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How historical Events Impact Educational Technology & Online Learning Today
One historical event that caused a lot of teachers to go out of their comfort zone
and learn to teach using technology was COVID-19. Catalano et al. (2021) explained
that “As the COVID-19 pandemic expanded, schools across the world were compelled
to terminate face-to-face instruction. Most schools attempted to transition to a distance-
learning format, although the time to prepare for this transition was brief. The quantity of
students participating in distance learning increased exponentially almost overnight,
including vast numbers who had previously participated exclusively in face-to-face
instruction. Similarly, large numbers of PreK-12 teachers were abruptly switched to
distance learning, including many with little experience in this format” (p.266). I saw this
firsthand as a teacher. We were thrown into the distance learning, trying to figure out
what on-line programs would be best to deliver the instruction to the students. This
forced teachers to learn how to apply best practices to on-line teaching.
A second historical event occurred during WWII when “Wedemeyer emphasized
that there was a need for a correspondence instruction journal to help workers in the
field identify with others in the field as well as to develop and maintain a competency in
the field, but at the time, he was pessimistic that a correspondence instruction journal
could be supported in the U.S.” (Moore & Diehl, 2018, p. 28). This is one of the first time
a need for distance learning occurred. At the time, the best they could do was a journal
that got passed around that allowed the different workers to have correspondence with
each other. This was a time that people were not able to meet face to face, so they
needed to find other ways in which to have correspondence and learn new ways to do
their trade.
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How Theoretical Foundations Impact Educational Technology and Online
Learning Today
Moore & Diehl (2018), explain that “The emerging Internet and communications
technologies have made communities of inquiry possible, allowing students to interact
where and when they choose and collaboratively engage in a purposeful and cohesive
group environment. As a result, there is a growing awareness and responsibility in terms
of applying technology with greater understanding and purpose” (p. 74). I agree with this
statement because with all the new apps and learning platforms available today, there
are many different options for teaching students using technology that will allow the
teacher to meet the student where they are academically and grow at their own speed.
This impacts online learning today due to it is providing teachers and students more
resources for learning and being successful. Honig & Salmon (2021) found that
“Students also referred to and valued feedback that provided clarity and validation (such
as feedback on assignments) as well as when instructors deepened student reflection
and thinking through probing, scaffolding, and contextualizing. This notion of teaching
presence extended beyond timeliness of feedback” (p.111). This refers back to the
principles that were described by Moore and Diehl. Students who are completing on-line
schooling value the feedback that the teachers provide. The feedback helps the
students to learn as well as reflect on how they are doing in the learning process. The
feedback needs to be thought out and helpful to the learning process. This is one part of
on-line teaching that is sometimes automatic by the application that they are using and
sometimes is all coming from the teachers. Either way it has to be the type of feedback
that is useful to the student, and able to be reflected upon.
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Principles of Learning from Cognitive Science
The principle I decided on was #24 – Students are more successful when they
get immediate feedback on assignments, along with what the correct answer should be.
Chin et al., (2021) found, “As the integral component of teaching, learning and
assessment, feedback is given to students after an assessment with the intention to
help them reduce the gap between what is known and what needs to be known. In fact,
the power of feedback in improving teaching and learning has been confirmed in many
studies” (p.185). I agree that in distance education when the student cannot talk with the
teacher directly about their grade on an assignment and why they got an answer wrong
having the correct answer shown will often help them determine what they did wrong
and learn from that mistake. One example of this would be giving the students an
assessment using an online platform such as edulastic, where once they have
submitted the test, they immediately get to see their score. Along with the score it allows
the students to see what they missed and how they should have answered. This allows
the students to see what they did wrong and try to analyze why they might have made
the mistake. A second study showed, “The results indicated that the delayed feedback
from the teacher was significantly more successful than the immediate feedback in
increasing the depth of vocabulary knowledge” (Derwesh & Elfeky, 2022, p.434). On-
line educations allow the teachers to reach the students in many different platforms. It is
important for the teacher to remember that feedback is crucial to the learning of the
student. It is also important that the student is getting the type of feedback, either timely
or delayed that is most appropriate for the assignment.
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References
Catalano, A., Torff, B., & Anderson, K. (2021). Transitioning to online learning
during the COVID-19 pandemic: Differences in access and participation among
students in disadvantaged school districts. [Online learning during the COVID-19
pandemic]FThe International Journal of Information and Learning
Technology,38(2), 258-270. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-06-2020-0111
Chin, H., Chew, C., & Lim, H. (2021). Incorporating feedback in online cognitive
diagnostic assessment for enhancing grade five students’ achievement in
‘time’.FJournals of Computers in Education,F8, 183–212.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-020-00176-3
Derwesh, A., & Elfeky, A. (2022). The effect of immediate and delayed feedback in
virtual classes on mathematics students' higher order thinking skills. Journal of
Positive School Psychology, 6, 432-440.
Honig, & Salmon, D. (2021). Learner presence matters: A learner-centered exploration
into the Community of Inquiry Framework.FOnline Learning: The Official Journal
of the Online Learning Consortium,F25(2), 95-119.
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v25i2.2237
Moore, M. G., & Diehl, W. C. (2018).FHandbook of distance education. London:
Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138239005.
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