Report on a case study involving ICT and instructional strategies Essay

Report on a case study involving ICT and instructional strategies - Essay Example And it is through engaging with ICT that learning defines itself as e-learning. Heavily content-driven models are no longer in demand and show little understanding of sustaining online culture or appreciation for engagement. Since content only describes the 'I' of ICT, while the 'C' is more about connectedness, community, communications, context, processes, interactions, and engagement. For the purpose of this exercise the unit of work consists of seven class periods, lectures were prepared for grade level 6-8 students and the subject area was Life Science. There were three topics, namely 1) What's New with Dinosaurs 2) Dinosaur Detectives, and 3) Dinosaurs in Argentina. (RecoverySchool.com (2001). Assignment Discovery Online Curriculum. Retrieved May 31, 2005 from http://www.discoveryschool.com). Whether using computers in teaching or not, the importance, presence and influence of the 3P personal and situational presage factors (i.e. abilities, motivations, prior knowledge and contextual factors) attributed to a given learning situation remain unchanged. These factors influence the learning process, or the approach adopted by the student to the learning task; which in turn influences the product, or outcomes of learning. (The Nature of Learning and Teaching. Retrieved May 31, 2005 from Active construction of learning is generally accepted in contemporary education acknowledging that it is important for students to construct their own knowledge rather than acting as passive learners. Students should be encouraged to recognize this importance and should be allowed to construct their own learning. Guiding principles for constructivism are; 1) pose relevant problems, 2) secure lesson around 'big' concepts, 3) value students' point of view, 4) adapt curriculum to students' prior knowledge, and 5) assess authentically. The concept of self-directed learning brings about a changed perspective in respect instructional strategies. (Instructional Strategies In a Computer-Based Learning Environment. Retrieved, May 31, 2005 from http://www.education.unisa.edu.au/education/school/subjects/educ5092/Strategies.html Strategies must be designed and amended to acknowledge constructivist learning. Constructivist teachers encourage student independence, use terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, alter content based on student responses, find out what students already know, encourage students to engage in dialogue, ask students to elaborate on initial responses and allow students to link new to prior knowledge thus facilitating cognitive conflict as a result of contradictory experiences. (The Nature of Learning and Teaching. Retrieved May 31, 2005 from http://education.qut.edu.au/irving/spb002/topic/construct/Construst.htm) In the work unit these attributes are reflected in item 1 of the procedures applied to answer the question What's New with