse as “Boy carried by Twister” to “Take our Hurricane Quiz”. In terms of relevance, weather is typically a local topic, followed by an interest for nationwide climate and then there’s room for sensational stories. However, the graphics in this site fails to address the primary goal of displaying the local forecasts in a clear and concise manner. In addition, the snapshot of videos change at a high frequency (about once in five seconds) giving the viewer little time to comprehend the text accompanying the graphics. The maps displayed in the main page and in the maps pane don’t clearly give explanation for the symbols used to represent specific weather conditions. There is a key at the top but it is disproportionately small given the size of the entire map. The forecast could be fetched once you are familiar with the site and it has other useful features but the overall presentation of the graphics leaves a lot to be desired.

In comparison, the USA Today Weather (www.usatoday.com/weather/wfront.htm) organizes similar content in a more professional and succinct manner. The main page has a map section on the left and a local forecast on the right which serves the primary purpose of the website right away. The map on the main page could be viewed in five different contexts (Radar, Satellite, Precipitation, Temperature, Pressure fronts). The forecast section gives detailed report of today and has a concise forecast for the following four days. The weather icons are neatly arranged with expected highs and lows for the day. Weather news appears stacked in the bottom part of the website as you scroll down. The maps tab presents more detailed information and there is a comprehensive explanation of the charts on the bottom of the maps.

In summary, the use of graphics in the USA Today weather website enhances cognition as described by the Dual Coding Theory. Visual graphics is seamlessly synchronized with text information and that helps the users to find what they are looking for and navigate with ease to search for further information. On the contrary, the graphics and videos in the Weather Channel website appears in a disjoint manner and interferes with the primary content that majority of users will be interested in. Both sites are at par in terms of the available features and the accuracy of information but vary significantly in terms of the graphics presentation.

Reading with Hypermedia

Hypertext and hypermedia offers exciting possibilities to enhance the experience of traditional reading. At present, bibliophiles across the world are increasingly using computers to read books and recently Amazon.com announced that the sales of eBooks have surpassed printed books. This presents an opportunity for designers and technologists to introduce features that will enrich reading while retaining the aspects that differentiates it from browsing.

First things first, the Contents should be implemented with hypertexts as it simplifies the task to navigate to a particular section in one stroke. There should also be a link for the reader to move to the Contents from any part of the text. Other sections that are relevant but not directly part of the actual context like Preface, Copyrights and Author’s biography should also be made available through hypertext as it trims the size of the material and in the process makes it more succinct.

A few other features that align naturally and are implemented more efficiently with hypertexts are:

·         Index and Glossary

o    Hypertext based Index and Glossary will make referencing faster across the text

·         Text Search

o    This is not a feature from traditional text but will certainly be very useful for readers to look up particular words across the entire text

·         Errata

o    This section can link to the actual page and summarize the type of error

·         Bibliography, Citations and References

o    This will simplify the reader’s quest for reference and can provide a summary (or complete section where available) on readers’ demand

·         Appendix

o    Most often the material in Appendix is for the readers who would like to explore additional information and hypertext can conveniently relocate this away from the primary topic

Audio/Visual illustrations become extremely important to explain more complex material. Audio tools can provide actual pronunciations for foreign or technical words that are sparsely used. It can also be used in the right context to enhance the reading experience (e.g. the tapes of an historical speech or a first-hand description of a momentous event).

‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Visual illustrations could be static (e.g. a chart, table, video) or interactive (e.g. a simulation of an actual experiment that takes input from the reader). In both instances, visual aids could be an extremely powerful way to simplify the subject and learn more efficiently.

In summary, hypertext and hypermedia helps to innovate while authoring and to learn faster while reading and offers immense potential for learners in near future.

Week 3: Cognitive load in hypertext reading – Summary

This paper by Diana DeStefano & Jo-Anne LeFevre explores the impact of hypertext reading on learning. The use of hypertext has changed the way a reader constructs information in his mind by navigating through related topics across hyperlinks. The speed of learning is affected by the way the subject is organized, presented and illustrated with the aid of hypertext, graphics and multimedia constructs. The growth of hypertext in general has altered the conventional way of creating educational material by the authors and the eventual learning by the readers. As a result, it’s important to understand the consequences of using hypertext in learning and education. The authors reviewed the results of 38 relevant studies conducted in a period of 14 years (1990-2004) and outlined their findings in this paper.

Cognitive load is defined as the mental effort that a reader employs while reading to gather information and to summarize them into a concrete learning experience. The authors of the paper hypothesizes that the presence of hypertext increases cognitive load on the reader in general and adversely impacts the speed of learning. Some of the studies that strengthen the hypothesis are as follows:

·         Plass, Chun, Mayer and Leutner (2003) found that hypertext with visual annotations impair reading performances substantially. They were examining the impact of both visual and verbal annotations on foreign language texts and found that the visual content often distracted readers as it interrupted their natural pace and increased cognitive load.

·         Zhu (1999), Jacko & Salvendy (1996), Landauer & Nachbar (1985) and Parush, Shwartz, Shtub & Chandra (2005) in independent studies confirmed that the increase in the number of hypertext links increases the difficulty of reading and degrades comprehension performance.

·         McDonald and Stevenson (1996), van Nimwegen, Pouw & van Oostendorp (1999) found that the navigation performance of a reader declines with increasing number of hypertext links. Navigation performance is defined as the speed at which a reader can find answers in a given text after an initial browsing period.

·         Budd, Whitney & Turley (1995) and Lee & Tedder (2003) found that readers with low working memory (WM) spans are more disadvantaged while reading hypertext as compared to people with high WM spans. People with low WM spans have less cognitive capacity in terms of remembering what they immediately read and it’s easier for them to understand structured text with clear topics than hypertexts with minimal contextual information.

