EXPLORING THE ELECTRONIC CLASSROOM AS A LEARNING SYSTEM
Open Access
- Author:
- Kordel, Richard
- Graduate Program:
- Adult Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Education
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 26, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Patricia Angelica Cranton, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Daniele D Flannery, Committee Member
William Dryden Milheim, Committee Member
Richard Robert Young, Committee Member - Keywords:
- information presentation
electronic education
learning systems
mental models - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the system that is comprised of teachers, students, content and media, with a focus on the specific consequences of using computers as teaching aids, and to explore the factors that may lead to an understanding of those consequences. I will explore the idea that far from being a passive information delivery and communication tool, the act of moving information onto a computer adds to, subtracts from, and changes the nature of information presentation, comprehension and communication. That change can be situated in the nature of the medium itself, or in how the students and teachers interact with that medium, or in the teachers and students themselves. Hopefully, this study will lead to a more careful consideration on the part of educators of how, in the best of circumstances, the computer has been incorporated into education as a useful research and communication tool, and in the worst, of how education has been compromised by the indiscriminate use of computers. Looking forward it is my hope that this research can serve to guide practice within the evolving field of educational technology. In this paper I will seek answers to the following research questions: - What role does the presentation and communication of information on a computer screen play in how students and teachers interpret and react to the information? - What happens to the learning system when teaching and learning transaction is filtered through the medium of the computer? Specifically, what happens: o in the content of discussions? o in the conduct of discussions? iv o in how students and teachers conceptualize knowledge? o in how students and teachers envision the purpose of education? - What role do student and teacher background attitudes, personality type, information processing style and self-perceived computer competency play in how those students and teachers perceive discussions, conceptualize knowledge, and perceive purpose of education? These research questions are viewed as being inter-related and part of a complete system. Implicit in these questions is an applied research orientation which assumes there is a way to improve teaching and learning through an understanding of how the use of computers affects students, teachers and information