Alan Amory

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Alan Amory
Born
Rustenburg, South Africa

Alan Amory (born in Rustenburg, South Africa) is a Senior Programme Specialist (Learning Technologies) at SAIDE [1] Previously, Alan was a professor of educational technologies at the University of Johannesburg, where he promotes and drives the use of educational technologies. He has contributed to numerous fields of research, including information and communication technologies in education, [2] video games and learning, tool-mediated knowledge construction, authentic learning, [3] and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT).

Contents

Career

Amory received his doctorate in Plant Biochemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He lectured in the Biology Department of the University of KwaZulu-Natal for 15 years before he was employed as the Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Higher Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. In 2007 he was acting Chief Director for Education Support Services at the Gauteng Department of Education, Johannesburg, before joining the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg in November that year where, in 2011, he became Head of the Department of Mathematics, Science, Technology and Computer Education.

In 2012, Amory was appointed as Director of the Centre for Academic Technologies at the same university.[ citation needed ]

Research

Amory is evaluated by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) as a B-Rated researcher. This rating is done by national and international peers and reviewers and a B-Rating is defined as Researchers who enjoy considerable international recognition by their peers for the high quality and impact of their recent research outputs [4] Amory's research focuses on the use of computer games as educational tools and his papers were some of the first written on this subject. Together with other researchers, Naicker, Vincent and Adams, [5] he identified a number of useful design criteria for educational games. The Game Object Model [6] was developed, which includes abstract attributes, such as pedagogical and theoretical ideas useful in the conceptualisation of the game, and concrete attributes − the design elements used to construct the game.

The main body of Amory's research concentrated on developing frameworks to support the design, construction, evaluation [7] and use of computer games in teaching and learning, but also the development and critical appraisal of other educational technologies. He wrote a number of critiques of the use of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning, challenging the notion of learning from technology, an instructivist position [8] The Vygotskian notion of tool-mediated knowledge construction, a core principle in learning while playing computer games, formed the basis for the development of a framework to include all educational artifacts into a coherent framework to support teaching and learning with technology. This framework is based on three interrelated concepts: Cultural Historical Activity Theory, authentic tasks and technology-mediated knowledge construction and is called the CAT framework. [9]

Publications

Amory is the author of 29 peer-reviewed articles, 25 peer-reviewed conference proceedings and 106 conference presentations. [10]

Selected publications include:

Related Research Articles

Multimedia refers to the integration of multiple forms of content such as text, audio, images, video, and interactive elements into a single digital platform or application. This integration allows for a more immersive and engaging experience compared to traditional single-medium content. Multimedia is utilized in various fields including education, entertainment, communication, game design, and digital art, reflecting its broad impact on modern technology and media.

Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process, some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences.

Instructional scaffolding is the support given to a student by an instructor throughout the learning process. This support is specifically tailored to each student; this instructional approach allows students to experience student-centered learning, which tends to facilitate more efficient learning than teacher-centered learning. This learning process promotes a deeper level of learning than many other common teaching strategies.

Educational software is a term used for any computer software that is made for an educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software. The purpose of all this software is to make some part of education more effective and efficient.

Transactional distance theory was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Michael G. Moore, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. It is the first pedagogical theory specifically derived from analysis of teaching and learning conducted through technology as opposed to the many theories developed in the classroom. It is considered by some to be one of the few, if not the only, theory in distance education that can be used to test hypotheses. It can be used to frame experiments in tutoring or other learner support activities to assess what change there is in the outcomes of student learning, often judged by student completion. Like any theory, the transactional distance model serves as a heuristic device, a means of identifying questions for research and also a very practical instrument to be used in making these difficult instructional design decisions.

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech", it often refers to the industry of companies that create educational technology. In EdTech Inc.: Selling, Automating and Globalizing Higher Education in the Digital Age, Tanner Mirrlees and Shahid Alvi (2019) argue "EdTech is no exception to industry ownership and market rules" and "define the EdTech industries as all the privately owned companies currently involved in the financing, production and distribution of commercial hardware, software, cultural goods, services and platforms for the educational market with the goal of turning a profit. Many of these companies are US-based and rapidly expanding into educational markets across North America, and increasingly growing all over the world."