·         Lodevijks (1982), Oberauer et all (2000), Witkin, Moore, Goodenough & Cox (1997) and McNamara, Kintsch, Songer & Kintsch (1996) concluded that students with low reasoning ability or less prior knowledge benefits more from logically sequenced texts while students with better skills on the above benefits when they can structure their own reading on hypertext based content.

·         Miall & Dobson (2001) and Barab et al (1999) examined and found that readers could be confused and could miss important material while reading hypertext based literary contents.

There are a few studies which explored similar areas but either didn’t agree with the hypothesis or were inconclusive. Some of them are listed here:

·         Wenger and Payne (1996) didn’t find any notable difference in reading performance for hypertext versus the linear text. Their experiment on the impact of spatial and verbal loads while reading hypertext failed to produce consistent result across different text samples.

·         Lin (2003) and Mohageg (1992) didn’t find any direct degradation in navigation performance with increased number of links. This contradicts with other studies that that concluded the opposite. However, there were no indications that the increase in links improves performance. Also most of the related studies concluded that semantic links hurts performance as it interferes with the hierarchical nature of texts.

·         Baron, Taguesutcliffe, Kinnucan & Carey (1996) and Campbell & Maglio (1999) found that the use of techniques like providing labels or creating descriptors to define a hyperlink actually enhances learning. Both of them improved the accuracy of locating information and raised navigation performance.

In summary, the majority of studies tend to confirm that students with lower reading abilities find it harder to comprehend while reading hypertext based contents while the ones with higher reading abilities adapt better as they can use the flexibility of the hypertext to plan their own learning. This is more or less intuitive as the potential benefits of hypertexts can often be negated by the increased cognitive load in processing the same information through hypertexts, as it tends to increase the difficulty of reading.

Finally, the paper cites a few limitations of the studies and calls for future studies to analyze specific learner characteristics (e.g. prior knowledge, working memory capacity and ability to impose structure) to design their experiments and author their findings. 

Week 2- My Reflections on Hypermedia and Education

The chapter makes a compelling argument for introducing Hypermedia based curriculum in schools. It enlists the benefits, goes over some real-life examples and cites a few practical limitations. In my mind, the difference between Hypermedia and text book based learning could be well highlighted by contrasting the experience of using Wikipedia vis-à-vis the conventional Encyclopedia. Undoubtedly, Wikipedia is a far more advanced tool to research on a specific topic purely based on the ease of access and the convenience of use. In addition, the users can efficiently cross-reference related topics and move back and forth between the primary and ancillary topics based on their preference. No such feature is available with an equal level of efficiency in the conventional Encyclopedia. In addition, the creation of Wikipedia demonstrates what could be achieved through collaborative efforts. People across the world contribute to the knowledge base on an open platform and millions benefit from it. The contents are also scrutinized and commented on by peers and are updated frequently to preserve accuracy. The entire project runs on the effort of a small community of dedicated developers and the voluntary work of a large community on the web. The remarkable success of such a broad project clearly gives the educators a compelling reason to embrace Hypermedia and ‘learning by design’ in their classrooms.

I also observed that the author frequently drew examples from topics in History and Arts while demonstrating the power of Hypermedia based learning. It is clearly understood that these topics generate interest in scores of related sub-topics and they could be conveniently organized and presented through Hypermedia. However, I feel that the science and technology topics could also be grasped using similar techniques and can make life easier for students who sometime struggle with mastering the key concepts. Understanding

pre-requisite topics is critical for science subjects as the learning stays shallow and incomplete without that. Also, often the students progress to the next section without completely understanding the current one, which by all means comes back later to haunt them. If the students are asked to author instruction material for science based topics, they will realize the gap in their understanding sooner and take steps to address them. The advantages of collaboration also cannot be overstated for complex subjects where the students can benefit from shared analysis and research. Finally, I would like to state that I completely agree with the author’s view on the potential benefits of using Hypermedia in education.

Week 2- Hypermedia & Multimedia: Summary

This chapter introduces Hypermedia as a modern and powerful mode of communication and discusses its potential as a learning medium. The initial sections define Hypermedia as a confluence of Hypertext and Multimedia. Hypertext is the mapping of topics to their detailed contents via URLs, a ubiquitous feature of web pages that we continuously encounter on the internet. It has practically invented browsing, a new way of referencing and accessing information. Multimedia is the technical term for information content that has features to stimulate multiple sensory organs like audio/video clippings, photographs or graphics illustrations. A combination of Hypertext and Multimedia creates Hypermedia, a unique way of organizing and delivering information. It has been popular in recent years due to the advent of technology, which has enabled computers to process Multimedia data at high speed making it easier to create content.

The next few sections describe how Hypermedia could be used in school curriculums to benefit learning. Students could take ownership of the learning process and can author Hypermedia content to illustrate their understanding of a specific subject. They can collaborate in small groups, organize their research and assign tasks to create illustrations and thereby promoting learning from a passive to an active process. In addition to grasping the core topic, the task of ‘designing knowledge’ also trains the students in team-building, project management and presentation skills, which are vital in the

real-world.

The article eventually discusses a few practical challenges associated with introducing Hypermedia in classroom. Apart from the fact that it is expensive, it is also quite time intensive. Students need to train themselves with Hypermedia tools, collaborate on projects and spend considerable time organizing their research content. However, the use of Hypermedia in education empowers the learners, motivates them and hones their skills in analysis and creative thinking. As a result, the author concludes with conviction that it is a key element of education for future.

