TEL Environments for Vocational

NewTELEnvironmentsforVocationalEducation–Teacher’sInstructionalPerspectiveRaijaHämäläinen&AlbertoCattaneoAccepted:5January2015/Publishedonline:18January2015#SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2015AbstractModernvocationaleducationisincreasinglytakingplaceinnewtechnology-enhancedlearning(TEL)settings.Ontheonehand,vocationaleducationcanbenefitfromtheopportunitiesoftechnologicaldevelopment.Ontheotherhand,suchtechnol-ogiesmaycreatenewchallengesforteachers.Therefore,thereisaparticularneedtopaymoreattentiontothedialogicpedagogicalapproachesinwhichteachingshouldbeseenasadialogicalpracticeinvolvingteacher-studentinteractionsthatcreatecontex-tualopportunitiesforteacherstotriggerstudents’learninginnewTELsettings.Thisarticlereportsonanexploratorystudyaboutthedifferentwaysinwhichteachers’instructionalactivities(viateacher-studentinteractions)aremanifestedindifferentemergingTELcontexts.ThreecasestudieswereselectedforanalysisinthreedifferentTELsettings.Theresultsofthisqualitativestudyindicatethat‘teacher-led’approacheswereappliedinatechnology-enhancedclassroomcontext,‘teacher-studentsharedcollaborationactivities’wereactivelyusedinavirtual3D-gamesettingand‘teacher-student(s)-supervisor(s)jointlearningactivities’wereusedtoempowermobile-supportedworkbasedlearning.Basedonthefindingsraisedfromthesethreeempiricalstudies,futureprospectsforteachers’activitiesthatfacilitatevocationallearningcanbedeveloped.Additionally,ourfindingsmaybehelpfulindevelopingprofessionaltoolsforteacherstobetterenablelearninginnewTELsettings.KeywordsVocationaleducation.Technology-enhancedlearning.Teacher’sinstructionalactivities.3D-games.Mobile-supportedlearning.QualitativestudyVocationsandLearning(2015)8:135–157DOI10.1007/s12186-015-9128-1R.Hämäläinen(*)InstituteforEducationalResearch,UniversityofJyväskylä,P.O.Box35,Jyväskylä,FI40014,Finlande-mail:raija.h.hamalainen@jyu.fiA.CattaneoSwissFederalInstituteforVocationalEducationandTraining(EHB-IFFP-IUFFP),ViaBesso84/86,6900Lugano,Switzerlande-mail:alberto.cattaneo@iuffp-svizzera.chIntroductionTheapplicationofnewtechnologiesinvocationallearningcanbeseenasonewaytoenhancevocationallearningandrespondtotheemergingneedsofworkinglife.Previousresearchhasindicatedseveraloptimisticnotionsoftechnology-enhancedlearning(TEL)forvocationaleducationandtraining(VET).Forexample,studieshaveshowntheadvanceoftechnologicaltoolsinenablingvocationallearningprocesses,e.g.,byofferingmoreillustrative3Dspacestopracticedangerousworksituations(Hämäläinen2011)andbyprovidingnewtangibletoolsforcarpenterlearnerstolinkthe2Drepresentationsofanobjectandits3Dshape(CuendetandDillenbourg2013;Cuendetetal.2014).Minnaertetal.(2011)illuminatedtheeffectivenessofanelectronicquestionnaireintegratingprocess-oriented,intermediategraphicaloutputfeaturestopracticetheworkskillsrequiredforcommerceandbusinessadministrationinacollaborativelearningsetting.Otherstudies(BoldriniandCattaneo2013)haveusedelectroniclearningjournalstofosterprocessesofreflectionuponapprentices’professionalpractices.Further,weblogandwikitoolshavebeenhelpfulwithrespecttoprofessionalskillacquisitionfordentalassistants(x-raymanagement)andcommercialemployees(e.g.,phonecallmanagementandcustomercare;seeGavotaetal.2010).Insum,therecentresearchfindingshaveindicatedthatatitsbest,technologycanupgradetraditionalvocationallearningapproaches.RelatedtotheaboveadvancesofTELenvironmentsforVET,therearealsocriticaldiscussionsthattechnologyalonedoesverylittletoaidlearning.Ithasbeenarguedthatalthoughtechnologyhasrapidlyadvanced,thechallengesofenhancinglearninginTELsettingsremain.Therefore,TELcruciallydependsonthecharacteroftheactuallearningactivitiesinwhichlearnersengagewithtechnology.AsonepotentialsolutionfortriggeringlearninginTELsettings,increasingattentionhasbeengiventoindividual(SchankandAbelson1977)andcollaboration(Kobbeetal.2007)scriptsasaparticularkindofinstructionalapproachtosupportlearning.AccordingtoKollaretal.