John Larkin

One Comment

1. Willard Van De Bogart
   Aug 21, 2011 @ 20:48:46

   Nice to find your web site. This is a big issue in Thailand right now. Attached an opinion piece I just finished today.
   iPAD Teacher Training is necessary if the “One Student One Tablet Computer” policy is going to succeed.

   By
   Willard G. Van De Bogart
   Language Institute
   Bangkok University
   willard.v@bu.ac.th

   In anticipation of the Ministry of Education’s planned delivery of iPADs to all Pathom 1 (grade 1) students throughout Thailand, an estimated 800,000, the need to prepare teachers on their use and function becomes essential. Who is going to do it?

   Currently at Bangkok University a large percentage of my students already are using the iPAD and iPHONE in the classroom to assist them with their exercises. However, this ability to use digital mobile devices in the classroom is taking place independent of any instruction on their use or guidance on how best to take advantage of their potential as a learning tool. For many students games are played on these devices at the same time lessons are being taught. Current active research conducted at Bangkok University shows that over the last year there has been a dramatic increase on their usage and through several research studies it has also been found that students would welcome instruction on how best to use their digital tools in the classroom but that instruction is unavailable as no courses are taught on how to use them effectively.

   Now with a plan to provide all grade 1 students with a digital device a whole new educational direction is taking place in Thailand whereby a very young learner is being introduced to how images and language are displayed on a screen that reacts by touch. This new innovation has prompted universities across the United States and Europe to research their use as a learning tool. This body of research must be utilized for the educational infrastructure of Thailand.

   By the time a young learner reaches the secondary level of education newer innovations and applications will have been developed necessitating that a new educational infrastructure be put in place so a continuous program of updates can be provided to the teachers and relayed to the students. Innovation is continuous.
   Without this digital teaching infrastructure for teachers the young students who use their iPADS or other digital devices will develop habits and view content that may not be conducive to learning. The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat has indicated that a manual on how to educate teachers on the use of tablet computers for teaching is being developed. This manual needs to be finished as quickly as possible and made available to all teachers to deal with the students who are about to receive their iPADS. It is going to take teachers many months to learn these skills and then devise lesson plans for their use. This is not an overnight learning task and only by diligence and a willingness to adapt to a digital learning environment will it work.

   The design of the iPAD or tablet computer is a very different learning tool that has changed the relationship of educational content with the user. The relationship between a book and the tactile learning methods are slowly being substituted for learning from a display screen. These young learners are entering a world where they will be developing their digital literacy skills which has only begun to be understood by educators. So by having an entire sector of the learning environment in Thailand issued tablet computers necessitates a major responsibility to understand how these devices work. By introducing digital learning methods at the beginning stages of learning is one of the most important changes in an educational system and demands that every teacher and every parent is aware of the implications on how learning is going to take place for these children.

   Since digital literacy is in the very early stages of being formulated it would be wise to develop a learning environment which combined both digital and non-digital learning methods and not abandon the learning modes of reading from a physical book, writing on paper and having tactile learning experiences with the environment. This is especially true for young learners who are at the exploratory stage in their development as learners.

   Because of this revolutionary change which is about to befall all Phatom 1 students in Thailand, it becomes absolutely necessary to instruct all the teachers on their use as well as developing a continuous channel of communication between teachers and software developments so the students can be taught to advance to higher levels of
   computer usage. The Ministry of Education must address this issue otherwise 800,000 young students will only be able to turn on their iPADs and learn how to play games. I know because I see it every day in my classes. This is a very serious issue.