Teacher Education, Learning and the Information Generation: the progression and evolution of educational computing against a background of change

Abstract

Educational computing has evolved through three stages: topicality, surrogacy and progression; each new stage building onto, rather than replacing, existing practice. At ULTRALAB, Anglia Polytechnic University's Learning Technology Research Centre, work on the design and application of multimedia learning environments has identified three categories of use for interactive multimedia: narrative, interactive and participative. The evolution to a fourth stage of educational computing requires an emphasis on participative media, radical pedagogic change enabled by technological innovation, and recognition/incorporation of the emergent capabilities of learners whose information diet and menu are products of the information age. Teacher education is uniquely placed to support the development of participative media, to define the particular needs of the learning environment and to diminish the deficiency model of the learner.