Serge Pouts-Lajus, OTE and Marielle Riché-Magnier
Monique Linard sees distance learning as a real opportunity
to rethink the learning process as a whole. In general, information
and communication technologies (ICT) give rise to the same issues
that have been debated in educational circles for years. The relationship
between teachers, trainers, and their students. It's no use thinking
that one can put an end to the debate simply by insisting endlessly
that machines will never become a substitute for teachers or by
brushing their fears aside in the belief that they can easily
be reassured.
Computers were first introduced in schools and training centres
in the early 1960s, on an experimental basis. Since then, information
technologies have continued their path through the education and
training systems encountering the familiar successes and failures
on their way. More recently, the development of new information
storage (CD-ROM) and processing techniques (new micro-processors,
digitalisation, and compression) alongside widespread access to
telecommunications networks have regenerated interest in this
ICT application field.
Today, most schools, universities or training centres use computers,
be they rather old ones, for administrative but also for educational
purposes. The public authorities, judging by their past or existing
procurement policies, are very aware of the potential of new technological
tools. In the context of budgetary constraints and educational
reform, there is a temptation to point to the introduction of
new technologies as one of the measures that can help reduce expenditure,
adapt the educational system in the light of socio-economic change,
and even, increase its efficiency. The attractiveness of new technologies
is often cited as a way to win people over, both children and
adults, whilst traditional teaching methods tend to put them off.
A similar enthusiasm is shared by large companies who are convinced
of the need, in an increasingly competitive environment, to optimise
their investments in personnel development.
Yet, some people are beginning to question the extent to which
information technologies can be regarded as genuine tools for
learning. They denounce technological benefits as an illusion,
warn that the traditional teacher-learner dialogue could be under
threat, and fear that the isolation of a computer-bound pupil
or student could lead to a decline in human values and educational
standards. The learning process is the result of a complex series
of interactions between learners and their teachers, and between
each learner and his/herself. To what extent do technologies modify
this triangular relationship? A study of learning theory and practice
is essential if one is to gain a better understanding of the role
that ICT can genuinely play as new educational resources.
Two theories of learning have dominated the 20th Century: Skinner's
Behaviourism and Piaget's Constructivism. Behaviourists
see learning as the gradual adjustment of one's behaviour to changes
in the environment; it is a "black box" for which any
attempt to analyse its internal mechanisms is futile. Learning
involves reacting to stimuli, teaching consists of strengthening
these stimuli according to the perceived feedback. Piaget, on
the other hand, observes and analyses the different stages in
the intellectual development of a child. It is his conviction
that the motor of learning is the search for an equilibrium whose
aim is to correct the temporary incoherences between perceived
reality and its internal representation. Learning process takes
place through the continuous creation of new mental structures.
Despite major differences between the opposing theories of Behaviourism
and Constructivism, they do have one thing in common. Both present
an essentially individualistic view of learning in that it is
always analysed from the point of view of the learner, be it from
his/her reactions to certain stimuli, or from the monitoring of
his/her overall activities which contribute to the developement
of new mental patterns.
Behaviourism, through the work of Skinner himself, gave rise to
a specific pedagogical system, programmed instruction, which aims
to automate the stimulus-response-reinforcement process. Information
technology by enabling the automatic processing of information,
was considered as a tool that ideally lent itself to programmed
instruction. However, programmed instruction, both as a theory
and in practice, has since fallen into disfavour, having largely
failed to meet expectations.
Piaget himself never considered the role of technology in learning.
On the other hand, one of his scholars, the American Seymour Papert,
is the author of a programming language called Logo, for
"learning to learn", which was based on Piaget's teachings.
Logo is user-friendly and is designed both for children
and adults. It is the precursor to "object-oriented"
programming languages. It met with wide success in all countries
which took part in the first wave of introduction of micro-computers
in schools. Although this first wave of success has now died down,
Logo and its successors, in particular Lego-Logo
which combines informatics and robotics, continue to be developed.
Thus, the two main psycho-pedagogical schools of the 20th Century,
Behaviourism and Constructivism, both gave rise to a technological
tool: in the case of Behaviourism it was programmed instruction,
while Logo was the technological incarnation of Constructivism.
Both tools are designed for the learner. The learning model on
which they are indirectly based is truly individualistic, with
the focus on the learning process.
