Digital Art Making as a Representational Process

In this article I bring artistic production into the learning sciences conversation by using the production of representations as a bridging concept between art making and the new literacies. Through case studies with 4 youth media arts organizations across the United States I ask how organizations structure the process of producing autobiographical digital art through a focus on representational tasks and how learning can be traced by examining youth artists' representations over time. Using a distributed cognition framework I analyze data on the process of making digital art in terms of the macro and micro tasks performed in order to identify occasions for external representation construction and use across organizations. I then examine how individual youth engage in these macro and micro tasks by producing representations that demonstrate their understanding. These analyses show that youth media arts organization production processes engage young artists in a representational trajectory that begins with developing a story about the self, moves toward a focus on how the tools of the medium afford representation of that story, and culminates in digital representations that reflect an understanding of the relationship between story and tools.     

The building blocks of digital media literacy: socio-material participation and the production of media knowledge

This article outlines the knowledge and skills students develop when they engage in digital media production and analysis in school settings. The metaphor of ‘digital building blocks’ is used to describe the material practices, conceptual understandings and production of knowledge that lead to the development of digital media literacy. The article argues that the two established approaches to media literacy education, critical reading and media production, do not adequately explain how students develop media knowledge. It suggests there has been too little focus on material practices and how these relate to the development of conceptual understanding in media learning. The article explores empirical evidence from a four-year investigation in a primary school in Queensland, Australia using actor–network theory to explore ‘moments of translation’ as students deploy technologies and concepts to materially participate in digital culture. A generative model of media learning is presented with four categories of building blocks that isolate the specific skills and knowledge that can be taught and learnt to promote participation in digital media contexts: digital materials, conceptual understandings, media production and media analysis. The final section of the article makes initial comments on how the model might become the basis for curriculum development in schools and argues that further empirical research needs to occur to confirm the model’s utility.     

Moving beyond enhancing pedagogies with digital technologies: Frames of reference,habits of mind and transformative learning

Abstract

Digital technologies are a part of schooling, however, given the significant focus on using of digital technologies in teaching and learning, there is little evidence of wide scale transformation. It is within this context that this paper reports on a qualitative, explanatory case study of six teachers, with experience in enhancing pedagogies in a well-established ubiquitous technologies environment, consciously seeking to transform their practice to enact personalized digital learning. The findings indicate three interacting factors contributed to the degrees of transformation: teachers’ frames of reference (beliefs and attitudes), habits of mind (prior experience), and modes of transformative learning. This paper highlights how diversification of classroom roles, relationships and actions created challenges for teachers with experience integrating digital technologies in teaching and learning.     

浅论兴趣挖掘与行为规范对于提升教学质量的重要性

当前高职学生存在学习兴趣不浓,学习行为习惯不良,课堂听课质量不高的问题,严重影响毕业生的技能素质水平,导致毕业生的岗位竞争力偏弱,不利于应对激烈竞争的市场。本文从如何挖掘高职学生的学习兴趣,培养学生良好的行为习惯为着眼点,通过具体事例,详细阐述有关措施和方法。     

依托新媒体构建学习共同体 着力促进大学文科有效教学

为探索提高大学文科教学有效性的途径,文章以情境学习理论为支撑,探讨依托新媒体平台构建学习共同体以履行大学文科有效教学原则的可能性和现实性,并进而提出如何利用新媒体平台构建学习共同体的设计原则以有效地提高大学文科教学的效果,为大学文科教学改革提供借鉴。     

Introducing the Creative Learning Principles: Instructional Tasks Used to Promote Rhizomatic Learning Through Creativity

ABSTRACT

Proving a child has been adequately educated is manifest through assessments evaluating the recall of facts or the deciphering of codes. How this information is taught and learned is the issue. Webb's depth of knowledge (DOK) and Bloom's taxonomy are cognitive models that drive instruction in today's classrooms. According to these models, creativity is a higher-order learning process. Although creativity has gained a renewed prominence in theoretic academic arenas, on the battleground of the typical classroom, creativity takes a back seat to instructional strategies with the goal of successful standardization of knowledge. Creativity, however, is the cornerstone of arts instruction. Creative learning principles (CLPs) is a system of instructional tasks developed in the arts and used to facilitate the metacognitive act of learning through creativity to solve problems. This article discusses how the CLPs create rhizomatic learning by facilitating connections between art and other disciplines and how they are used in planning.     