Week 1: My Reflections - "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"

I was introduced to computers when I was 21, rather late to be classified as a digital native. Now, I use computers extensively in my daily life as a source of knowledge, as a means of communication and also as a medium of entertainment. However, I hardly play video games and would rather spend time reading and travelling than checking the latest array of social updates on Facebook. Over the last decade, I am fascinated and humbled by the advent of technology and how it improved our daily lives. Day to day tasks like booking a travel, finding an address, exploring a deal, learning more about almost anything has become as efficient as possible. As a result, I see technology as a means to an end and want to harness its power as best as possible to improve my life and that of my community. I would identify myself as a digital immigrant who is still looking forward to her journey in this exciting world.

Over last few years, I have indeed come in contact with people who are more driven by technology than me. I worked for a company called Computer Explorers which liaises with the school systems to offer courses in computers and uses a blend of innovative software tools in classes to teach subjects like foreign language and mathematics. In the classrooms, I observed that young children in elementary or middle school are far more adroit in use of computer software that I would have imagined for their age. They learn quickly and process information more efficiently than what I can remember at that level from my schooldays.

As a teacher, I realize that there is absolutely no substitute for technology in schools. Educators have to train themselves to use technology with impact in classroom. In the past, the means of acquiring knowledge was limited to reading text books and learning through lectures. Computers and Internet has made the process of learning streamlined by allowing access to an ocean of reference over the web. Other presentation tools have made it easier to illustrate experiments, simulations and other complex content easily in the classroom. As a result, the students can learn a lot faster and expect a lot more from their teachers compared to what they did in the past. The art of teaching has never before looked so exciting or challenging than it is now in the present.

Unit VII - What strategies can be adopted for interested educators to face the

It is true that there are not many available programs to help in the  professional skill building of the teachers to be equipped with the use of modern technology in school curriculum. However, I am sure with time we will have better professional training programs that will build enough confidence among the school teachers to start using technology with ease. Though the power of internet with its vast source of knowledge and training tools can help teachers to become tech savvy by self help, but it may not be enough for them to adopt it.

One solution would be to arrange for comprehensive training by the technology vendor with follow-up professional development by the school district. Catch-up sessions at regular intervals would be definitely required in line with software enhancements and upgrades. Lack of proper support and guidance can quickly result in negative perception on technology, which can permanaently turn off the support for its introduction. There should also be peer-to-peer mentoring sessions where teachers who are experts on a specific application can assist other teachers as needed. Video tapes could be created in the classroom for those teachers who are proficient in using technology and that could be used as an artifact in demonstrating successful use of technology.These would be cost-effective tactics to create awareness and should result in positive interactions among the teaching community. Of course, school systems can create an incentive structure to reward teachers for adopting technology as another direct way to encourage teachers.

Like in any other professional community, there will always be a few early adopters of technology and there will be those who cautiously steps in one toe at a time. The key is to let the excitement of the small group of early enthusiasts spread. Their motivation and word-of- mouth feedback can build a viral effect in a bigger community of teachers who can begin to explore the possibilities of new ways of learning.

Unit VI I- What causes this resistance to technology in classroom? How do we connect with educators that resist change in practice?

It is true that even today, when powerful educational technology tools like interactive whiteboards, electronic archives, remote conferencing systems are improving the classroom experience of students all over the world, there are still a few in the teaching community who are unwilling to adopt the innovations. Its not always easy to understand the reluctance in embracing technology but the more natural reason would be the tendency of people to resist widespread changes in their profession. The march of technology in our daily lives, specifically the pervasive use of computers and internet has moved at a rapid pace over the last decade to the point where it could be a quite overwhelming for some educators to contemplate changing from their traditional way of teaching.

Even though technology itself cannot present a solution by itself, but realization of its potential by the educational community is the only way to change the traditional mindset of teachers and to make them accept the tools of modern world. Teaching is an exceptionally difficult job even for a driven person and technology tools can definitely improve classroom experience for both teachers and students. However, if teachers believe they are being forced into using it, they will resist, especially if its not properly demonstrated what specific value it will bring to their classroom. When it is imposed it becomes another compliance exercise rather than being a way to enhance learning. Technology integration in classroom should be a gradual process and shouldn't appear as another burden on the teacher's tasklist. The correct way of introducing it would be to probably position it as a critical means to improve the student's experience. Once the teachers and school administrators realize that its going to make a significant difference for students, they will endure the challenge and take the path to change the existing traditional methods.

Unit VI - How do student performances demonstrate understanding?

Performance in class tests, quizzes and projects are the traditional ways in which students demonstrate understanding. These days, however as instructors are adopting new methods of assessment to deal with changing needs of the classroom. For example, learning outcomes such as knowing how to operate a machine or run a lab experiment are not well suited to paper-and-pencil tests anymore. Today students’ skill level and understanding are measured through real world challenges (e.g. Collaborative projects) where their performance shows how much or what they have really understood. The other factor related with students’ understanding is their prior knowledge, which can bring some new light in the classroom and shows if the student can relate and make sense of the new information on that subject.

Uniy VI - How do we assess collaborative problem solving?

My personal experience centers on pre-K to elementary/middle and in that level, I would definitely like to stress that individual performance is the most important (and straightforward) way of assessing a student’s understanding. In the context of collaborative learning, the instructor needs to have a clear understanding of each student’s role in a group project to make a fair assessment. Collaborative projects help the class cover a lot of ground in exploring the depth of the subjects since the students in a group can individually pursue their areas of interest and contribute to the project. However, that increases the work on assessment as the instructor has to weigh each individual’s work on a different yardstick based on their specific choice of problem areas. For example, if a few students work together to study a specific problem (e.g. increasing school dropouts in their state) towards proposing a solution then there will be a division of labor in the group. Someone would work on gathering data and interpreting them while someone will try to meaningfully explain the correlation between various data sets and someone else might focus on editing the multiple solutions at hand to create the final presentation. Everyone should be assessed individually based on what they specifically achieved through the course of the project and there should be a reasonable percent of the assessment based on the final product. That would be fair in my opinion to grade individual contributions as well as to measure their effectiveness while working in a team.

Unit V- What are the affordances and constraints of Web 2.0 communication tools in helping facilitate communication, collaboration, and/or community in various educational contexts?

Technology is human development and is the outlet for our creative process. The world without technological advancements would not be as productive as it is today. We are moving from linear, point-to-point communication patterns to a web of networked interactions, where individual two-way dialogues are linked with wider groups.

Web 2.0 is the new term for interactive user friendly websites. I am still discovering and experiencing the vastness of it and sometime it’s a bumpy ride. However, I should admit that the possibilities are endless and we all are brushed by it in some way or the other.

Gmail with a 7.2 GB storage space is one of the best free email service I have used so far. With a vast array of features and collaborative tools Google Apps stands out as one of my favorite interactive communication tool for long distant education program. It has a few unique features that make it stand out among other similar products. The spam and custom filter, the instant msg. conversations (chat and email from the same page) the single thread email, the colored labels, all makes it so efficient and useful.

The power of the Wiki brings together multiple perspectives and ideas on common themes. I was pleasantly surprised with the ability to add and embed almost anything you can imagine. I have yet to come across any restrictions in terms of the amount or types of content you can link to, embed or post on a Wikispace. Wikispace has given away over 30,000 wikis to educators in the last few years and still presents endless potential to the web community.

Flickr is a great site for sharing your photos online. What attracts me is its user-friendly interface which allows me to upload endless amounts of photos. I like the tag feature which makes photo finding an easy process. One more issue that I have with other sites is the one-to-one photo upload which is very time consuming. Flickr has great tools that make batch uploading quick and easy. It uses AJAX-technology extensively, so no page reloading occurs. Last but not the least is its ability to keep track of my friend list. Even with its basic free membership limitations, it is well worth it to have a Flickr account.

Del.icio.us (del.icio.us)
Bought by Yahoo! in 2005, Del.icio.us is the “original” social bookmarking site that has been used by many. I didn’t really used it until now and I think I like some of its features that makes it easy to have a single set of bookmarks synced between my computers. The bookmark sharing features seems very promising and I think it can be a useful tool in distant education. The Tag feature seems very useful in the long run. I am still exploring the site and is probably yet to discover its full potential.

Discussion Board being the asynchronous communication tool (like the one we use here) is definitely an effective tool to communicate and collaborate in a distant learning program. I prefer discussion board for easy communication where I can easily follow a thread of conversation focused on a particular topic. The shared experience and opinion among the group encourages all the members to think and to clearly make their points. The poverty anchors seem a bit confusing at times and visually stressing to go through the whole list with too many sub divisions in one page. However, I liked the fact that the interactions could be grouped efficiently between the multiple sub-topics which works as an well-organized reference.

I would like to suggest another interactive tool for collaborative learning. If we can see come online video of a classroom in progress or take part in a virtual classroom it will be more meaningful. Streaming video, rich media conferencing (interactive multimedia) and tele-presence make live distance learning situations interactive. The content is more dynamic when students can talk to the instructors, ask questions and offer their own insights. I think this may help create a more engaging learning environment.

In summary, Web 2.0 tools hold endless potential it for us. The information overload can sometimes be distracting as President Obama aptly reflects as “… information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”
(http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Hurls+Criticism+of+Xbox+360+iPad+at+College+Graduation+Ceremony/article18332.htm)

However, I feel that the only downside is that the available technology is not used enough. People talk about the Internet being convenient, but it is not the case in many parts of the world. You need to go to a cyber café or you have to dial up a telephone line or use a slow broadband connection. Whereas in the US, 150 million households have broadband access all around the clock. When you have such a situation you can do social networking, and try out as many Web 2.0 tools and get full benefit out of them but that is not happening at an acceptable pace in under developed countries.

Unit V- How might technology-infused collaborative activities facilitate or hinder student understanding?

Not too long ago, PowerPoint was considered cutting edge technology in Higher Education. Today, Web 2.0 tools are making serious in-roads into Higher Education to help create a social and collaborative learning environment. Schools are continually challenged to provide the best education for today's youth. "What worked for us" isn't necessarily good enough for our children because society is continually changing. We call our vision for the future the "learner-active, technology-infused classroom".

Technology provides opportunities never before available and therefore should transform the learning environment for all school community members. Technology tools have come a long way. Schools do not need to spend as much time teaching about computers as they did a decade ago. Instead, teachers and students can now take advantage of all variety of tools and software to offer in the learning process. Technology and the Internet provide access to information around the world; they allow students to explore topics such as space travel and oceanography through sounds, images, and video; they allow students to easily graph and analyze numeric data; they allow students to present and receive information in "real time" from others; and much more. By placing computers right in the classrooms and designing curriculum tasks that allow students to use computers in the course of their learning, students are thoroughly appreciating the value of the technology tools.

In addition to learning the basic skills, students need time to work on open-ended problems to apply those skills. These types of problems are best attacked as a group. A relevant example would be the current project for one of our group where they need to propose a curriculum plan to help Marvin create collaborative mentoring model for his new website (creating the "felt-need" to learn about Filipino education system in question). Working well in a global group does not come easily without the development of a set of skills, such as communicating ideas, sharing responsibility, listening, taking turns, etc. These skills can only be developed, maintained, and refined if they are used consistently and collaboratively.

