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--- Forwarded Message from "Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan" <[log in to unmask]> --- >From: "Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan" <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:57:53 -0500 >Subject: RE: #9553 Research on student learning effects of technology >To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'" <[log in to unmask]> Hi Harry, The debate about whether the use of media improves student learning started decades ago, and is still ongoing. In the field of instructional technology there is the famous debate between two researchers Richard E Clark and Robert E Kozma on this exact same topic. In a series of articles in the 80's and 90's Clark argued that media did not influence student learning, and Kozma disagreed. Clark also pointed out the difficulty in designing studies where one could attribute the differences in learning outcomes entirely to the use of media. Clark argued that it was the method, and not the media that impacted student learning. Many of the studies comparing student achievements with and without technology use reported that there was "no significant difference". The booming growth of online learning has brought this issue, once again, to the forefront. As Joel noted, it has been and is difficult to provide such hard evidence about the impact of instructional technology on student learning. However, Joel and the University of Central Florida, with which he is associated, are really big on assessment and evaluation. They are quite rigorous about collecting and analyzing data pertaining to student learning. Their Research Initiative for Teaching effectiveness does a lot of work in this area. http://dl.ucf.edu/research/rite/dl-impact-evaluation/ More recently, in Sept. 2010 the U.S. Department of Education published the results of a study on the effectiveness of online learning. The study involved a systematic search and a meta-analysis of about 1000 empirical studies on online learning. The report concluded that when compared with traditional face-to-face instruction online learning is as effective, and blended learning more effective. The difference in outcomes, they point out, should not be attributed to the media per say, but to the increased opportunities for learning that is facilitated by the use of media. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.p df The integration of technology in teaching makes sense for many, many reasons. Technology can help address different learning styles, meet the learning and communication preferences of our digital native students, meet student needs for anytime-anyplace learning, individualize learning, provide increased opportunities for interacting with content, practice and assessment, and enrich the learning experience of students in a way that the non-use of technology does not. And so on and so forth. When trying to make the case for instructional technology, I like to also focus on these other areas. But in many cases, without actual data, it is a hard sell. ******************************************** Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan Director Foreign Language Technology Center Wayne State University 385 Alex Manoogian Hall 906 W. Warren Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA Email: [log in to unmask] Tel: 313-577-6391 Fax: 313-577-3041 http://www.langlab.wayne.edu ******************************************** *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning Technology (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI Anthony Helm, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************