Final Reflection: "Did the use of technology lead to deeper learning?"

"Did the use of technology lead to deeper learning?" In asking myself this question, I wanted to answer 'yes' but also wanted to discuss the question and my perceptions with others. Unfortunately it's 11 pm at night and bar waking someone from bed I was alone. I turned to Google to search and find other's answers to this question online. My online search for discussion and reflection on the question led me to the following sites and articles.

Deep Learning with Technology in 14- to 19-year old learners - Final Report from the University of Bristol (July 2009)

It was helpful to find a definition here of 'deep learning':


"The term ‘deep learning’ was first conceptualised by Marton and Säljö (1979). ... They found two different conceptions of learning, namely a reproductive conception – which gives rise to a surface approach where the learner is intent on simply understanding the content and coping with the task – and a deeper level of processing where learners are engaged in meaning-making and identifying the significance of what they are studying." (pg 3)

"Simms (2006) describes a deep learner as an articulate, autonomous but collaborative learner, with high meta-cognitive control and the generic skills of learning, which suggests that deep learners have developed a certain kind of learner identity." (pg 14)

There were three key themes that emerged from their study:

• Subject culture is one of the main drivers for how students use technology. There is some evidence for features of deep learning in different subject cultures.
• The issue of emerging adult identity is very much connected to how young people select and use different technologies.
• The ways in which technology bridges the formal and informal learning contexts – and their implications for deep learning – are complex and require further study. (pg 5)
  

There were a range of factors and conditions the University of Bristol found in their study that support deep learning with ICT for the 14-19 age group:

• engagement and participation in the subject discourse and practices
• sufficient time to engage in the task and in the subject discourse
• a high level of control over task, time, and ways of working
• appropriate level of maturation for the requirements of the task
• relationship and engagement with peers and others, including tutors
• relationship between personal identity and the subject discourse and practices
• easily navigable communication and tasks which bridge the formal and informal, including bridging the school/college setting and the home setting. (pg 26)
  

Considering my initial raw answer to the question posed at the start of this blog as well as what I read online and reflected upon, I would still say "Yes, the the use of technology lead to deeper learning in my classrooms." In their language and science studies with embedded technology standards students went way beyond mere recitation. Students were indeed engaged in meaning-making in and indentifying the significance of what they were learning by the end of each unit. I feel this success was met to a certain degree by unknowingly establishing the factors and conditions set forth in the Bristol study as conducive of deep learning with ICT in my science and ESL classrooms. As with much of educational pedagogy, the conditions and factors conducive of effective learning cross disciplinary boundaries. As an experienced teacher I am well aware of the benefits and need to establish these conditions in my classrooms. Best practice for literacy, whether scientific literacy, linguistic literacy, or technology and information literacy, transcends disciplines at its core and where met supports deep learning.

See Mind Over Matter: Transforming Course Management Systems into Effective Learning Environments (November/December 2002) for an interesting read on course management systems such as PantherNET and deep learning.