Educational Technology
Z. Karami
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Humans in the 21st century face multiple challenges that require them to acquire certain skills in order to overcome them. Some tools, such as art and technology, create unique capabilities for education that can be used to address the challenges of the 21st century. The purpose ...
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Background and Objectives: Humans in the 21st century face multiple challenges that require them to acquire certain skills in order to overcome them. Some tools, such as art and technology, create unique capabilities for education that can be used to address the challenges of the 21st century. The purpose of this article was to describe the approach of technological artistic education for developing 21st-century skills in students.Methods: This study was a qualitative research conducted in a meta-synthesis approach. In the first step, reputable foreign scientific databases (such as ScienceDirect, Springer, Google Scholar, Eric, Taylor and Francis, etc.) and domestic databases were searched using specific keywords and terms such as cognitive flexibility theory, electronic and virtual learning environments, cognitive flexibility, principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility theory, etc., within the specified time range from 1992 to 2020. All relevant articles and texts were collected. In the end, 120 documents were found, of which 60 documents were relevant to the research questions. After careful reading of the texts, the necessary information was extracted according to the research questions. For data analysis, thematic analysis method was used, and inter-coder reliability was assessed using the agreement method between two coders.Findings: Based on the findings, the conceptual model of artistic-technological education was presented to develop the necessary skills of individuals in the 21st century. The pattern consisted of five main sections (challenges of the 21st century, skills needed to face the challenges of the 21st century, tools required to cultivate 21st-century skills, methods of cultivating 21st-century skills, and art and technology-based activities for cultivating 21st-century skills), each of which also had sub-sections. According to this pattern, the challenges of the 21st century included technological challenges, the nature of work challenges, economic challenges, and social challenges. The skills needed to face the challenges of the 21st century included general skills and specialized skills. The tools required to cultivate 21st-century skills included artistic education tools and technological education tools. The methods of cultivating 21st-century skills included artistic education, technological education, and artistic-technological education. And the art and technology-based activities for cultivating 21st-century skills included artistic activities, technological activities, and combined artistic and technological activities (artistic-technological activities). In order to facilitate the implementation of the artistic-technological education model, two methods of combining art and technology in the formal and informal curriculum of schools and the integration of four-parts of art and technology in the curriculum of schools were suggested.Conclusion: By utilizing the benefits of art and technology, individuals can be trained to overcome the challenges of the 21st century. Artistic education and technological education alone have the capability to cultivate 21st-century skills, but by combining the two and implementing artistic technological education, more desirable results can be achieved. Integrating technology and art in the formal and informal curriculum of schools can help learners improve their creative thinking, problem-solving, critical thinking, and personal and interpersonal skills in order to overcome the challenges of the 21st century. The conceptual model of artistic technological education, with the integration of art and technology in the formal and informal curriculum of schools, and can help learners improve their superior thinking skills and overcome the challenges of this century by equipping themselves with the necessary skills for the 21st century.
Technology-based learning environments
Z. Karami
Abstract
Background and Objectives: In order to solve the problem of education in complex and unstructured domains, Spiro and his colleagues proposed the theory of cognitive flexibility, in which they advocated multiple forms of pedagogical models, analogies, multiple representations, and multiple information ...
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Background and Objectives: In order to solve the problem of education in complex and unstructured domains, Spiro and his colleagues proposed the theory of cognitive flexibility, in which they advocated multiple forms of pedagogical models, analogies, multiple representations, and multiple information displays. Cognitive flexibility is the ability of humans to adapt to cognitive process strategies in order to cope with new and unexpected conditions in the environment, and can help learners gain a deep understanding of complex concepts. In cognitive flexibility, the transfer of information from one situation to another allows the learners to apply the constructed knowledge to solve current problems. Electronic and virtual learning environments have capabilities that can better enhance learners' cognitive flexibility. Multiplicity in content, activities, interaction, and active participation are among the criteria for cognitive flexibility that can be accessed through electronic and virtual learning environments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a framework for designing electronic and virtual learning environments based on the principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility.Methods: This study was qualitative research that was conducted in a Meta-Synthesis method. To collect data, keywords such as cognitive flexibility theory, electronic and virtual learning environments, cognitive flexibility, principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility, etc. were selected and articles, theses, and related texts were searched in reliable databases, from 1992 to 2020. Finally, 30 related sources were found. Among these sources, 25 of the most relevant texts related to the research questions were selected. After the detailed study of the texts, according to the research questions, the necessary information was extracted. Findings: The results of the findings in response to the first question of the research were to present the principles and criteria of the theory of cognitive flexibility, and in response to the second question of the research, based on the principles and criteria of the theory of cognitive flexibility, the necessary framework for the design of electronic and virtual learning environments was presented. In this framework, two parts of different forms of learning and different views about learning were proposed and in each part, content dimensions, pedagogical tools, human interactions, and evaluation and criteria related to each dimension were introduced. According to the criteria raised in the dimension of different forms of learning, it can be said that to increase the cognitive flexibility of learners in electronic learning environments, variety of content, variety of methods and activities, variety of interactions and variety of assessment tools were of particular importance. Also, according to the criteria raised in the dimension of different perspectives of learning, we can also conclude that to increase cognitive flexibility in electronic learning environments, the variety of examples, exercises, and examples, the variety of mutual relationships between the concepts, diversity in people's points of view, review, analysis and combination of diverse points of view, diversifying the points of view on the discussed topic were important. The diversity of methods and solutions in the process of problem-solving were highly important. These environments should be prepared in such a way that they could provide the context for the learner's involvement and activity so that the learner could have an active involvement in the learning process and build knowledge that would meet the needs of different situations and could be used to solve real problems.Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, the principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility were extracted and based on those principles and criteria, the necessary framework for designing electronic and virtual learning environments was presented, which can be a guide for planners, designers of electronic and virtual learning environments, teachers, and other educators to strengthen the cognitive flexibility of learners through the design of suitable electronic and virtual learning environments.
