e-Learning for Kids
One of the things I would really like to achieve in my lifetime is to improve the educational outcomes for a significant number of kids. To this end I read and study educational theories. I teach informal educational classes (like the Scratch Class last week). But I’m not making the impact I’d like to have. So I continue to look for groups who have similar / compatible goals - maybe I could work with them???
A few weeks ago I read about e-Learning for Kids. The following quote is from the e-Learning for Kids about us page…
“In today’s complex world, children’s futures are determined by their ability to master the basics of reading, science, math and computers. Yet costs, class sizes and other issues often prevent children access to quality online learning that can support and reinforce these essential skills.
Our vision is to be the source for childhood learning on the Internet – available from anywhere and without charge. Established in late 2004, e-Learning for Kids is a global, nonprofit foundation dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5 - 12.”
Wow! Global vision. Improved educational outcomes for significant numbers of kids. On the surface, this group appears to be working in the direction I’d like to pursue.
I’ve worked through 6 - 8 of the short (20 - 30 minute) courses available on the website. The lessons appear to be pretty well designed, very supplantive (all of the instructional strategy appears to be built into the lesson itself - as opposed to a generative strategy), and supply very little user control (some do allow user to select the order that information is encountered, but some basically lead the user through the material).
For example, the featured course at this time is “Science - States of Matter” about solids, liquids and gases. The lesson is designed as a pretty straightforward concept lesson. The lesson proceeds as follows:
- Objectives are listed and read by a narrator.
- Professor Beaker introduces himself. Professor Beaker narrates the remainder of the course.
- The student signs in with his name and age.
- The lesson proceeds along a path, encompassing: “What is Matter?”; ”Changing States of Matter.”; and “Identifying States of Matter.” The lesson will progress through these sequentially - or you can jump to a different section at any time. I’ll assume you allow the lesson to proceed along sequentially.
- What is Matter? The student is presented with examples of solids, liquids, gases. The student is not specifically given a list of criteria for determining the state of each example, but hints are given… for example, it is noted that the example liquids will run through your fingers.
- Changing States of Matter. The student drags a beaker of water to a freezer and then onto a burner to observe it changing states.
- Identifying States of Matter. The student practices identifying states of matter by dragging items into Solid, Liquid, or Gas category. When the student presses submit, he is shown the incorrect classifications and allowed to try them again. When all the items are categorized correctly, the program proceeds to the Summary.
- Summary. A short summary of what the student has accomplished is presented.
Analysis
- If you’ve read this blog, you know I lean toward constructivism / constructionism. I would like to see students creating projects that are personally meaningful. I would like to see students pursuing authentic real world tasks in their studies. (See my about page here for more details.) I really don’t think the e-Learning for Kids courses I’ve viewed do this very well. But is it possible to pre-package such projects and authentic tasks when considering the widely varying cultures of the world? Or are projects even practical in individualized (no feedback from peers or instructor) eLearning? I’ll need to do some thinking and investigating on this topic.
- Would such a group even be interested in my participation?
Conclusion
I’ll forgo any decision about instructivism vs. constructivism in the e-Learning for Kids courses for now. I’d like to see the group’s course development criteria for information / direction on this.
I’ve e-mailed the e-Learning For Kids organization to inquire about their course development criteria. I assume if they would be interested in my participation, they’ll provide some documetation on how their development process works.
Note for XO users - OLPC is listed as an NGO Partner on the e-Learning for Kids website. All of the courses I’ve worked through are Flash based. I’ve tried several on the XO Laptop. In most of the courses I’ve tried, the animations are too slow on the XO.