INTEGRATING PEDAGOGY, COGNITION AND

TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

INTEGRATING PEDAGOGY, COGNITION
AND TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE
EDUCATION

DISTANCE EDUCATION CONFERENCE

Opportunities and risks of distance education
PILSEN, CZECH REPUBLIC
23– 25 June 2010

Presented by Lynette Naidoo

lnaidoo@unisa.ac.za

University of South Africa (Unisa)

Department of Communication Science
 Programme

INTRODUCTION AND AIM

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED
PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK
Critical pedagogy
Re-fashioning distance education
CONCLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
 Introduction and aim

E-learning as it impacts the tripartite relationship of

pedagogy, cognition and technology

E-learning must be firmly rooted in epistemological

frameworks to be effective in the learning
experience

The pedagogy should continue to transform and

evolve as technologies change
 The problem …

Low throughput rate at higher/distance

education institutions
Statistics of the graduation rate in South
Africa in 2008:
distance education institutions = 9.9%
contact institutions = 21%
Need for development of interventions and
pedagogies - unique to the distance
education system to enhance the learning
process
 The question …

“How does e-learning accommodate

knowledge building?”
 The method …

Theoretical examination of cognition,

pedagogy and technology - review of the
literature
Investigation of models of distance
education
Minimum criteria for transformative and
constructivist learning environments
In-depth interviews conducted with Open
and Distance Learning (ODL) experts at the
University of South Africa (Unisa)
 Key concepts defined …
Distance learning – learning conducted by
someone removed in time and space from
the students - “transactional distance”

Pedagogy vs Andragogy vs Heutagogy

Technology – e-learning
Knowledge building
Cognition – mental process of knowing
 Assumption

E-learning is a process that facilitates

and opens avenues for effective
teaching
Its potential to bridge the
transactional distance among all
stakeholders in distance learning
 Significance

The contribution that it will make

towards developing an integrated
pedagogical model for
higher/distance education
 The study in context …

The research conducted used Unisa, a

higher/distance education institution in
South Africa
(go Bafana Bafana)
which uses ODL as its mode of
teaching and learning, as context for
this study
 About Unisa
• Founded in 1873
• Services approximately 300 000 students
• Fifth largest mega ODL education institution
in the world
• Uses the myUnisa platform as its Learning
Management System
• For academic collaboration and study-
related interaction
• myUnisa is an online platform for learning,
which is used in conjunction with various
other forms of learning
 Theoretical framework

Paulo Freire’s dialogic process of

communication

Participatory, dialogic and

reciprocal communication

Education - a dialogue
 Theoretical framework cont…

• Conscientisation
• Active reflection and reflective action –
• praxis
• Bringing the individual to critical
reflection
• Thinking which perceives reality as a
process and a transformation, rather than as
a static entity – relates to minimum criteria
for transformative and constructivist learning
environment
Discussion
Criteria for transformative,
constructivist learning
environments

Interactive
Active
Engaged
Contextual
Authentic
Social and personal
 Critical pedagogy

Views education as a broad form of

knowledge which demands critical
educators and not just subject
experts in the learning process
 Critical pedagogy: critical
educators

Critical educators - changing nature of

the components of the educational
context
The critical pedagogist - change is a
result of constant interaction between
every component of the context
Engagement and action
 Critical pedagogy: role of
academic/lecturer
Critical pedagogy challenges
conventional views of the relationship
between student and teacher

Academics as transformative
intellectuals
versus
Traditional pedagogical approaches
 Critical pedagogy: role of the
lecturer cont...

Memorisation = anti-dialogical;
versus
The educator who experiences the act
of knowing together with his/her
students
 Critical pedagogy: cont...

Teaching strategies – beyond giving

students a list of books or articles to
read and analyse.
 Bloom’s taxonomy
Classification of learning objectives within education
Relevance of this taxonomy - skills in the cognitive domain

Knowledge, comprehension and critical thinking

Developing the curriculum

Outcomes
Incorporate the six levels in the taxonomy, with knowledge,
comprehension and application being lower order skills and analysis,
synthesis and evaluation at the higher level

These cognitive skills may be developed by incorporating the relevant

distance education pedagogy
 Cognition

• Lecturer’s responsibility
• Adopt appropriate pedagogical
frameworks
• Relevant cognitive skills in the
distance education learner
.... the research conducted refers to e-
learning as the catalyst in
accomplishing such development
Re-fashioning higher/distance
education