数字化时代我国高校综合性美术人才培养的几点思考

数字时代的到来，当代艺术正经历着一场从传统物质媒介到数字媒介的转变，这种转变将对现存的传统艺术教育产生巨大的冲击。笔认为，在数字化时代，我国的高等美术教育要从创新教育与通才教育，素质教育与专业教育等方面着手培养高素质的综合性美术人才。     

高校美术教育与大学生审美能力培养

全面推进素质教育是一个巨大的系统工程,美术教育是其工程中不可或缺的一个重要组成部份。在高校学生有限的美术教育课程中,应多途径培养高校学生的审美能力,从而引发其自身潜质提升,通过美术教育引领学生认识世界、认识自然、认识自己,使学生的文化素质得以全面提升。     

Learning from Apps and Objects: The Human Touch

In three studies, we examined children's geography learning from a physical puzzle and an app designed to mimic the puzzle. In Study 1, 5‐ and 6‐year‐olds were taught Australia's states by an experimenter using a puzzle or were taught by an app. Children learned significantly more states from instruction with the puzzle than when they used the app independently. When children were allowed to bring home the puzzle or app for 1 week in Study 2, total learning between conditions was comparable. Length and frequency of use were related to learning only for puzzle users. In Study 3, children were taught the geography lesson by an experimenter using the app. Children's learning from this social app condition was equal to the social puzzle condition but higher than the solo app condition of the earlier studies, suggesting that learning from digital devices is most successful when supplemented with in‐person social interaction.     

The Nottingham Apprenticeship Model: Schools in partnership with artists and creative practitioners

This article documents the collaborative research and development of an apprenticeship model of learning for the arts. It focuses on teachers working in partnership with artists and other creative practitioners. The model is rooted in theories of social learning and cognitive apprenticeship. It was developed and tested through collaborative research, some of it action research. The aim was to explore and test the model for appropriateness and for its impact on the learning of all participants (children, teachers, creative practitioners). The model was found to be useful as a guide to the organisation of children's learning in the arts. Moreover, using the model had a positive effect on the inclusion of children on the margins into wider school learning. The model was also useful in facilitating the professional development of the adults concerned: teachers, artists and others.     

How are campus students using social media to support their studies? An explorative interview study

Social media hype has created a lot of speculation among educators on how these media can be used to support learning, but there have been rather few studies so far. Our explorative interview study contributes by critically exploring how campus students perceive using social media to support their studies and the perceived benefits and limitations compared with other means. Although the vast majority of the respondents use social media frequently, a “digital dissonance” can be noted, because few of them feel that they use such media to support their studies. The interviewees mainly put forth e-mail and instant messaging, which are used among students to ask questions, coordinate group work and share files. Some of them mention using Wikipedia and YouTube for retrieving content and Facebook to initiate contact with course peers. Students regard social media as one of three key means of the educational experience, alongside face-to-face meetings and using the learning management systems, and are mainly used for brief questions and answers, and to coordinate group work. In conclusion, we argue that teaching strategy plays a key role in supporting students in moving from using social media to support coordination and information retrieval to also using such media for collaborative learning, when appropriate.     

Concept Development and Meaningful Learning Among Electrical Engineering Students Engaged in a Problem-Based Laboratory Experience

This phenomenographic study documented changes in student-held electrical concepts the development of meaningful learning among students with both low and high prior knowledge within a problem-based learning (PBL) undergraduate electrical engineering course. This paper reports on four subjects: two with high prior knowledge and two with low prior knowledge. Subjects were interviewed at the beginning and end of the course to document their understanding of basic electrical concepts. During the term, they were videotaped while solving problems in lab. Concept maps were generated to represent how subjects verbally connected concepts during problem-solving. Significant to PBL research, each subject’s body of meaningful learning changed with each new problem, according to how the subject idiosyncratically interpreted the activity. Prior knowledge among the four subjects was a predictor of final knowledge, but not of problem-solving success. Differences in success seemed related more to mathematical ability and habits of mind. The study concluded that, depending on context, meaningful learning and habits of mind may contribute significantly to problem-solving success. The article presents a testable model of learning in PBL for further research.     