How do these theories fair when they are put in practice? Two
simple models can be used to assess the teaching methods generally
encountered in the classroom today: the first, which can be regarded
as "traditional" because priority is given to the transfer
of knowledge from the teacher to the learner ("teacher-centred"),
the second, which can be referred to as "modern" in
view of its emphasis on the building up of knowledge by the learner
("learner-centered").
The traditional model brings together a teacher, the transmitter
of knowledge, and a group of knowledge receivers - the learners.
The typical lesson is delivered ex cathedra from a rostrum to
a large audience, with the occasional assistance of teaching resources
to back up the professorial lecture. In the case of this model,
the quality of education is dependent on that of the teacher,
on his/her grasp of the subject being taught, and on his/her ability
to explain things clearly. The teacher assesses the level of understanding
of each learner, by means of regular written or oral tests. According
to the traditional model, the teaching resources used are above
all designed to help the teacher by highlighting and illustrating
his/her lessons. In terms of the traditional model, one example
could be the use of a multimedia computer providing access to
a number of different teaching aids (texts, pictures, films),
or video-conferencing which enables the teacher to reach remote
learners. In this case, the teacher him/herself becomes a multimedia
teacher...
In the case of the modern method, the focus is on the active participation
of the learner and on a variety of different means of knowledge
acquisition and transfer. Learners are encouraged to undertake
practical work or personal research in preparation for a lesson,
or to explore it further. Though the role of the teacher remains
central, learner participation in discussions, the voicing of
a learner's opinions, team work, and learner-based initiatives
are essential components of the learning process. This method
of teaching is practised in universities in the context of seminars
or in professional training courses, and to a lesser degree at
primary or secondary school level. The modern method, which is
to be found in its purest form in nursery education, tends towards
the constructivist approach. Technologies are put not in the hands
of the teacher, but in those of the learner. In this case, software
is used by the learner to create, simulate, consult and evaluate
his/her knowledge. Such tools can also be used to request assistance
from a remote teacher, tutor, or trainer.
To be added to these models which illustrate classroom situations,
is an atypical model, that of self-teaching, which combines the
most extreme features of both the traditional and the modern teaching
methods. In the case of self-teaching, the role of the learner
is central, but he/she is largely dependent on the guidance provided
by standardised teaching aids which are substituted for the teacher.
The technological tools best suited to this learning method are
to a large extent the same as those used for the modern method
as they are exclusively learner-centred. But the teaching resources
used, in particular the software, tend to be inspired from programmed
instruction methods. They often simulate, with a variable degree
of success and flexibility, the conventional role of the teacher
according to the traditional method: presentation of knowledge,
demonstration, testing of knowledge acquired.
Classroom observation of teaching methods has revealed that between
the traditional model according to which education is teacher-centred,
and the contemporary model which is learner-centred, there is
room for a third model that can be termed the model of mediation
in the sense that it highlights the teacher-learner relationships.
Whatever the circumstances, the learning process, whether it be
at home, at school, or in a training centre, always involves some
form of communication. At school or in the training centre, the
teacher or trainer both endeavour to create an atmosphere that
is conducive to exchange and participation; they prepare a lesson
in such a way as to ensure that it can be easily absorbed, and
keep a check on the students' progress and comprehension. The
teacher's main preoccupation is not simply to transmit knowledge,
but to promote a framework for personal development leading to
its appropriation. In this process, the teaching content, that
is, the subject matter and the language used in its transmission,
are not neutral: they structure mental patterns and the learner's
perception of the world. The trans-disciplinary nature of education
enriches the learning process by broadening and giving more coherence
to the different mental patterns already formed by the learner.
Relations between learners play an extremely important role in
the learning process. School is not only the place where children
learn, but also the one where their personality is formed and
where they socialise. The two go together. It is through comparing
themselves with others, by adapting their understanding of the
outside world to that of their peers, that learners are able to
orient themselves and come to share the same culture and values.
It is also through "teaching" others that learners learn
most effectively: the formulation of ideas and arguments all help
to structure and focus the mind. Interaction between learners
is punctuated by moments when it is possible to orient, filter,
develop, and synthesise all the information absorbed at school
or elsewhere.
Teaching resources, including the blackboard, text books, video
or audio tapes or laboratory experiments, reinforce, structure,
and enrich individual conceptions. The "crystallisation"
of different concepts on a physical medium enables the learner
to exploit and appropriate them. Above all, physical teaching
resources allow learners and the teacher to present the different
concepts of a lesson in an objective manner - that is no longer
solely reliant on dialogue. In this way, training resources enable
the various exchanges in a group to be "de-dramatised".
