“Cyberlearning is about designing new kinds of applications and technology rich experiences, learning how to use them well to foster and assess learning, making the experiences work for particular disciplines and populations, and putting them in place in the world in ways that make a difference.”
Merge Ahead
programmable, electronic device, that can store, retrieve, and process data (including smartphones, G.P.S. devices, tablets, and laptops). -Merriam-Webster Dictionary
LEARNING is a relatively enduring change in behavior as a result of experience. People can learn alone or with
others in collaboration. Learning can be facilitated by learning environments that incorporateinformation and communication technologies.
–How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School,The National Academies Press, 2000
contemporary skill set for our global economy. Rich skills in computation, collaboration, communication, and creativity are highly valued in our modern society. As the world has evolved, so has our understanding of how people learn. In contrast to traditional teaching methods, in cyberlearning projects, students are designing, creating, solving problems, making mistakes, actively reflecting on their experiences, and gaining deeper understanding as they learn essential 21st century skills.
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Learning Sciences
Study of how people learn |
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Computing
Study of computers & technology, including design and uses |
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New Field of Science!
How can technology be used to help people learn?
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EcoMUVE: A Screenshot of the Pond Module. A Virtual Reality Cyberlearning Technology. Photo Courtesy of the EcoMUVE Development Team
Virtual reality (VR) technology can be used to create computer-simulated environments that can immerse learners into a virtual world. Using computer controls, learners can interact with a virtual environment as if it’s a real setting. Virtual worlds can mimic real places (e.g., a volcano, the digestive system) or imaginary settings (e.g., a planet from another galaxy) for deep exploration. Learners are then free to explore and investigate phenomena that are too big or small, too fast or slow, or too dangerous to otherwise experience in real life.
EcoMUVE, for example, is a 3-D virtual world designed to immerse middle school students in simulated habitats (a pond or forest module) as part of an inquiry-based ecosystems curriculum.This Multi User Virtual Environment, or MUVE, has the look and feel of a video game, but it is used instead to immerse learners within the complexity of a specific habitat.
In the pond module, learners investigate a virtual pond and its surrounding environment during a two-week period to understand why the fish have died off. They begin by going underwater and examining the life below the pond’s surface. They take virtual measurements of such factors as water temperature, weather conditions, turbidity (water clarity) and pH levels on different virtual days, working together to understand the fundamental components of the virtual ecosystem and identify the causal relationships that influence them.
The EcoMUVE development team, composed of Chris Dede, Professor Tina Grotzer, Dr, Amy Kamarainen, Dr. Shari Metcalf as well as numerous master’s and doctoral students, explains their work below:
follow-up research: eco-mobile
Photo Courtesy of EcoMUVE Development Team
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Cyberlearning is often misunderstood by the general public as “online learning.” This confusion stems from the creation of cyber-related words to help describe our swift changing horizon of technology and its impact on our world. However, these words (eg., a cybercafe, cybersurfing, cyberbullying) often describe online or Internet-based environments, thus limiting our full understanding of “cyber” and its implications.
Another misconception is that using technology will automatically foster learning. As I’ll try to show you, fostering learning with technology is complex (as is fostering learning without technology); it requires not only good technology but also using the technology and facilitating discussion around its use in effective ways.
Cyberlearning has also been misinterpreted as a replacement of teachers within classrooms. |
As demonstrated in the video below, cyberlearning requires the expertise of teachers to facilitate and contextualize the rich learning opportunities allotted by these educational technologies. These learning opportunities would otherwise be impossible or impractical without the combined power of teachers and next generation technology.
Produced by Kelly Whalen for KQED Education in conjunction with Northwestern University’s iLab, with support from the National Science Foundation.
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Excellent post! I like how you defined “cyberlearning”. As you mentioned, there are so many misconceptions when learning is combined with technology. I also liked how you clarified the role of a classroom teacher when it comes to cyberlearning. Many believe that technology is trying to replace the teachers, when in fact it is the opposite. It is a wonderful resource for a 21st century classroom
The research regarding students,a virtual pond and its surrounding environment during a two-week period to understand why the fish have died off,it is outstanding in this article.