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New Learning’s Updates

National Dialogue on Education, Greece

Mary and I are just back from Athens, having participated in the National Dialogue on Education.

Here's the text of a newspaper report in Greek, and this is a slightly tidiedp-up version via Google Translate:

Participation is a key tool in cognitive process

Focusing on the microdynamics of knowledge, the Bill Cope, a professor at the College of Education at the University of Illinois, focused on the elements that trigger the cognitive process. "Participation is a key," he said in his speech.

"Even the architecture of classes reproduce specific relations teacher - pupil. These microdynamics must change, "he added. Focusing on how they can provide the technological tools in education, he explained that the issue is not the technology, but the pedagogy, of creating intensive and well structured learner-to-learner peer interactions.

"Textbooks condense the world in a few pages, giving knowledge to the student," he said analyzing traditional, didactic teaching model. "How can technology change the teacher's-teaching," he wondered, adding that "the students build their own knowledge, working using new technological tools." He reported even more radical changes such as the digital school. "When the teacher has at his disposal all the student work through digital platforms, then comes the end test as we know it," he said. "They can see into all the work that students as they do it, and have a progress record at the end."

Moreover, Bill Cope said "technology is pedagogically neutral." He referred particularly to the ways in which experiment he and M. Kalantzis have developed, works to overcome the traditional "process used in the classroom." "We have teachers, but they are referred to as digital community admins. We do not have students but community members", he said on digital literacy platform they have created.

"We can overcome the four walls of the classroom and the limits of the school time table," he said.

When referring not to the crisis in Greece he said that you can still implement the education reform, adding: "In Illinois we have a debt crisis and cuts in education, resulting in some universities and schools having to close. So we live in similar situations to you."

By William Cope
Views: 1,783

We see that participation scales to measure activity can be useful in engaging students outside of the four walls of a classroom. This is key for those who are working and raising a family. This enables cognitive development and upward mobility for an individual on their educational trajectory. The challenges are for those students who need extra support where do they get it from? It would be great if peers would be allowed to give direction also in a good way of course. The community of learning can grow and helping one another is bottom line what we need to do for a better tomorrow.
- Sarita Rivera Mc Gowan

Efectivamente la educación en línea abre las puertas a un sin número de sectores ya que Desafortunadamente mos siempre los tiempos se ajustan así como las distancias se acortan a través de esta opción,sin dejar de lado que se puede hacer uso de otros recursos digitales que favorezcan el aprendizaje y como bien ya se comento al complementarse con la opción cara a cara se favorece el aprendizaje integral.
- Ana Bertha Carreón Flores

The presentation has clearly explained that teaching and learning can take place so long as we have the learner and the teacher. While traditional teaching methods require that the teacher and student be present in the same room(classroom) for learning to take place, digital learning enables the learning process to take place in situations where the teacher and students cant meet physically.
Digital learning is useful in providing education to mobile communities and those that are facing crisis. In some countries in Africa, lack of instructors in some key courses in the university might make the universities not to offer such courses despite their importance to their economic growth. Use of digital learning would therefore accord these institutions a chance to provide the courses to their students.
Another attractive feature of digital learning is the reduction in tuition costs associated with face to face teaching. The cost reduction can help more students from resource poor backgrounds to pursue higher education.
- Philemon Misoy

This is very helpful especially in areas which are in crisis. Students need not be physically present in a classroom to learn from each other. I love the classroom interaction whenever possible because the face-to face discussions not only fosters academic learning but social as well in my experience. The students in the masters in health professions education come form the varied professions such as medicine, nursing, dentistry, physical therapy etc. The students learned from one another and developed essential team spirit.
- Tarlochan Kaur Pabla