The fact that they are standardised is important: sharing the
same text books enables an entire generation to acquire common
references that are essential to the communication of a particular
culture.
The mediation model is backed up by a number of theories. They
are less well known than those associated with the successes of
Behaviourism and Constructivism. Two famous psychologists can
be linked to this school of thought, the Russian, Vygotsky, and
the American, Bruner. They both reject the individualism upon
which Behaviourism and Constructivism are based. "Most
theories of learning like those associated with development [of
animals], are based on methodologies that are implicitly individualistic.
(...) For the same individualistic bias to exist in the study
of learning in our species is even more extraordinary, given our
cultural attachment to the family, the school, peer groups, and
our ability to present the world to ourselves or to others through
language."
Bruner's contribution is primarily methodological. His interest
in the process of language acquisition in young children centred
his analysis on the "mother-child" relationship and
more generally on the notion of guidance/supervision in the learning
process. According to Bruner, learning is the result of the interaction
between the individual and his/her culture. Vygotsky and Bruner
do not reject the constructivist nature of learning. However,
whereas Piaget believed that a child learns through action, Vygotsky
and Bruner shared the view that "learning is a transaction,
an exchange between the learner and a more experienced member
of his/her culture group".
The education and training of older children and adults is based
on the collective dimension of the learning community, in particular
the relationships between peers. In this wider context, the theoretical
references are more scarce. It is worth referring to Diana Laurillard
and her conversational model which she applied to higher education.
Mention should also be made of Britt-Mari Barth who developed
and experimented with a teaching method based on the exchange
of conceptions between teachers and pupils.
The Mediation Model, Technology and Practice
The mediation model deprives information technology of its role
as a regulator and centraliser around which learning is organised.
This model withdraws technology to the periphery of the teaching
process and transforms it into a tool which support the educational
relationships. The selection of those technologies best adapted
to this view of education is essential for their integration in
educational systems.
Mediation can be applied to interpersonal exchanges within a group
composed of the teacher or trainer and the learners, as well as
to the exchanges which take place within the minds of the learners
themselves in the context of their personal work. For each of
these categories, several technological tools can be applied in
such a way as to both reinforce and respect the educational relationship.
Telecommunications, videoconferencing and audioconferencing provide
the means for group communications. In the mediation model they
are used, not to tele-distribute a lesson, but to maintain or
reinforce the links within an existing group of learners and teachers,
or between several groups. For example, they enable learners to
work remotely with the help of an online tutor. Furthermore, some
universities already benefit from their own internal network which
can be used by students to communicate with their professors.
One of the most promising ways of using technologies in the mediation
of interpersonal exchanges is that of collaborative learning which
results from the interaction between learners. There is no better
way of learning than teaching. The French "Recipricol Exchange
of Knowledge" movement, based on this principle, spread to
several other European countries and to Latin America. In the
United Kingdom, the systematic use of "computer conferencing"
between groups of students is common, in particular at the University
of Lancaster. In France and Finland, small elementary schools
in remote rural locations, have already set up networks between
themselves, and are beginning to use technologies to reinforce
their links and to create new forms of educational exchange, for
example, the production and distribution of school magazines via
electronic mail.
Unlike the use of telecommunications for interpersonal educational
exchanges, multimedia software constitute a tool for the individual
development of knowledge. In the past, their use was primarily
explored in the context of programmed instruction. More recently,
the constructivist approach has shown that simulation tools could
play a positive role in a range of areas, for example for the
acquisition of behavioural skill such as the piloting of aircraft,
train driving, or the management of industrial processes, but
also in the context of scientific or technical training, through
the manipulation of models. Seymour Papert further explored the
notion of simulation, derived from Logo, which he baptised
"micro-world" and which provides the student with a
virtual environment in which to act and and carry out experiments
in a variety of different areas, ranging from Newtonian physics
to the operation of robots. However, despite the advantages of
simulations and micro-worlds, all educational needs are far from
being satisfied by this type of application. Much still needs
to be done and invented in the area of educational multimedia
software.
Compared with the purely Behaviourist or Constructivist approaches to learning, the mediation model has the advantage of reducing the dependence on technological resources. This model places inter-personal relationships at the heart of the learning process. It leaves the teacher or trainer free to choose which teaching methods or resources to use in order to reinforce and multiply the exchanges within a group. The peripheral role thus given to technologies does not reduce their sphere of action, on the contrary. Placed at the service of educational exchanges, technologies open up more areas of application and, no doubt, more chances of success.