INTEGRATING PEDAGOGY, COGNITION AND
TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE EDUCATION
INTEGRATING PEDAGOGY, COGNITION
AND TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE
EDUCATION
DISTANCE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
Opportunities and risks of distance education
PILSEN, CZECH REPUBLIC
23– 25 June 2010
Presented by Lynette Naidoo
lnaidoo@unisa.ac.za
University of South Africa (Unisa)
Department of Communication Science
Programme
INTRODUCTION AND AIM
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED
PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK
Critical pedagogy
Re-fashioning distance education
CONCLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction and aim
E-learning as it impacts the tripartite relationship of
pedagogy, cognition and technology
E-learning must be firmly rooted in epistemological
frameworks to be effective in the learning
experience
The pedagogy should continue to transform and
evolve as technologies change
The problem …
Low throughput rate at higher/distance
education institutions
Statistics of the graduation rate in South
Africa in 2008:
distance education institutions = 9.9%
contact institutions = 21%
Need for development of interventions and
pedagogies - unique to the distance
education system to enhance the learning
process
The question …
“How does e-learning accommodate
knowledge building?”
The method …
Theoretical examination of cognition,
pedagogy and technology - review of the
literature
Investigation of models of distance
education
Minimum criteria for transformative and
constructivist learning environments
In-depth interviews conducted with Open
and Distance Learning (ODL) experts at the
University of South Africa (Unisa)
Key concepts defined …
Distance learning – learning conducted by
someone removed in time and space from
the students - “transactional distance”
Pedagogy vs Andragogy vs Heutagogy
Technology – e-learning
Knowledge building
Cognition – mental process of knowing
Assumption
E-learning is a process that facilitates
and opens avenues for effective
teaching
Its potential to bridge the
transactional distance among all
stakeholders in distance learning
Significance
The contribution that it will make
towards developing an integrated
pedagogical model for
higher/distance education
The study in context …
The research conducted used Unisa, a
higher/distance education institution in
South Africa
(go Bafana Bafana)
which uses ODL as its mode of
teaching and learning, as context for
this study
About Unisa
• Founded in 1873
• Services approximately 300 000 students
• Fifth largest mega ODL education institution
in the world
• Uses the myUnisa platform as its Learning
Management System
• For academic collaboration and studyrelated interaction
• myUnisa is an online platform for learning,
which is used in conjunction with various
other forms of learning
Theoretical framework
Paulo Freire’s dialogic process of
communication
Participatory, dialogic and
reciprocal communication
Education - a dialogue
Theoretical framework cont…
•
•
•
•
Conscientisation
Active reflection and reflective action –
praxis
Bringing the individual to critical
reflection
• Thinking which perceives reality as a
process and a transformation, rather than as
a static entity – relates to minimum criteria
for transformative and constructivist learning
environment
Discussion
Criteria for transformative,
constructivist learning
environments
Interactive
Active
Engaged
Contextual
Authentic
Social and personal
Critical pedagogy
Views education as a broad form of
knowledge which demands critical
educators and not just subject
experts in the learning process
Critical pedagogy: critical
educators
Critical educators - changing nature of
the components of the educational
context
The critical pedagogist - change is a
result of constant interaction between
every component of the context
Engagement and action
Critical pedagogy: role of
academic/lecturer
Critical pedagogy challenges
conventional views of the relationship
between student and teacher
Academics as transformative
intellectuals
versus
Traditional pedagogical approaches
Critical pedagogy: role of the
lecturer cont...
Memorisation = anti-dialogical;
versus
The educator who experiences the act
of knowing together with his/her
students
Critical pedagogy: cont...
Teaching strategies – beyond giving
students a list of books or articles to
read and analyse.
Bloom’s taxonomy
Classification of learning objectives within education
Relevance of this taxonomy - skills in the cognitive domain
Knowledge, comprehension and critical thinking
Developing the curriculum
Outcomes
Incorporate the six levels in the taxonomy, with knowledge,
comprehension and application being lower order skills and analysis,
synthesis and evaluation at the higher level
These cognitive skills may be developed by incorporating the relevant
distance education pedagogy
Cognition
• Lecturer’s responsibility
• Adopt appropriate pedagogical
frameworks
• Relevant cognitive skills in the
distance education learner
.... the research conducted refers to elearning as the catalyst in
accomplishing such development
Re-fashioning higher/distance
education
Most educators agree that learners
place more belief in knowledge they
have discovered on their own than in
knowledge presented by others; yet
these teachers fail to trust students to
learn anything that is not explicitly
stated by the teacher.