Most educators agree that learners

place more belief in knowledge they
have discovered on their own than in
knowledge presented by others; yet
these teachers fail to trust students to
learn anything that is not explicitly
stated by the teacher.
Stahl (2000:111)
 Behaviourism versus
constructivism
Behaviourist versus a constructivist
approach in instructional design

The educator often becomes so

focused on the desired outcome
 Diffusion model

The educator will be failing to support

learning that leads to the
development of higher level cognitive
skills and long-term change
Information diffusion versus
Knowledge building
21st century higher/distance
education
Building knowledge
Adding and preserving knowledge
Role of e-learning
 Content
• Instruction should be planned
• Clear vision of what students will do with the content
presented
• Students should interact with the instructional
content
• Activities - promote and support open-ended, self-
directed learning
• Not for memorisation
• Use as a tool
• Planned and sequenced activities (requires carefully
planned design, feedback and dialogue, and faith in
students’ capabilities when given adequate
guidance)
 Technology

Technology is a tool
By itself it cannot teach anything
The human element
 Technology cont...
A cohesive approach to
education
To support changes in cognition, affect and
behaviour – Bloom’s taxonomy

Cognitively challenging tasks

Address the affective issues that stimulate
learner recognition of the need for change
Provide opportunities for action
Motivational aspects should also be included
in instruction
 Cognition

Create a conducive learning

environment in the distance mode – a
community of learners

Dialogical relationship
 Dialogical relationship
Take an epistemological cycle as a
totality
Rather than splitting it - one stage for
acquiring existing knowledge then
creation of new knowledge
Synchronous/Asynchronous
learning environments
Establish a social environment
though synchronous and/or
asynchronous means through
video conferencing, satellite
broadcasting and discussion
forums
 Synchronous/Asynchronous
learning environments cont...
• Students’ questioning of viewpoints
and theories
• Critical analysis and debate
• Support rich learning experiences
• Group sharing
• Supports individual responsibility
• Distributed learning
 High level cognition
Active learning - primary mode of instruction
- not as a supplement to the lecture

• Such learning will lead to permanent high

level cognitive development

• Engagement theory
 Technology and pedagogy
• A review of the literature shows that e-
learning is positively impacting distance
education
• Opportunities and limitations of each
technology-supported delivery should be
critically analysed - appropriate
pedagogical techniques
Technology and pedagogy cont...

Use and understanding of technology in

teaching
Gap between pedagogy and technology
If the primary focus of the lecturer is on
pedagogy
And technology is seen as another mode of
delivery designed to enhance the teaching
and learning experience
Then technology and pedagogy will be seen
as existing separately, with one having
minimal impact on the other
 Tripartite relationship

Technology and pedagogy - mutually

supportive and interdependent
Construct new meaning about teaching in
distance education
Bridge the gap between pedagogy,
technology and eventually cognition
 Conclusions
Learning should be integrated with
technology in distance education in order to
accelerate student performance

Results from the literature review

corroborate with the in-depth interviews

Link with knowledge building

Learning strategy should be appropriate to
the university’s local needs and resources
Technology changes rapidly
A learning strategy - learner-centredness
and engaged learning
 Conclusions cont...

Meaningful dialogue may be initiated

through relevant and appropriate
pedagogies in distance education.
 Conclusions cont...
Good teaching is not simply
introducing and adding technology to
the existing teaching and content
domain
Rather, the representation of new
concepts
The development of sensitivity to the
dynamic, transactional relationship
between pedagogy, technology and
cognition
 Conclusions cont...
Lecturer’s role - partner in learning
Probes and challenges learners
reflective, critical thinkers

Framework proposed – learning that is

reciprocal between students and
peers, and students and the lecturer
 Conclusions cont...

The research conducted concludes on

the premise that e-learning enhances
the process of learning and helps in
achieving higher level cognitive
objectives
 Conclusions cont...
Development of an epistemological
framework
Integrative
Incorporating current as well as future
trends and realities
Process driven
Consistent with the current and future
state of society and education with a
strong theoretical underpinning
 Recommendations
Further empirical research studies to
determine the barriers that impede
meaningful engagement

Further research to determine the

extent of knowledge-building
components that are built into
curricula
 STRONGLY RECOMMEND...
STRONGLY RECOMMEND...

PEDAGOGY – ANDRAGOGY—HEUTAGOGY

A THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL RETHINK

 Finally…
The learning process is a form of re-
inventing, re-creating and re-writing
Immersion
Transform the learning environment
in a pedagogically responsible and
appropriate manner with the
assistance of e-learning – tripartite
relationship
Thank you