The Yehuda Elkana Center for Teaching, Learning, and Higher Education Research invites faculty colleagues and doctoral students to join the lecture on Pedagogical Challenges for Technology Enhanced Learning
with Dr. Linda Daniela, dean of Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art at University of Latvia
Recipient of the annual European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities
Abstract:
It is clear that as technology advances, it is increasingly being used in the educational environment to change different dimensions of the educational system and one of the dimensions of it is the learning process that has been using computer technology and communication network solutions (WWW) already for some time. We currently know many different ways in which Advanced Learning Technologies can be used and will inevitably continue to expand and evolve as new technological solutions emerge, so at this point in time, the term technology-enhanced learning (TEL) includes earlier terms that describe the use of technology in different ways. Technology in the learning process is believed to help students make their own decisions, develop and diversify knowledge and skills, create diverse learning environments and allow students to self-evaluate and provide feedback as TEL promotes an active, inclusive, ubiquitous form of learning and the formation of learning communities. TEL is a continuously changing process where different technologies are used in the learning process to support students to become smart, motivated learners who know how to construct their knowledge and are supported by competent educators who carry out predictive analyses of processes.
TEL can be divided according to the learning purpose of using these technologies:
- Offering technologies that help to see knowledge differently, such as simulations, applications, videos, which help to expand the dimensions of perceived information, thus ensuring a more complete learning process, because the methods used help to broaden the understanding of certain concepts by offering their visualization
- Technologies that provide active learning and allow students to work on a hands-on basis, where they actively create new knowledge by acting themselves, for example, programming robotics, or developing 3D printable objects or creating other technological solutions
- Technological solutions that help to evaluate the acquired knowledge, ensuring the learning analytics process
Any of these types of TEL may exist in the learning process, but the pedagogical task is to ensure that a certain dimension of knowledge acquisition comes to the fore, considering whether such a learning process contributes to the development of knowledge, supports quantitative growth of knowledge, or provides access to knowledge; helps to accumulate the acquired knowledge in new thinking schemas.
Prof. Linda Daniela is a dean of Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art at University of Latvia, Chair of the Council for PhD Defence in Educational Sciences at University of Latvia. She also serves as Expert in Education at the Council of Sciences of the Republic of Latvia.
Her expertise spans aspects of school education, Technology-enhanced learning (TEL), Educational technologies for learning, Educational robotics, Educational processes and solutions for reducing social exclusion from the educational processes.
Her main interests are connected with different aspects of technology-enhanced learning.
She has developed master study program “Technological innovations and design for education” where students learn how to organize technology enhanced learning, how to develop digital learning materials and how to research learning outcomes in TEL.
Professor Daniela is an author and co-author of more than 100 publications about processes in all dimensions of education and more than 50 of them are devoted to different aspects of TEL. Her h-index is 10 in Scopus and 8 in Web of Science.
Professor Daniela is also very active in editing books on different aspects of TEL for publishing houses Springer, Taylor&Francis, Emerald and IGI Global.
She organizes conferences for teacher educators to develop a platform where researchers can share their innovative ideas on teaching and learning. For example Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) Spring conferences and in year 2022 she was leading organization of ATEE Annual conference.
She has been involved in more than 30 research projects about different aspects of education.
Prof. Daniela supervises 9 PhD works.