| | New technology advances research and teaching
Researchers use digital media to analyze findings, develop training tools, and disseminate curriculum materials. Using Hypertext Navigation to Deepen Learning
Hypertext learning environments hold great promise, but they also present challenges for learners and designers. As part of her research into designing optimal learning environments, UW-Madison education professor Sadhana Puntambekar developed the project she calls CoMPASS (Concept Mapped Project-based Activity Scaffolding System). Assessing Learning in the 21st Century
In computer games, students can learn by solving problems that are realistic, complex, and meaningful. So games have great potential to teach the kind of thinking that young people need in the digital age, says UW-Madison education professor David Williamson Shaffer. But after years of designing and testing digital learning environments emphasizing learning in action, Shaffer has turned to the problem of assessment. Games, simulations, and other digital tools have the power to revolutionize learning, letting students work in challenging, real-world situations. But standardized tests focus on basic facts and skills, which are only part of what it takes to solve real-world problems. So Shaffer and his research team at UW-Madison have been asking: How can we assess the digital learning that happens in educational games? Online Mentoring as Good as In-Person
Students who use the computer game Urban Science learn to think like professional urban planners. In the process they improve their ability to address environmental problems. The game creates opportunities for students to develop science, ethics, and practice to build a professional urban planning frame of reference, or epistemic frame. Elizabeth Bagley found that students who played the game used more scientific language and gave more specific recommendations for addressing environmental problems. Benefits and Drawbacks of Social Media in Education
Students must learn to distinguish the skill needed to locate information online from the ability to understand that information. Using social media to cultivate and demonstrate deep learning is possible, but that requires overcoming the persistence of distraction, the surfeit of irrelevant information, and the temptation to wander. |