Stahl (2000:111)
Behaviourism versus
constructivism
Behaviourist versus a constructivist
approach in instructional design
The educator often becomes so
focused on the desired outcome
Diffusion model
The educator will be failing to support
learning
that
leads
to
the
development of higher level cognitive
skills and long-term change
Information diffusion versus
Knowledge building
21st century higher/distance
education
Building knowledge
Adding and preserving knowledge
Role of e-learning
Content
• Instruction should be planned
• Clear vision of what students will do with the content
presented
• Students should interact with the instructional
content
• Activities - promote and support open-ended, selfdirected learning
• Not for memorisation
• Use as a tool
• Planned and sequenced activities (requires carefully
planned design, feedback and dialogue, and faith in
students’ capabilities when given adequate
guidance)
Technology
Technology is a tool
By itself it cannot teach anything
The human element
Technology cont...
A cohesive approach to
education
To support changes in cognition, affect and
behaviour – Bloom’s taxonomy
Cognitively challenging tasks
Address the affective issues that stimulate
learner recognition of the need for change
Provide opportunities for action
Motivational aspects should also be included
in instruction
Cognition
Create a conducive learning
environment in the distance mode – a
community of learners
Dialogical relationship
Dialogical relationship
Take an epistemological cycle as a
totality
Rather than splitting it - one stage for
acquiring existing knowledge then
creation of new knowledge
Synchronous/Asynchronous
learning environments
Establish a social environment
though synchronous and/or
asynchronous means through
video conferencing, satellite
broadcasting and discussion
forums
Synchronous/Asynchronous
learning environments cont...
• Students’ questioning of viewpoints
and theories
• Critical analysis and debate
• Support rich learning experiences
• Group sharing
• Supports individual responsibility
• Distributed learning
High level cognition
Active learning - primary mode of instruction
- not as a supplement to the lecture
• Such learning will lead to permanent high
level cognitive development
• Engagement theory
Technology and pedagogy
• A review of the literature shows that elearning is positively impacting distance
education
• Opportunities and limitations of each
technology-supported delivery should be
critically analysed - appropriate
pedagogical techniques
Technology and pedagogy cont...
Use and understanding of technology in
teaching
Gap between pedagogy and technology
If the primary focus of the lecturer is on
pedagogy
And technology is seen as another mode of
delivery designed to enhance the teaching
and learning experience
Then technology and pedagogy will be seen
as existing separately, with one having
minimal impact on the other
Tripartite relationship
Technology and pedagogy - mutually
supportive and interdependent
Construct new meaning about teaching in
distance education
Bridge the gap between pedagogy,
technology and eventually cognition
Conclusions
Learning should be integrated with
technology in distance education in order to
accelerate student performance
Results from the literature review
corroborate with the in-depth interviews
Link with knowledge building
Learning strategy should be appropriate to
the university’s local needs and resources
Technology changes rapidly
A learning strategy - learner-centredness
and engaged learning
Conclusions cont...
Meaningful dialogue may be initiated
through relevant and appropriate
pedagogies in distance education.
Conclusions cont...
Good teaching is not simply
introducing and adding technology to
the existing teaching and content
domain
Rather, the representation of new
concepts
The development of sensitivity to the
dynamic, transactional relationship
between pedagogy, technology and
cognition
Conclusions cont...
Lecturer’s role - partner in learning
Probes and challenges learners
reflective, critical thinkers
Framework proposed – learning that is
reciprocal between students and
peers, and students and the lecturer
Conclusions cont...
The research conducted concludes on
the premise that e-learning enhances
the process of learning and helps in
achieving higher level cognitive
objectives
Conclusions cont...
Development of an epistemological
framework
Integrative
Incorporating current as well as future
trends and realities
Process driven
Consistent with the current and future
state of society and education with a
strong theoretical underpinning
Recommendations
Further empirical research studies to
determine the barriers that impede
meaningful engagement
Further research to determine the
extent of knowledge-building
components that are built into
curricula
STRONGLY RECOMMEND...
STRONGLY RECOMMEND...
PEDAGOGY – ANDRAGOGY—HEUTAGOGY
A THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL RETHINK
Finally…
The learning process is a form of reinventing, re-creating and re-writing
Immersion
Transform the learning environment
in a pedagogically responsible and
appropriate manner with the
assistance of e-learning – tripartite
relationship
Thank you