Cognitive Load Theory and its Application in the Classroom

Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching
The theory identifies three different forms of cognitive load: 

• Intrinsic cognitive load: the inherent difficulty of the material itself, which can be influenced by prior knowledge of the topic 
• Extraneous cognitive load: the load generated by the way the material is presented and which does not aid learning  
• Germane cognitive load: the elements that aid information processing and contribute to the development of ‘schemas’.

Castañeda and Selwyn - More than tools?

More than tools? Critical perspectives and alternative visions of technology in higher education
International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
Edited by: Linda Castañeda and Neil Selwyn
Collection first published: 1 March 2018

1) We need to talk about learning.
2) We need to talk about pedagogy.
3) We  need to acknowledge the human aspects of digital technology use in education.
4) Digital technologies and the (hyper) individualisation of digital education.
5) Digital technologies and the commercialization of higher education.
6) Digital technologies and the neoliberalisation of higher education.
7) The need for the constructive criticism of digital technologies and higher education.

Everett Rogers - Diffusion of innovations

Theory to explain how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread.

Book first published in 1962.  Fifth edition published in 2003.

Four main elements influence the spread of a new idea:

• The innovation itself
• Communication channels
• Time
• Social system

When widely adopted, there is a point when an innovation reachs a critical mass.

Diffusion of innovation relies on human capital.  Adopters can be divided into innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

What everyone should know about SLA

Bill Van Patten

1.  What's in your head
2.  Practice doesn't make perfect
3.  Communication
4.  Don't automatically blame the first language.
5. 

Communication = the expression, interpretation and negotiation of meaning in a given context.

Classrooms are fixed contexts for communication:

• The setting is always the same.
• Participants are always the same. 

Learners create an abstract mental representation, similar to the way in which L1 learners do.
This representation bears little to no resemblance to what is traditionally practised.
This representation builds up over time due to consistent and constant exposure to input data.  Practice, as traditionally conceived, does little to foster the development of representation.

Digital Games in Language Learning

Frederick Cornillie

 

Positive attributes of digital games:

Games and simulations can enable experiential and discovery learning, transform drill-based learning to context-based acquisition and lower affective filters;

Goal-directed tasks/quests in digital games enable task-based language teaching;

Increased needs for collaboration encourage the development of collaborative social relationships and collaborative learning;

Masking the identity of the learners reduces anxiety and encourages greater risk-taking and creative use of language;

Cohesive and meaningful contexts create situated and immersive learning experience.

COTS = Commercial off the shelf games
MMPORGS = Massive multiplayer online role playing-games

Learning from COTS

Studies have found that playing commercial video games are beneficial to vocabulary learning and for improving listening and reading ability, but not for enhancing speaking and writing skills due to the fact that stand-alone video games do not offer communication opportunities and usually demand physical responses, rather than spoken and written output, for game procession.

Example Games

Little Alchemy  
GeoGuessr 

Papers please

Stop Disasters Monkey GO Happy
ESL Games Plus

MarkSharks

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi

'The aim of education is not to transfer knowledge; it is to guide the learning process, to equip the learner with the methods of research. It is not the piecemeal merchandizing of information; it is to enable the acquisition of the methods for learning on one's own; it is the provision of keys to unlock the vault of knowledge. Rather than encouraging students to appropriate the intellectual treasures uncovered by others, we should enable them to undertake on their own the process of discovery and invention.'

Makiguchi Value-creating Education

Dr Ruben Puentedura - SAMR Model

'Dr. Ruben Puentedura is the Founder and President of Hippasus, a consulting firm based in Western Massachusetts, focusing on transformative applications of information technologies to education. He has implemented these approaches for over twenty-five years at a range of K-20 educational institutions, as well as health and arts organizations.

He is the creator of the SAMR model for selecting, using, and evaluating technology in education, which currently guides the work of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, as well as projects in Vermont and Sweden.

His current work explores new directions in mobile computing, digital storytelling, learning analytics, and educational gaming, focusing on applications in areas where they have not been traditionally employed. He can be reached at rubenrp@hippasus.com.'

Ruben R. Puentedura's blog 

The impact of SAMR

How to Apply SAMR