Technology shove for educators

Does it matter if VET practitioners don’t keep up with changing technologies, asks John Mitchell The worldwide fanfare that surrounded the launch of Apple’s new iPad makes it difficult for educators to calmly reflect on the possible educational implications of such technology advances. The Apple iPad launch came on top off other recent innovations such as Google’s answer to the iPhone and Amazon’s push to win the e-book market with its Kindle unit. Meanwhile, Microsoft is actively promoting its downloadable e-Reader software, enabling access to 60,000 e-books. The iPhone alone is dazzling, with reputedly 2 billion users worldwide. More interestingly, the many applications on the iPhone that are now available on the iPad are remarkable in number, range and ease of access. One application alone allows users online access to a library of 100,000 books. Where does the VET sector sit with all of these new technologies? I have two findings I can table from my current research. First, many VET practitioners are still coming to grips with the previous wave of technologies entitled social networking, such as blogs and wikis. And many practitioners are immersed in deploying the public domain learning management system Moodle in preference to proprietary systems, but are finding that even Moodle needs specialist input. Second, VET practitioners know they don’t know enough about e-learning technologies. This clear finding emerged from the recent national survey of VET practitioners I conducted with my colleague John Ward in late 2008. Ironically, while public funding for professional development in e-learning was wound back over the past three years, the need for such professional development skyrocketed. And inventions by Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others have just exacerbated this skills gap. Does it matter if practitioners are progressively falling behind in their ability to understand and use new technologies? It does in every other industry, says Ross Gittins, the respected economics editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. Based on a 2008 report by the Productivity Commission, Gittins argued (‘Truth about Productivity’, SMH, 30.01.10) that keeping up with technology advances is the number one way to improve Australia’s productivity. Above all other factors, productivity is improved by technological advance, said Gittins. This includes “inventing new products, producing better products [this week’s Apple iPad is a bit of both] or introducing better production techniques”. So if the VET sector is to become more productive, the pressure is on VET practitioners, not just from Apple but also from the Productivity Commission and the media, to get across new technologies and, where appropriate, use those technologies to invent new products, better products and better production techniques. But it’s not that simple to pick up a new gadget like an iPad and very soon after invent an educational application, says Clint Smith, president of the national e-learning group Elnet. Before inventions can roll, educators need to think through some of the issues around how people learn, using technology, says Smith. Faddish belief He is concerned that the social networking era of blogs and wikis persuaded VET practitioners that online content was dead and individual learning was inferior, and all that mattered was networking and social learning. “There is a faddish belief that it’s not worth learning unless learning is in a social context. That’s just crazy when you sit down and think about your own learning history. Yes, very significant learning may have happened in a group or team environment, but you spent an awful lot of time reading and thinking and doodling. It’s almost considered that individual reading is passé. “There is a superficiality about the learning in a lot of the Gen Y social networking.” Smith cautions those who bring hype or fads to the topic of educational technology, pointing out that we will always need to debate the merits of online content versus networking, individual versus group learning, and proprietary versus public domain products. And he notes that all technological products, from iPads to Moodle, inevitably have strengths and weaknesses. But Smith admits it is impossible to stay neutral, and is impressed by the vast range of applications on the iPhone and iPad. “They seem to have hit that sweet point: ease of use, functions the people want, and beautifully designed,” he says. Ultimately, Smith believes it is “silly to have a war” between those who champion collaborative social networking via blogs and those who favour individual reading and reflection via e-readers, because “we all learn in both ways”. Despite the shove from Apple and the Productivity Commission to get on with it, Smith believes that VET practitioners have some critical thinking to do before they can develop more educational products around the new wave of technologies. “It’s too early to say whether the iPad is a critical leap in terms of putting the emphasis back onto individual learning.” <<<Contact Clint Smith at learnwks@bigpond.net.au Dr John Mitchell is a VET strategist. See www.jma.com/JMAAnalytics.aspx&gt;&gt;&gt;