تجزیه و تحلیل مقایسه ای از آموزش الکترونیکی: زمینه استرالیایی

The implementation of learning technologies in some subjects in some secondary schools across Australia is still in its early stage. Not surprisingly, the reason is that most, if not all, of the subjects currently being taught do not require the aid of learning technologies. Typical lessons, however, delivered in the class – such as in social sciences, arts and languages – are performed by a teacher with the aid of learning technologies. Often, these technologies are suitable for lessons that do not require extensive project development and presentations, such as subjects in Industrial Work (e.g., wood and metal work). In this paper, the author looks at a different approach in achieving learning outcomes focusing on these subjects then introduces learning tools that encourage students to work in teams to assist them in developing and completing their projects. Two learning technologies are developed and tailored, and evaluated for particular classes. The results indicate that these technologies have assisted in achieving elaboration, collaboration, and the intellectual and social development of groups of students working on skill- and time-extensive subjects. The comparative analysis performed in this work is considered the first in recent years.

Adopting learning technologies in various schools remains to be a challenge: not necessarily in the context of availability of resources, but rather in the very nature of the subjects that are being taught. These subjects are practice-based, requiring skills and work in workshops and labs that leave no room for ICT. In this paper,the results of the study are presented after investigating and implementing two learning technologies in workshops. This is to determine their feasibility in achieving good learning outcomes. The selection of two distinct resources – WebQuests and video streams - in teaching and learning may appear opportunistic, given the fact that both have been particularly useful in teaching wood crafting in one of the woodwork workshops at a New South Wales (NSW) public school. Nevertheless, it is a particularly valuable opportunity, given that we specifically designed and created WebQuests, which is published on the Internet, and introduced video streams in the class to capture the development, through to completion, of the students’ projects. The WebQuests is available to students in schools across Australia and across the globe, including the Philippines,Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.Instead of being merely general purpose tools, the video streams for year 12 students are for specific educational purposes. This resource does not focus on operational functions (how to create and capture videos)but focuses rather on students’ learning capabilities, and on how to evaluate their work using this particular resource in class while they are developing their major projects for the Higher School Certificate (HSC). Both learning technologies (WebQuests and video streams) have since proven to be good resources for our high school students, as an adjunct support to our daily interaction with them in class. These resources are designed and developed to help achieve the syllabus outcome set down by the NSW Department of Education for the teaching of Arts, Sciences and Technology curricula throughout the state.The contribution of this work provides an interesting avenue for other teachers to consider and eventually adopt learning technologies in various workshops and laboratories in high schools across the state of NSW.

In evaluating the resources, special consideration has been given to highlight their consistency with the learning theories and gauge their effectiveness at achieving learning outcomes. The theories assisted in gauging the suitability, practicability, and applicability of the chosen resources. Both resources focus on the areas of achieving social and intellectual development (Ivers & Baron, 1998) Moreover, the resources’ consistency with learning theory shows that they achieve the basic three dimensions of pedagogy that are important to the development of a student. Ultimately, the resources encourage what constructivist education proposes. These resources have been successfully implemented in the classrooms during the last school year.However, success in their implementation is different from success in achieving benefits, and the success of the learning outcomes is not immediate or necessarily visible over a given period of time. Similarly, it is difficult to gauge the intellectual progress of the students until their marks are finalised. From psychological,intellectual and social perspectives, however, the design, introduction, and use of these resources expand the definitions of teaching and learning – bringing important learning outcomes that enrich the work of both teachers and students in a given educational context.