More than just a group: teacher collaboration and learning in the workplace

Teaching is often characterized as an isolated activity, yet opportunities for teachers to work and learn together in schools are increasing. Underlying this shift is the view that as teachers work on new practices and teaching challenges together, they will express varied perspectives, reveal different teaching styles and experiences, and stimulate reflection and professional growth. Despite strong research interest in teacher learning groups, few studies have looked at the relationship between teachers' conversations and collaboration outside the classroom and their actual classroom teaching. Drawing on data from a larger study of literacy instruction with middle‐school teachers, this article describes how three teachers participated in an ongoing literacy program with a research group. Two were seventh‐ and eighth‐grade language‐arts teachers, the third was a special‐education teacher who taught a substantially separate class of cognitively delayed and learning‐disabled students. Case studies of each teacher draw on meeting observations, classroom observations and interviews to describe how each participated in after‐school meetings, how they used the work of the group in the classroom, and how they brought teaching successes and challenges back to the group. Although each of the teachers participated actively in the teacher learning group and changed their practice, the teachers with the most advanced teaching of literacy practices did not bring that expertise into the teacher group as fully as they might have. The analysis raises questions about how teachers participate and learn and how to structure teacher groups to maximize teacher learning.     

The end of innocence: critical approaches to Open and Distance Learning

In this article Elin Maher of the University of New Brunswick, Canada, notes that the proliferation of delivery media suggests the need to consider whether and how the medium affects student learning. This paper presents a case study which examines student perceptions of factors affecting learning, and discusses differences in perceptions between classes taught using two different delivery media.     

The Effects of Arts Integration on Long‐Term Retention of Academic Content

Previous correlational and quasi‐experimental studies of arts integration—the pedagogical practice of “teaching through the arts”—suggest its value for enhancing cognitive, academic, and social skills. This study reports the results of a small, preliminary classroom‐based experiment that tested effects of arts integration on long‐term retention of content. We designed matched arts‐integrated (AI) and conventional science units in astronomy and ecology. Four randomized groups of 5th graders in one school completed one unit in the treatment (AI) condition and the other in the control (conventional) condition. To control for teacher effects, four teachers taught the same subject to different groups in each condition. We administered curriculum‐based assessments before, immediately after, and 2 months after each unit to measure initial learning and retention. Results showed no differences in initial learning, but significantly better retention in the AI condition. Increases in retention were greatest for students at the lowest levels of reading achievement.     

试论高师院校数码钢琴课堂教学有效性的提高

高等师范院校数码钢琴课堂教学追求的是在有限时间内的有效教学,有效教学不是以教师教了多少知识作为评判标准,而是要看学生在教学过程中学会了多少知识,学习能力是否得到有效的提高,素质是否得到发展。采用数码钢琴集体课的教学方式教给学生的不仅是知识,还有探求知识的方法与思维,它使学生真正实现了从＂学会＂到＂会学＂的转变。     

Medium for empowerment or a ‘centre for everything’: Students’ experience of control in virtual learning environments within a university context

In maximising opportunities to nurture rich and productive learning communities, there is a need to know more about the cultures and sub-cultures that surround virtual learning environments (VLEs). Drawing from a small-scale interview study of students’ digital practices, this paper explores how different discourses may have patterned a group of students’ experiences of VLEs. Unlike studies which have focused upon evaluations of specific projects or interventions, this study investigated their experience across their course. It explores the student identities they associated with digital environments and the power relationships which seemed to pattern how they positioned themselves (or felt positioned) as learners. Whilst none were intimidated by technical aspects, the student identities available to them seemed to vary, as did their perceptions of the student identities associated with university-sponsored digital environments. The analysis considers three aspects of their experience: how they related to the VLE itself, how they related to others through this, and the alternative communities they created to attempt to manage their engagement with the VLE. The paper concludes by arguing for further research which focuses on the broader student experience across courses in order to explore how university-based digital environments intersect with students’ identities as learners.     

New concepts of play and the problem of technology,digital media and popular-culture integration with play-based learning in early childhood education

Technology, digital media and popular culture form an important aspect of young children’s life-worlds in contemporary post-industrial societies. A problem for early childhood educators is how to most effectively integrate these aspects of children’s life-worlds into the provision of play-based learning. Traditionally, research has considered barriers to teacher uptake of technologies in the early years, or teacher beliefs and attitudes about using technologies with young children. An alternative perspective focuses on children’s play as the foundation for early childhood curriculum provision and argues that what is needed instead are ‘new’ concepts of play more appropriate for explaining children’s contemporary play experiences in post-industrial societies. This article examines the influence of a new concept of play called ‘web-mapping’ on teachers’ curriculum practices in early childhood education, and finds that, according to Vygotsky’s ideas about explicit and implicit mediation, new concepts of play are likely to provide a fruitful avenue for addressing the ‘problem’ of technology, digital media and popular-culture integration in early childhood education.