As for hindering students understanding due to the use of various Web 2.0 tools, I personally cannot find a good instance. In my experience as a teacher, I found that these tools and modern apps helped my students learn faster and gave them a more interactive experience. I think as long as we know how to take advantage of all these useful technology and possess the skill set to manage them efficiently, we should try to infuse them in our education system.

In conclusion, learning technology of today is being shaped with the help of Web 2.0 tools to create a social, highly collaborative and personalized environment. Educators, management and administrators who are proactive in embracing this trend with the help of the right technology partner, are in a position to create significant competitive advantages. This includes not just an enhanced learning paradigm but also efficient economies of scale for the educational organization to meet the growing demand of classrooms.

Concept Map - Highlighting Technology in School Education

You can view my concept map here:
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/887035a2c468


“I so wish I had a time machine and be a 2 years old just to use all the awesome educational software and tools that makes learning so much more fun, interactive and meaningful for today’s kids.” –Debarati

In my concept map, I highlighted the technology tools that I felt had the potential to improve teaching in classrooms. I grouped the products on the basis of the curriculum and primarily focused on the Pre-K and Elementary sections as I feel that there's immense potential of using technology for the youngest learners. So, what can technology actually accomplish in the classroom and what are the challenges that are presented while we introduce it in the curriculum? That's the theme that I explored through my readings and in the due creation of the concept map.

Technology in classroom stimulates students by making learning fun. Internet allows students and teachers alike in exploring primary concepts and diverse ideas in real time. There's hardly any subject that cannot benefit from the ocean of resources available on the web. In addition, modern software tools can help students to rehearse; self evaluate and improve on subjects where proficiency could be only gained by practice. Tirelessly, the software tools help students to create baseline, track progress and focus in self improvement. Communication tools like emails, web meetings and blogs benefits everyone in the academic community by enabling instantaneous exchange of ideas. The tools that I have discussed in the following sections bring unique value to the classroom by means of the creative ideas that went behind their implementation. However, use of technology alone cannot make an impact unless its intervention is directed by proficient teachers who have the necessary skills and the motivation to use these tools to make a
difference in the classroom.

Preschool-Kindergarten is an amazing period when a child starts taking those newly found steps in his quest to learning. With his mind and faculties in early development stage, he is a bundle of energy trying to make sense of the world around him. This is the time when parents should carefully consider introducing computers. Using a word processing tool would familiarize the child with numbers and alphabets and will also help them to understand the idea of basic sentence formation. There are a variety of software products that could be used in the classroom to enhance the basic skills that they will need as they get ready to read. Dr. Seuss ABC teaches alphabets in a delightful manner with a wealth of animations and outstanding illustrations. Children can click on individual letters, words and phrases to bring them to life. There's also a large set of activities, musical routines and humorous puns that makes learning an amusing experience and does a complete justice to the legacy of Theodor Seuss, the original author of the series.

Among the other software products available at this level, Mickey’s Preschool from Disney deserves a special mention. Children learn alphabets, shapes and blocks while interacting with Mickey and friends and they get a lot of cheerful encouragement as they navigate through individual levels. However, the application that most impressed me is the iWriteWords on iPad. It is a handwriting game that makes the most effective use of the touch screen by letting the kids trace alphabets, numbers and entire words on the iPad screen with their fingers. High quality graphics, multimedia sounds and a combination of eye-pleasing colors makes the challenging experience of learning to write both natural and entertaining.

Technology in Elementary schools should include software that can augment reading skills. Among the products that I audited, I found that ClickN’ READ Phonics is a well-organized and interactive system. It stands out among others due to its ease of use. Every section is accompanied by animated instruction set that makes navigation easy for young students while they can seamlessly progress through successive chapters without much supervision. Most of the learning is through interaction with animated characters that introduces letter sounds, syllables and new words. The package attempts to improve reading efficiently by means of prompt visual recognition. The exercises stress on proper pronunciation and also teach students as how the same letter can sound differently depending on how it is placed within a word. It covers the school curriculum for kindergarten to third grade and can be also accessed over the internet.

As we get to middle school and higher grades, the role of technology shifts. From being a driver of cognitive learning, it switches to a being a productivity agent that guides students and makes them more efficient in their quest of learning. The choice of the products, their maintenance and upgrades and their deployment in classroom demands experience and foresight from educators in the schools systems. Since the procurement of these systems need major capital commitment, the decision to invest in a particular technology must be made with the careful consideration of the school’s learning goals. Software evaluation for a classroom should involve detailed steps including but not limited to auditing a trial version, reviewing documentation, analysis of features and available customizations and a maintenance plan. The evaluation plan can involve forming control groups of students who could give a trial runs and deliver feedbacks on
all aspects of the products.

Among the products that I reviewed for middle school, Destination Math came across as a popular suite of learning package that could be used in home or schools. It is quite comprehensive in coverage and its primary strength lies in its simulations of mathematical concepts that allow students to learn by investigation. Pre-Algebra World is a similar application designed to improve mathematics skills and it also could be quite useful in classrooms and labs. The tool attempts to connect students to mathematical concepts using real-world themes. The relevance of subjects can go a long way in attracting attention and motivating the struggling learners.