(2006),scriptsprovideindividualswithinformationaboutappropriateactionswithinasituationandhelpthembetterunderstandthesituationsinwhichtheyareinvolvedinTELsettings.Thiscanresultinenhancedproblemsolving(problemsolvinginTELreferstolearners’abilitytousetechnology,toacquireandevaluateinformation,collaboratewithothersandperformtasks,OECD2012,p.47).Inpractice,scriptsoperatebystructuringlearners’activitiesandassigninglearners’rolesinordertoenhanceeffectiveproblem-solvingprocessesinTELsettings,relatedtothethoughtfuluseofavailableresourcesand/ortaskdivision(foradetaileddescriptionofscripts,seearecentreviewbyFischeretal.2013).Ontheotherhand,theproblemwiththestudiesfocusingonscriptshasbeenthattheyhavetypicallybeenconductedwithouttheactiveroleoftheteacher.Asadirectresult,DillenbourgandJermann(2010)havearguedthatfocusingonlyonspecificscriptsneglectstheroleofteachersinTELsettings.Inlinewiththat,ithasbeenarguedthat,ratherthanthetechnologiesthemselves,itisthepedagogicalandinstructionalapproachusedthatmakesthedifferenceforTEL(CattaneoandAprea2014;Schmidetal.2014;HewandCheung2013;Hämäläinen2011).Therefore,alongwiththedevelopmentoftechnologicalenvironmentsandscripts,itisnecessarytopayattentiontothepotentialofferedbyanactiveroleoftheteachers.Infact,accordingtoJones(2007),teachers’instructionalactivityiscrucialinpromotingeffectivelearningindifferentTELsettings.Warwicketal.(2011)havealso136R.Hämäläinen,A.Cattaneoarguedthatthenewtechnologiesappliedineducationinfluenceteachers’instructionalactivities.Therefore,itistheteacher,notthetoolitself,whichhastheactiveroleforarrangingbeneficiallearningactivities(seeWarwicketal.2011).Invocationaleduca-tioninparticular,teachersmayhaveaparticularroleintriggeringstudents’learning,asinthiscontextlearnersaremostoftenyoung(typicallybetween16and18yearsofage)andhavelittletonorelevantworkexperienceuponwhichtheycanbuildtheirknowledge(HämäläinenandDeWever2013).Atthesametime,invocationaleduca-tion,moreandmoreoftenteachersareincreasinglyworkingtogetherwithlearnersinnewTELcontexts(e.g.,intechnology-enhancedclassroomsandvirtualsettings).Relatedtothisdevelopment,VähäsantanenandEteläpelto(2009)concludedthattheamountof‘traditionalteaching’conductedbyteachersinvocationalschoolsisdiminishing;teachers’instructionalactivitiesareincreasinglyrelatedtocoachingstudents’learning.AlsoHämäläinenandVähäsantanen(2011)indicatedintheirreviewstudythatteachers’roleseemstobemovingawayfrombeingaresourceofknowledgetobeingafellowparticipantinfacilitatinginteractionprocessesrelatedtothelearningtask.Asadirectresult,inafuture,increasingemphasisneedstobeplacedontheimportanceofteachersaspedagogicalexpertsandontheirinfluenceintriggeringstudents’learningprocessesviafeedbackandfeed-forwardintheemergingtechnolog-icalsettingsthatmediateteacher–studentinteractions(Brown2014).Inthisdirection,Schaapetal.(2012)haveintroducedthecriticismthatthereisapaucityofresearch-basedknowledgeonhowvocationaleducationteachers/educatorscantriggerlearninginvariousnewTELenvironmentsthatmediateteacher–studentinteractions.InemergingTELcontexts,teachers’instructionaldiscourse(e.g.,Webb2009)needstobeadaptedtoaccommodatethenewneedsofvariousTELsettings.Namely,recentresearchfindingshaveindicatedthatwhenteachers’andstudents’interactionsaremediatedbynewtechnologicalenvironments,teachersneedtoapplydifferentinstructionalactivitiestotriggervocationallearningthantheydointraditionalclassroomsettings(HämäläinenandDeWever2013).Inconclusion,wecouldsaythatinnewTELsettings,teachersmayneedtoconsidertwoaspectsofemergingtechno-logies—theircontextualfeaturesandtheirinfluenceontheteacher–studentinteractionprocess.Relatedtothis,inhisrecentstudy,Mercer(2013)arguedthatthereisaparticularneedtopaymoreattentiontothedialogicpedagogicalapproachesinwhichteachingshouldbeseenasadialogicalpracticeinvolvingteacher–studentinteractionsthatcreatecontextualopportunitiesforteacherstotriggerstudents’learning.Otherstudieshavealsoindicatedthatthe‘dialogic’educationalapproaches(seee.g.,Alexander2008)areonepromisingwaytotriggerlearningprocessesinnewTELsettings(Wegerif2007),assuchdialogicteachingapproachesstimulatethedevelopmentofskillsandlearninggains(Merceretal.2004;Rojas-Drummondetal.2010).Inpractice,itisimportanttounderstandsuccessfulteacher–studentinteractionprocessestomakeuseoftechnologicalenvironmentsintriggeringlearning(BoyleandRavenscroft2012).AimsInsummary,whilethereareoptimisticnotionsofnewtechnologiesforsupportinglearningintheVETcontext,thereisalsoacriticalnotionthatmuchoftheresearchhasfocusedonstudents’learninginnewTELsettings,leavingtheteacher’sinstructionalNewTELEnvironmentsforVocationalEducation137activityand,morespecifically,howtheemergingtechnologicalsettingsmediateteacher–studentinteractionslessstudied.Thisexploratorystudyaimstoinvestigatethechangingconditionsintheteachingprofessionandreflectuponhowtheemergingtechnologicalsettingsmediatetheinstructionalactivity,givingspecialattentiontohowateacher–studentinteractionismanifestedinthreedifferentemergingTELcontexts.Theunderlyingresearchquestionsare:&Whatkindsofteachers’instructionalactivitiesaremanifestedinthreedifferentemergingTELcontexts?Howdoteacher–studentinteractionsdifferamongthethree?&WhatkindsofrolesofteachersandtechnologycanbesubsumedfromthesethreeTELcontexts?Howdotheydifferwithrespecttoa)theroleoftechnology,b)teachers’roleincontrollingtheinstructionalflowandc)theircommunicativeapproach?MaterialandMethodsTheempiricalpartofthisstudywasconductedinauthentic(i.e.,realcurricularclasseswithstudentsinVET)vocationalschoolsettings.Itcontinuesthelong-termresearchprojects(inFinlandandSwitzerland)focusingonfindinginstructionalapproachestosupportvocationallearninginnewTELsettings.Thepresentstudyadditionallyfocusesonillustratinghowtheemergingtechnologicalsettingsmediatetheinstructionalactivity,givingspecialattentiontohowteacher–studentinteractionsaremanifestedindifferentTELsettings(participants’namesarepseudonyms).ThreedifferentTELsettingswerechosentoillustratetheeventualmodificationstechnologyproducesontheteacher’sroleandmoreparticularlyinteacher–studentinteractionsfortworeasons.First,theyoccupydiversepositionsofteacher–studentinteractions:twocaseswithnewTELsettings—a3Dgamesettingandamobile-supportedsetting—tosupportandfacilitatelearningacrosssites(namelybetweenworkplaceandschoolcontexts),whichisincreasinglyindicatedinvocationaltraining(GriffithsandGuile2003;Ludvigsenetal.2011)andwheretherehasstillbeenapaucityofempiricalstudies;andamore‘traditional’technology-enhancedclassroomsetting.Thisprovidesanopportunitytoexaminehowtheemergingtechnologicalsettingsmediatetheinstructionalactivity,particularlytheteacher–studentinteractions.Second,thetechnologicalsupportforvocationallearningisquitedifferentineachcase,sothatatthesametimetechnologycreatesnewanddifferentwaystotriggerlearninginallthreeexamples.Takentogether,thesethreesettingswillillustratea)howteachers’instructionalactivities(viateacher-studentinteractions)aremanifestedinthreedifferentemergingTELcontextsandb)whatkindsofrolesofteachersandtechnologyemergeinthesethreeTELcontexts.DataCollectionOurexploratorymultiplecasestudy(Yin2003)isbasedondatacollectedbetween2010and2012.Ineachcase,thegoalofthedatacollectionwastocapturetherequired138R.Hämäläinen,A.CattaneoinformationtodeterminehowteacherstriggervocationallearningineachTELcontext.Inthedatacollectionphase,werecordedalloftheinteractionsbetweenteachersandstudents.Atleastonecamerawasalwaysused(andeventuallyadditionalaudiorecorders,forexample,whenactivitieswereingroups)torecordwhathappeningduringthelesson.Oneortworesearcherswerealsoalwayspresentasethnographicobserversduringtheactivities.DetailedinformationoneachsettingisgiveninTable1,andabriefnarrativedescriptionforeachofthemisgivenbelow.Case1Ascriptedtechnology-enhancedclassroom.Inthisfirstcase,thelearningtaskwasimplementedinanInformationandCommunicationsTechnologycoursecalled‘AlternativeOperationSystemforaWorkstation’,inaFinnishvoca-tionalschool.Studentsworkedindividuallyattheirownworkstation(seeFig.1),andthetaskwasimplementedinapersonallearningspacecalled‘Omatila’(includingstudents’ownblogtoolandaquestionnairetool).Sixgroupsofstudentsandtheirteachersenrolledinascriptedlearningtaskconsistingoffivephasesinwhichtheblogtoolwasactivelyusedforreportingandreflecting:(a)choosingaLinuxdistributionaccordingtoeachlearner’sowninterestsandskills;(b)installingtheselectedLinuxdistributiononthecomputerandcomparingdifferentstudents’experiencesontheinstallationprocesswiththeinstallationofOpenSuseLinux(‘Wasiteasier/morediffi-cult?’,‘Whatwerethedifferences?’);(c)becomingfamiliarwiththeuseoftheirLinuxdistributionintheworkstationenvironment;(d)becomingfamiliarwithotherstudents’installations;(e)makingaquestionnaire(forotherstu-dents)ontheissuesconcerninginstallationandwritingasummaryofthequestionnaireresponses.Thetaskwascarriedoutoverthecourseof5days(altogether,10hofface-to-faceinteraction).TheaimofthelearningtaskwastobecomefamiliarwiththeissuesconcerninginstallationandtheactualoperationofdifferentLinuxdistributions.Case2Ascripted3D-gamesetting.Inthissecondsetting,thegameenvironmentwasusedinaFinnishvocationalschoolasapartofgeneralstudiesinvocationaleducationforthecomponentofcomplementaryskills.Thegameenvironmentwasgroundedonthenotionthatinvocationaleducation,themeaningofinter-professionalcollaborationingroups,teamsandcommunitiesofemployeeshasbecomeincreasinglyimportantforprofessionaldevelopment,asinmostvocationalfieldsdifferentexpertsneedtosolveproblemstogether(e.g.,ataconstructionsiteplumbers,electriciansandairconditioningmechanicsneedtoworktogether).Duringthegameplay(seeFig.2),eachplayerworksindividuallyonacomputerandhasafirst-personviewofthe3Denvironment.Inpractice,theplayersareinterconnectedviaaserver,whichrunsthevirtualworldwhereinter-professionalproblemsolvingtakesplaceandtheplayers’communicationissupportedbytheVoiceoverInternetProtocol(VoIP)speechsystem.VoIPisamethodologyforthedeliveryofvoicecommunicationsoverInternetProtocolnetworks).Players—ingroupsoffivepeople,includingoneteacherandfourstudents—havetosolvethreescriptedtasks:‘Gate’,aimingtoactivatecoordinationbetweenplayers;‘Restaurant’,aimingtotriggerdistributedexpertiseandmutualdependencybetweenplayerswhoarework-ingintheinter-professionalgamerolesofthereceptionist,theworkman,theNewTELEnvironmentsforVocationalEducation139Table1CaseoverviewCase1:Technology-enhancedclassroomsettingCase2:3D-gamesettingCase3:Mobile-supportedsettingFrameofreferenceTwelve-monthresearchprojectontechnology-enhancedclassroomsTwentyfour-monthresearchprojectonteachingwitha3D-gameenvironmentFortyeight-monthresearchprojectonthelearningpotentialoflightportableICTdevicesLocationFinlandFinlandSwitzerlandThegroundingstudy,N=115n=51,47learners+4teachersn=20,16learners+4teachersn=44,43learners+1teacher#ofparticipantsintheselectedcasen=10learners+1teacher4learners+1teachern=25learners+1teacherDomainInformationandCommunicationsTechnologyGeneralstudiesforthecomponentofcomplementaryskillsProfessionalknowledgeforchefsPositioninthecurriculumFirstyearFirstyearSecondyearAimofthelearningtaskDeclarativeandproceduralknowledgeacquisition(InstallationandoperationofdifferentLinuxdistributions)Problem-solvingandcollaborativeskillsdevelopmentDeclarativeandproceduralknowledgeacquisition(Cookingmethods)DurationTenhoursofface-to-faceinteractionandanadequatenumberofhomeworkactivitiesTwo-hourworkingperiodEightperiods,fourhourseach.PedagogicalapproachInquiry-basedlearning(Belletal.2010)Collaborativeproblem-solving(BrownandCampione1994))TELExperientiallearning,namelytheErfahrraummodel(Schwendimannetal.2015)Typeoftechnology‘Omatila’,aPersonalLearningEnvironment(Attwell2007)includingablogandaquestionnairetoolsScripted3D-gameenvironment(see,e.g.,Kobbeetal.2007),basedonRealXtendTechnologyMobilephonesconnectedtoaPersonalLearningEnvironment(see,e.g.,Pachleretal.2011)madebyarecipebookandalearningjournalPurposeofthetechnologyToincreasevocationallearners’owncontrolovertheirprofessionaldevelopmentandvocationallearning(Chatti2010)Toprovidenewwaystopracticework-lifesitua-tions.Toconnectwork-placeandschool-basedlearningTobetterarticulatetherelationshipbetweenlearninglocations,aswellastoallowlearnerstoshareexperiencesandlearnfromreflectingon140R.Hämäläinen,A.Cattaneowaiter,thewaitressandthecook;and‘Stage’,fiveplayersthatareworkingas‘roadies’withthegoalofsolvingapracticalprobleminvolvinghowtoorganizetheinstrumentsforthebandmembers.Theempiricalstudyincludeda2-hourworkingperiod.Case3Anon-scriptedmobileandonlinetoolssetting.Smartphoneshavebeenusedinthisthirdsettingwithaclassof19apprenticechefsfortheprofessionalknowledgeacquisitionofdifferentcookingmethodsinaSwissvocationalschool.Inthevocationalfield,differentworkplacescanemploylearnerstolearnabouthowtohandledifferentsituationswithinthesameprofessionaldomain;forexample,cookshavetodealwithdifferenttools,differentdivisionsoflabouranddifferentorganizationalworkflows,dependingonwhethertheyareworkinginabigcompanycanteen,inahospitalorinatavern.Thesamecookingmethodcanbeexecuteddifferentlyinsuchcon-texts,buttheexpertprofessionalhastobeabletoputitintoeffectindepen-dentlyfromthecontextitself.Thepossibilitytocapture,viasmartphones,realsituationscomingfromdifferentworkplacecontextsandsharethematschoolisthereforeenrichingforlearning.Morespecifically,apprenticesweregivenasmartphonetobeusedintheworkplacetotakephotosandaweb-basedenvironmentwheretheycoulddeveloptheirpersonalrecipebooksandrelatedTable1(continued)Case1:Technology-enhancedclassroomsettingCase2:3D-gamesettingCase3:Mobile-supportedsettingtheirrealprofessionalpracticesDatacollectionperformedby…Onevideocamera,twoaudiorecorders;tworesearchersworkedasethnographicobserversOnevideocameraandfourrecordingsystems;additionally,datacollectionincludedrecordingsofthegroups’discussionsstraightfromtheVoIPspeechsystemusingthesoftware‘Audacity’;tworesearchersasethnographicobserversOneortwovideo-cameras;oneortworesearchersasethnographicobserversFig.1Thetechnologicalenvironmentandtechnology-enhancedclassroomcontextNewTELEnvironmentsforVocationalEducation141learningjournals,enrichingthemwiththephotostakenatwork(Fig.3,leftside).Theteachercouldaccesstheplatformtocompleteapreliminaryselectionofthematerialsproducedtoensurethatsomemeaningfulaspectsofprofessionalknowledgewouldhavearisen.Onthisbasis,hetestedtwomainlearningscenarios:(a)beamingthepre-selectedphotosintheclassandcoachingaclassdiscussionaroundthem;(b)usinglearners’photosinacomputerlabwherelearnerscouldimprovetheirownlearningjournalsonthebasisofthediscussion.Thewholeexperiencecovered8periodsofabout4heach.DataAnalysisOurpreviousstudiesgroundtheanalysisofthepresentone.Thesepreviousstudieshaveindicatedthatweneedabetterresearch-basedunderstandingoftheteacher’sinstructionalactivityandmoreparticularlyteacher–studentinteractionsintheemergingtechnologicalsettings(e.g.,howateacher–studentinteractionismanifestedinclass-rooms,virtualsettingsandmobile-supportedworkcontexts).Concretely,weappliedtheethnographiclogicofinquiry(seeCastanheiraetal.2009;LipponenandKumpulainen2011)thatproceedsasaseriesofcyclesduringwhichquestionsareposedanddataarerepresented.Ineachcase,oneresearcherworkedasanethnographicobserverthroughcases1,2and3.Thus,theaimwastobuildageneralunderstandingofteachers’instructionalactivitiestakingplaceintechnology-enhancedvocationallearningcontexts.Theinterpretationoftheteachers’instructionalactivitiesusedinthisstudyisinlinewithVosniadouetal.(2001),whoarguedthatl