Choosing &
Using Technologies in Education & Training
Print Materials
Bates, A. W.
1995, Technology, Open Learning and
Distance Education, London: Routledge.
A book which provides an eminently
useable methodology for making competent and informed
decisions on choice and use of technologies in education.
Bates sets out criteria for decision-making based on an
analysis of common questions each institution must answer for
itself, to do with access, costs, teaching and learning,
interactivity and user-friendliness, organisational issues,
novelty, and speed.
Teachers and managers will find the
first chapter especially useful. In it, Bates proposes '12
golden rules for using technology in education and
training: good teaching matters; each medium has its own
aesthetic; educational technologies are flexible; there is no
super-technology; all major media types should be
available to teachers and learners; balance variety with
economy; interaction is essential; student numbers are
critical; new technologies are not necessarily better than
old ones; teachers need training to use technologies
effectively; teamwork is essential; and technology is not the
issue but how and what do we want students to learn is.
Subsequent chapters deal with the
educational, technical and cost issues involved in technology
selection and implementation of four major types of media:
print, television, audio (including telephone), and the
computer. He concludes with a thoughtful look at the future
of technology and its limitations in education and training.
Chambers, Ellie
1994, Collaborative publishing in
distance education: economics and pedagogy, in Economics
of Distance Education, eds. G. Dhanarajan, P. K. Ip, K.
S. Yuen, & C. Swales, Hong Kong: Open Learning Institute
Press.
Co-publishing of learning resources by
institutions and commercial publishers is becoming more
common as a way of improving quality, achieving cost
effectiveness, and opening up new markets. Chambers outlines
how the British Open University is pursuing this, and the
effects on internal planning and restructuring of materials.
Laurillard, Diana
1993, Rethinking University Teaching: a
Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology,
London, Routledge.
This book, written by a leading UK Open
University academic, has greatly influenced approaches to
staff development in Australian universities in recent years.
Laurillard sets out a framework to help teachers think about
the nature and processes of learning and how best to use and
combine new and established media in their teaching. Part 1
explores students' learning, and what it is that they need
from educational technology. Part 11 looks at individual
teaching methods and media, including non-interactive media
(lectures, print, audio), hypermedia (CD-Rom and the Web),
and interactive media (simulations, modelling programs). Part
111 examines design methodology, designing learning
activities, setting up the learning context, and maintaining
quality.
Lockwood, Fred
1992, Activities in Self-Instructional
Texts, London, Kogan Page.
A practical guide to the critical
issues to consider when writing self-instructional text which
uses many examples of activities from a wide
variety of situations and subjects. It comprises five main
sections: how do activities work (e.g. as a tutorial in
print, a reflective action guide, or for self-dialogue); what
is the research evidence to back up the design of activities;
what assumptions do writers make and what expectations do
they have of students; what do learners think about the
benefits and costs of activities; and how do all these issues
come together in course design. Lockwood practises what he
preaches in the way in which the book is written, with
numerous activities for the reader in between the text.
Oliver, Ron & Grant, Mike
1994, Distance Education Technologies: a
Review of Instructional Technologies for Distance Education
and Open Learning. Perth: InTech Research, Edith Cowan
University.
A highly practical and very useable
guide to the various instructional technologies that can be
used to support distance teaching and flexible learning. Four
groups of technology are outlined - telelearning (including
various forms of television and teleconferencing); computer
mediated communications; computer mediated instruction; and
print and other 'hard copy' materials. Each section briefly
describes the technology, its instructional applications and
learning opportunities, its relative strengths and weaknesses
as a delivery medium, the costs and equipment required to
support its use, and information on groups and organisations
able to provide services and assistance to providers of
education and training.
Rowntree, Derek
1992, Exploring Open and Distance
Learning, London: Kogan Page.
An easy to read how-to book
written for teachers, trainers and managers in education,
industry and public sector organisations on improving
practice and professional competence as teachers. In addition
to good chapters on media choice and use, and the role of the
learning package, Rowntree covers issues of
openness, who learners are, fostering their autonomy and ways
of providing support, costs and costing methods, evaluation,
and management of change.
Thorpe, Mary
1988, Evaluating Open and Distance
Learning, London, Longman.
One of the major texts on evaluation
for practitioners of distance and flexible learning, this
book includes a useful chapter on strategies for piloting
course materials (meaning mainly print) during the stages of
development/production and delivery, including peer and
teacher feedback.
Willis, Barry
Distance Education at a Glance.
http://www.uidaho.edu/evo/distglan.html.
Site accessed July 1997.
A set of 14 concise, well-presented
guides on distance learning, covering an overview, teaching
strategies, instructional development, evaluation,
instructional television, instructional audio, computers in
distance education, print in distance education, learning
strategies, distance education research, interactive
videoconferencing, the worldwide web, copyright, and a
glossary of terms. The guides can be downloaded free.
Wood, H.
1995, 'Designing study materials for
distance students', Occasional
Papers in Open and Distance Learning, Charles Sturt
University, Vol. 17, May.
http://www.csu.edu.au/division/OLI/oli-rd/occpap17/design.htm.
Available in hard copy from CSU or online.
An evaluation of good practice in
designing and teaching science subjects at a distance,
especially one which would normally involve laboratory work.
The subject evaluated was an introductory biology unit
comprising a print and video package built around a
commercial text.
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