Finally, I would like to talk about software systems that can build curriculum for students with special needs. This is one area where technology is almost indispensible and its use in teaching makes a ground breaking difference. Educational technology companies have a wide range of assistive software and other solutions that work with students with varied types of learning disorders. It’s the very existence of these tools that has enabled families and institutions to offer viable options for these special learners. Learning videos play an important role in learning and United Streaming is a video-on-demand service that covers an almost unlimited number of academic subjects. Mind mapping software products provide a visual way of organizing information and is frequently used to train the difficult process of knitting together ideas into paragraphs and chapters. InspirationὉ and KidinspirationὉ help learners to understand relation between words and pictures and shapes their mind for higher level thinking. The Time4Learning website provides an wealth of resources for special need learners including multimedia lessons, text-to-speech capabilities and on-board writing tools. It covers Maths, Arts, Science and Social Studies and is exhaustive in its scope and design. These tools and many others have made assistive technology affordable for special needs students and set a perfect example of how the use of technology can bring the gift of education to the ones who most needs it.

Unit IV- My experience with use of Technology in Education

The next generation learning system infused by technology opens up
exciting prospects at all levels of education. We all have encountered
a mix of learning process in our own education life and probably still
experimenting with new tools and methods to make the process more
meaningful and efficient. In today’s world, technology plays a
dominant role in our life and it’s no wonder that it serves as one of
the prime driver in the process of education. Use of technology shifts
learning from being ‘faculty-centric’ to a ‘learner-centric’ process.
It makes the process more interactive and visually effective. The
caveat being that it adds additional complexity for the educator in
the classroom.

In this regard, I would like to share my experience for one Pre-K
student, my son. I can see how powerful the use of technology could be
for teaching young kids who have generally a small attention span.
There’s an enormous amount of useful websites and videos for starting
the basic learning process for youngsters. With a careful selection
and routine use of the Internet, I have seen rapid development in my
child’s vocabulary and number skills. Since the videos are more
appealing than a book, he sits through an entire half- hour session of
illustrative materials which would have been impossible to achieve
with a book or a blackboard. In addition to that, interactive
application software products act as a powerful tool in various fields
of child development process. I run most of these applications on the
Apple iPad which provides an unique way to interact with these
applications though its touch-screen. Touch screens are much easier to
navigate for a child than the conventional keyboard and the gamut of
“apps” available on the App Store opens up endless opportunities to
learn in a more natural and fun-filled manner.

In future, while teaching (with the lower and middle school students
in mind) I would like to use software like Excel, PowerPoint,
WebQuest, Thought Boxes, Educational apps, and mainly Adobe® Digital
School Collection software (helps in the teaching of math and
science, language arts, history/social studies, and visual and
performing arts). As I have a strong background in Adobe software
products and like to experiment and stay updated, I think the School
Software Collection can work excellent in the process of education. As
I mentioned before, iPads (or similar tablets) would be a standard
fare in classrooms as vital learning tools and blackboards will be
replaced with high-tech whiteboards. Like every other aspects of our
daily lives, formal education can be profoundly enriched by the use of
technology.

Poverty Anchor II - What did I find problematic with the lesson/unit?

My first issue with this unit is that I think that the students might find its objective to be somewhat ambiguous. Is it the goal to study the work of Sargent Shriver, or to understand its implications in the current perspective or to learn how public policy could be effectively shaped for the betterment of the society? Since all of them are equally compelling topics, there should have been some clarity to guide student research for this unit. The other point that I would like to make about the content is that there is hardly any background information on Sargent Shriver. It covers his work in detail but fails to shed light on what really motivated him and made him so effective in his one-of-a-kind role. Perhaps some information on his upbringings and experiences would have helped the students to realize what really drove this iconic personality and made him a part of our history.

In addition, the unit could be more organized on the basis of his specific initiatives and an analysis of the factors that impacted their success. While the content is complete in portraying the difficulty of his task, it doesn’t explore the details on how the War on Poverty was actually launched. For example, poverty is not uniform across the country from a geographical or demographical perspective and it would have been interesting to see how the programs uplifted diverse sections of the society in different areas of the country.

Finally, the unit failed to provide any sort of continuity in the subject. From the 60’s till present time, the Government has commissioned multiple programs aimed at reducing or eliminating poverty. The content of the unit would have appeared more thought provoking if it referenced more recent topics that people could have easily connected with.

Unit III - My views on TfU, UbD & Group Investigation frameworks

From my experience as a student and a teacher, I can identify certain aspects of these frameworks that I believe would benefit my style of teaching. The Teaching for Understanding Framework (TFU) includes four key ideas--based on the four questions: generative topics, understanding goals, performances of understanding, and ongoing assessment. I think the TFU framework can be effective in inspiring students and can promote deep learning. One of the very important ideas that form a part of the TFU framework is that of creating opportunities to demonstrate learning in the classroom. While teaching, I observed that young learners are not easily able to articulate what they have learned in a classroom. My recent study of TFU and Group Investigation has convinced me to use learning tools more extensively in future to “make learning visible”. If I can “see” the learning in progress then I can determine the dos and don’ts. It can be seen as an opportunity to observe what students understand. At the same time I think these understanding can be duly promoted with the conscious use of technologies

On the other hand, I support the method of Group Investigation as students are given a chance to take control and make decisions. I believe this process will help build self-confidence for individuals and make them responsible as they will be making decision for their own betterment. But again, when I think of myself in the teacher’s role, I believe there should be a structure to be followed in this method and that should be designed and tailored by the teacher based on the class.

