29 April 2004
The them of Pedagogical Interaction Management Using Wireless Technology" was fully explained by Professor Remi Legrand from Universite Pierre-et-Marie Curie(Paris VI), and professor Michelle Joab From LIRMM, Universite Montpellier II.
In their presentation to the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies: From Theory to Applications, which was held under the premiership of engineer Mohammad Naji Otri in Damascus last week, the professors said that the new information and communication technologies for education(ICTE) enhance pedagogical activities during a lecture or recitation class. The ongoing integration of ICTE into face-to-face learning examines the issue of their sensible use in order to adapt investments and to build innovative pedagogical processes.
Professors Legrand and Joab proposed the computerizing of some pedagogical interactions occurring in class to enable the learner to store all the pedagogical results. In addition, the teacher is able to complement and go through the pedagogical resources for future uses.
What really matters is the contribution of computerized interactions during a class along with the hardware and software required for implementation. Local networks in a pedagogical context have been widely developed, but are basically dedicated to lab class. Thanks to the fall of the cost of hardware and the introduction of new software, the use of ICTE has been extended to all kind of classrooms.
The two professors said that the topics of security and stability were less critical in their presentation. They explained that the devices used were a videoprojector, laptops and interactive whiteboard or tablet PC. All those devices were connected through a wireless network.
The second section of the presentation described the contributions of these technologies to the pedagogical activities in a class. The third section presented an experiment schedule in order to study the feasibility and interest of the approach.
Focussing light on the contributions of these technologies to the pedagogical activities in a class, the professors insisted that the interactions between the teacher and the students are central within face-to-face learning. Professors Legrand and Joab added that in a modern classroom, the teacher interacts with students via projecting slides and commenting on them. Wireless connection is usually used by the teacher who can also associate oral annotations to a slide, following an interaction. In an equipped classroom students can use their laptops and go back to previous slides. Thus they manage three layers of documents. It is the teacher who decides whether he displays the documents on the interactive whiteboard. Then the teacher selects the questions he wants to answer or store.The students can ask their questions and peer through the network. The control panel is to be experimented to assess the additional cognitive workload required from the teacher and the students. In addition, we have to assess how much these functionalities help the course of the class.
What really counts in the presentation, the professors stressed, is the collaborative work in various pedagogical situations. In short, the use of collaborative work software in a network based classroom helps achieving the goals of: working out of solutions for each group of students, communication from one group to other groups, global discussion with the videprojector, shared annotations to exchange arguments and proposals in order to improve the solution.
Regarding experiment schedule, Professors Legrand and Joab explained that the pedagogical situations presented in section two do not require heavy installation in terms of equipment or writing. They rely on existing software or small software easy to develop. They said: "We have worked out an experiment schedule to validate the situations encountered by the students and teachers. Each experiment variable is tested in order to validate separately each pedagogical hypothesis. The validation process focusses on the technical feasibility, usability of devices, and quality and number of pedagogical interactions".
Finally, Professors Legrand and Joab gave the following conclusion: "We are aware of the issues raised by our proposals. Technically, wireless technology is important because it allows progressive investment. The teacher's motivation is very important. New aspects of their activities must be well examined, including, the workload involved, evaluation of the teacher's work, and copyright and relevant broadcasting rules.The use of new technologies must not reduce teaching in a classroom to distance learning. Its features of interactivity and user-friendliness must be preserved while developing the use of the tools of the computer".
The them of Pedagogical Interaction Management Using Wireless Technology" was fully explained by Professor Remi Legrand from Universite Pierre-et-Marie Curie(Paris VI), and professor Michelle Joab From LIRMM, Universite Montpellier II.
In their presentation to the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies: From Theory to Applications, which was held under the premiership of engineer Mohammad Naji Otri in Damascus last week, the professors said that the new information and communication technologies for education(ICTE) enhance pedagogical activities during a lecture or recitation class. The ongoing integration of ICTE into face-to-face learning examines the issue of their sensible use in order to adapt investments and to build innovative pedagogical processes.
Professors Legrand and Joab proposed the computerizing of some pedagogical interactions occurring in class to enable the learner to store all the pedagogical results. In addition, the teacher is able to complement and go through the pedagogical resources for future uses.
What really matters is the contribution of computerized interactions during a class along with the hardware and software required for implementation. Local networks in a pedagogical context have been widely developed, but are basically dedicated to lab class. Thanks to the fall of the cost of hardware and the introduction of new software, the use of ICTE has been extended to all kind of classrooms.
The two professors said that the topics of security and stability were less critical in their presentation. They explained that the devices used were a videoprojector, laptops and interactive whiteboard or tablet PC. All those devices were connected through a wireless network.
The second section of the presentation described the contributions of these technologies to the pedagogical activities in a class. The third section presented an experiment schedule in order to study the feasibility and interest of the approach.
Focussing light on the contributions of these technologies to the pedagogical activities in a class, the professors insisted that the interactions between the teacher and the students are central within face-to-face learning. Professors Legrand and Joab added that in a modern classroom, the teacher interacts with students via projecting slides and commenting on them. Wireless connection is usually used by the teacher who can also associate oral annotations to a slide, following an interaction. In an equipped classroom students can use their laptops and go back to previous slides. Thus they manage three layers of documents. It is the teacher who decides whether he displays the documents on the interactive whiteboard. Then the teacher selects the questions he wants to answer or store.The students can ask their questions and peer through the network. The control panel is to be experimented to assess the additional cognitive workload required from the teacher and the students. In addition, we have to assess how much these functionalities help the course of the class.
What really counts in the presentation, the professors stressed, is the collaborative work in various pedagogical situations. In short, the use of collaborative work software in a network based classroom helps achieving the goals of: working out of solutions for each group of students, communication from one group to other groups, global discussion with the videprojector, shared annotations to exchange arguments and proposals in order to improve the solution.
Regarding experiment schedule, Professors Legrand and Joab explained that the pedagogical situations presented in section two do not require heavy installation in terms of equipment or writing. They rely on existing software or small software easy to develop. They said: "We have worked out an experiment schedule to validate the situations encountered by the students and teachers. Each experiment variable is tested in order to validate separately each pedagogical hypothesis. The validation process focusses on the technical feasibility, usability of devices, and quality and number of pedagogical interactions".
Finally, Professors Legrand and Joab gave the following conclusion: "We are aware of the issues raised by our proposals. Technically, wireless technology is important because it allows progressive investment. The teacher's motivation is very important. New aspects of their activities must be well examined, including, the workload involved, evaluation of the teacher's work, and copyright and relevant broadcasting rules.The use of new technologies must not reduce teaching in a classroom to distance learning. Its features of interactivity and user-friendliness must be preserved while developing the use of the tools of the computer".
Bashar Sati ?
© Syria Times 2004