As a framework, I think Understanding by Design (UBD) cannot be same for everyone, in the sense that all teachers must teach the same things in the same way. It espouses the backward design, which asks the teacher/instructional designer/curriculum planner to think about the enduring understandings first before deciding on how to present and sequence activities. That’s about all it prescribes. What the enduring understandings are is really up to the curriculum planner, as with the assessment tasks and the sequence of activities. UBD framework describes a practical and useful "backward" design process in which anticipated results are first identified, acceptable evidence for learning outcomes is established and, only then, are specific learning experiences and instruction planned. I believe that the principles of UBD are not new. In fact, Wiggins and McTighe’s book often quotes Dewey and his philosophy of education. UBD emphasizes the teacher's critical role as an assessor and designer of student learning and the process seems to be elaborate for the teachers. UBD is one model to follow in developing an educational program. It is a good model for new teachers, but I think, with experienced teachers will find that subjects and different groups of students require multiple strategies. I believe that the ultimate goal of educational institute should be to make sure that the students are not learning for the sake of learning but understanding it. This is where I see UBD comes in. To me, learning should lead to understanding and the goal should be to understand and gain knowledge for future skill developments. However, I am not very sure about the ‘backward design’ as I have never tried and tested that kind of framework in my short teaching years and as such unaware of the hurdles one goes through in this process. But it is something to think about and try it out sometime when opportunity arrives.

For me teaching will be a collaborative framework based on all three and making the best use of each one of them. The goal is to make sure that the students develop the ability to think and act in a flexible manner. It is by working through their understanding in response to a particular project/challenge, they understand better. Also, every change is confusing, so the pros and cons of the diverse frameworks will be there as we adjust ourselves to the methods and with building experience figure out what suits our method and process of teaching, learning and understanding. I strongly believe that teaching and new educational technologies can be mutually supportive, synergetic and innovative. In today’s age, technology can make the curriculum manageable for teachers and could be an effective tool in promoting students’ understanding.

Unit II- Problem Solving

What is problem solving?

Problems…problems…problems. Most people spend most of their active hours at work, on road or at home solving problems. Most of the problems we face are simple, few are complex and rarely they are intractable but all of them need to be solved in a satisfactory way. The path from the problem to the solution involves a set of processes. Ideally, we need to study these processes, their limitations and even brainstorm possible alternate solutions to gain a complete understanding of the problem.
Theoretically, problem solving can be an opportunity for improvement from the present state of imperfection to the possibility of a better future. It helps to build and improve skills of the problem solver. It’s also a process that could be pre-designed to acquire knowledge and gain experience and could be a key technique for learning.
In the context of education, problem solving has been traditionally a way to assess the outcome of learning. Class projects, case studies, exercises, examinations have been the primary form of problem solving, designed to practice what we have learnt and to measure performance. However, with a growing need to improve the curriculum, PBL (problem based learning) was formally introduced in medical schools in US in 1950s. By 1970s, this approach was adapted to other disciplines like architecture, law, engineering, business administration and social work. The primary objective of this teaching model is to empower students to learn how to solve problems and think constructively as against the conventional model that focuses on the content of the subject.
In a traditional university classroom, the subject is first introduced to the students and the problems are discussed next, since the idea is to first understand the content and then use the knowledge attained to solve problems. However, this mode of teaching fails to prepare students for the real world where the problems are unstructured and often the solutions are not directly available in textbooks or academic journals. In addition, the students typically work on their own in a traditional curriculum unlike a work environment where teamwork and effective coordination among people actually brings out the best results. PBL redefines the format of the curriculum to address some of these flaws. In PBL, the problem scenario is presented first to the students and all of the learning is organized in the context of the problem. Students usually work in small groups to collaborate and pursue knowledge beyond textbooks to solve the problem. The role of the instructor is a facilitator who works closely with the groups to train them to think about the problem and to ensure that they learn on their own to solve it. Student assessment at the end of course is usually performed through peer and self evaluation in areas like self directed learning, problem solving and collaborative skills as a group member. Therefore the evaluation is primarily on the real issues that was identified through the problem solving process and not on the specific contents of the course.
PBL encourages self-directed learning and helps students to acquire skills that would be useful to them in future life. It motivates them to explore available references, discuss possible solutions with peer group and take responsibility for solving the problem that they are presented with. Students are expected to be independent and creative rather than to fall back to the prescribed solutions by the instructor in traditional curriculum. The role of the instructor is also reinvented as a coach rather than the single point of knowledge and as a result he/she can interact more productively with students to explore ideas beyond what the textbooks will offer. The goal of PBL is to not only meet the course criteria but also to train the students in the art of facing real world tests and to make them lifelong learners.

Are all problem-solving activities meaningful?

Problem solving naturally enhances skills and understanding of the problem domain and helps people to tackle similar problems more efficiently when they encounter them in future. However solving similar problems repeatedly, studying obsolete problems or exploring archaic solutions doesn’t lead to meaningful learning.
In the context of PBL, the design of the problem is the most important factor as it is the central theme around which the entire curriculum is laid out. Intuitively, PBL based courses take longer in comparison to traditional courses as the operational details (forming groups, meeting with instructors, making resources available for problem solving) are cumbersome and might take longer to implement. Therefore it is important to design well formed problems that will stimulate interest among student groups and drive self-directed learning. Uden & Beumont covers a detailed set of principles that should be in consideration for development of these problems or ‘triggers’ which will mimic real-world obstacles that a practitioner will face while not overwhelming the students who are still beginners in the subject. As a result, in PBL the onus is on the instructor to design the course work to challenge the problem solving abilities of the students and strike the right balance between attaining content knowledge and developing intuition for future.

How might we use curricular/technological tools to facilitate
problem solving?

Successful implementation of PBL model requires students to be able to solve problems in classrooms. In the real-world, the use of computer technology is pervasive in almost all professional and academic fields. Therefore, in order to develop problem solving skills among students, the school needs invest in appropriate technology tools and have instructors with relevant training to implement PBL in classrooms. Problem solving should not be a peripheral activity but a central aspect of the coursework and should substitute traditional lectures for the most part.
The first step in using technology is to first define its objectives. Any practical problem solving begins with data collection to understand the domain, to study similar problems in related areas and to review the characteristics of possible solutions. There are numerous resources on the internet that could be the starting point for the students to know about the problem. Online libraries like JSTOR, websites like Wikipedia and search engines like Google and Yahoo are powerful tools to filter through the ocean of information to find the most appropriate content. CDs and DVDs with multimedia content could also be used in classes where the students are beginners to the use of computers. There are certain pitfalls in using internet in classes, especially for children who might find it hard to navigate to the right contents and the instructor needs to train them to structure their search to efficiently find their topics.
Analyzing data is the next step where the students rank and group the outcome of their research and start building postulates. This process requires tools like Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel or several other charting and database packages that can help the user to sort, splice and graphically represent information. This activity is the most important part of problem solving as it helps students to unravel the complexity by means of analysis and deduction. It is an iterative process and might take the most of the student’s time as he/she needs to study references to get a detailed understanding in order to create hypothesis. Solving one aspect of the problem might open up another one and this process of intellectual query leads to meaningful learning. Database tools like Access could be used to store data, sort them by relevance and run queries for further evaluation. Excel is one-of-a-kind product that could be used to create simple charts for illustration and also to deploy advanced statistical tools to uncover hidden correlation among datasets.
Once the students have finalized a solution, it needs to be presented for assessment by instructor and to be opened for peer review. Software tools like Microsoft Powerpoint, Hypermedia, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator could be used to build effective presentations. The purpose at this stage is to summarize the researched data, highlight the result of the analysis and illustrate the solution. Students could be very efficient and creative with the use of these ever-improving software products.
In addition to the above mentioned software, there are other tools that are specific to solving problems in a classroom for engineering, architecture, fine arts and other disciplines. Technology is a vital means for the success of PBL and with the right guidance will be able to push the boundaries of the learning process in identical ways as it changed our daily lives.

Unit I - How do our authors' conceptualizations of meaningful learning relate to your own educational experiences or objectives (as a student and/or educator)?

As a student, I was exposed to the conventional mode of classroom
teaching for most of my primary and middle school. In the high school,
I had laboratory hours for science courses and some of the project
work was collaborative as they were assigned to small teams. In
undergraduate courses, similar trend continued with most of the
learning highly dependent on individual efforts in class assignments
and tests. When I reflect now, I definitely appreciate the effort and
dedication of the teachers but realize that the only part of learning
that mattered was what stayed with me long after I graduated and moved
on to professional life. It’s the chapters that fancied my
imaginations, the intangibles like being open to new ideas and
constructive thinking and the lessons that held my interest and pushed
me to learn more even when the grades have been posted. That’s what
comes close to some of the author’s thoughts on meaningful learning
and I am completely in agreement with them.

As a teacher, I felt that the students are better equipped than before
and as such can keep themselves well informed and practiced. I taught
software tools and processes and realized that the learning becomes
meaningful when the students apply their newly found skills on real
world projects. I also observed the benefits of collaborative learning
first-hand as a teacher. Much to my surprise, my students communicated
effectively, learnt from mistakes and tutored others in their team and
made the process remarkably efficient without getting unduly
distracted. I also reevaluated the role of a modern teacher who needs
to be more of a coordinator or facilitator and adapt to the changing
needs of the students.

Unit I - Traditional vs Cognitive Learning (Uden & Beumont) - Brief summary

This chapter from the book, Technology and Problem Based Learning (PBL) discusses the dynamics of learning, explains the different opinions on the learning process and lays out the foundation for Constructivist learning, a modern approach advocated by the authors. Popular theories on the learning process are introduced through references and relevant examples.

The earliest theories explained learning as a behavioral process where the end goal was a desired response to a standard stimulus. On simpler terms, this means that the learner is expected to assimilate specific details of the subject and provide standard answers when presented with relevant problem scenarios. This aligns closely with the traditional form of teaching where the teacher instructs a subject matter through a planned set of topics, which the students need to prepare and understand with the objective of taking a test. The test provides feedback on the student's progress and in turn comes up with the output of the entire process. The authors argue that this mode of learning undervalues the importance of independent thinking and problem solving which are actually instrumental to succeed in the real world.

Cognitive theory stresses on the technical aspects of learning by using an intuitive model for information processing by the human mind. It carefully analyzes the different ways in which instructions are assimilated in memory and this approach paves the way for the theorists to propose efficient means of imparting knowledge. In Cognitive framework, learning is meaningful when it relates to existing knowledge and therefore it’s important to structure the instructions such that the learners are able to translate them meaningfully. The study of the mental aspect helps to overcome most of the shortcomings of the behavioral learning.

Constructivist learning is a modern principle that challenges the basic premise of the earlier theories by questioning their core philosophy. Both behavioral and cognitive theories define knowledge as an accurate description of the objective world. In contrast, constructivism assumes that knowledge is constructed by the students by means of their experience and introspection as they are exposed to new events and constructs through the learning process. Interpretation of objective facts by the individuals and the perspectives created through the lens of their prior experiences and beliefs defines knowledge.

As a result, constructivism identifies knowledge to be the result of an individual experience imparted more effectively in a collaborative environment and stimulated through the means of problem solving, peer review and attempting real-world, authentic tasks. The consequence of this philosophy is to view learning as a more complex endeavor compared to the other systems where the goal was simply to initiate the uninitiated with objective concepts. The teacher is a facilitator, someone who guides the students through the learning process by working together and solving problems in a collaborative environment as a mentor or a coach. This approach demands a higher level of sophistication in teaching and opens up an entire new area of research on the effective design of the curriculum.