Zing Technologies is company that marketed a proprietary collaborative software system for meeting and learning. There are two versions of their software, Anyzing and Zingthing.

Technology integration is defined as the use of technology to enhance and support the educational environment. Technology integration in the classroom can also support classroom instruction by creating opportunities for students to complete assignments on the computer rather than with normal pencil and paper. In a larger sense, technology integration can also refer to the use of an integration platform and application programming interface (API) in the management of a school, to integrate disparate SaaS applications, databases, and programs used by an educational institution so that their data can be shared in real-time across all systems on campus, thus supporting students' education by improving data quality and access for faculty and staff.

"Curriculum integration with the use of technology involves the infusion of technology as a tool to enhance the learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting... Effective technology integration is achieved when students can select technology tools to help them obtain information on time, analyze and synthesize it, and present it professionally to an authentic audience. Technology should become an integral part of how the classroom functions—as accessible as all other classroom tools. The focus in each lesson or unit is the curriculum outcome, not the technology."

An intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is a computer system that imitates human tutors and aims to provide immediate and customized instruction or feedback to learners, usually without requiring intervention from a human teacher. ITSs have the common goal of enabling learning in a meaningful and effective manner by using a variety of computing technologies. There are many examples of ITSs being used in both formal education and professional settings in which they have demonstrated their capabilities and limitations. There is a close relationship between intelligent tutoring, cognitive learning theories and design; and there is ongoing research to improve the effectiveness of ITS. An ITS typically aims to replicate the demonstrated benefits of one-to-one, personalized tutoring, in contexts where students would otherwise have access to one-to-many instruction from a single teacher, or no teacher at all. ITSs are often designed with the goal of providing access to high quality education to each and every student.

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and construction of knowledge among participants using technology as their primary means of communication or as a common resource. CSCL can be implemented in online and classroom learning environments and can take place synchronously or asynchronously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open education</span> Educational movement

Open education is an educational movement founded on openness, with connections to other educational movements such as critical pedagogy, and with an educational stance which favours widening participation and inclusiveness in society. Open education broadens access to the learning and training traditionally offered through formal education systems and is typically offered through online and distance education. The qualifier "open" refers to the elimination of barriers that can preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning. One aspect of openness or "opening up" education is the development and adoption of open educational resources in support of open educational practices.

Assessment in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a subject of interest to educators and researchers. The assessment tools utilized in computer-supported collaborative learning settings are used to measure groups' knowledge learning processes, the quality of groups' products and individuals' collaborative learning skills.

Intercultural communicative competence in computer-supported collaborative learning is a form of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), applied to intercultural communicative competence (ICC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computers in the classroom</span> The use of computers in school

Computers in the classroom include any digital technology used to enhance, supplement, or replace a traditional educational curriculum with computer science education. As computers have become more accessible, inexpensive, and powerful, the demand for this technology has increased, leading to more frequent use of computer resources within classes, and a decrease in the student-to-computer ratio within schools.

Mobile computer-supported collaborative learning may have different meanings depending on the context in which it is applied. Mobile CSCL includes any in-class and out-of-class use of handheld mobile devices such as cell phones, smart phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to enable collaborative learning.

One of the most visible approaches to peer learning comes out of cognitive psychology, and is applied within a "mainstream" educational framework: "Peer learning is an educational practice in which students interact with other students to attain educational goals." Other authors including David Boud describe peer learning as a way of moving beyond independent to interdependent or mutual learning among peers. In this context, it can be compared to the practices that go by the name cooperative learning. However, other contemporary views on peer learning relax the constraints, and position "peer-to-peer learning" as a mode of "learning for everyone, by everyone, about almost anything." Whether it takes place in a formal or informal learning context, in small groups or online, peer learning manifests aspects of self-organization that are mostly absent from pedagogical models of teaching and learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedagogical agent</span>

A pedagogical agent is a concept borrowed from computer science and artificial intelligence and applied to education, usually as part of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). It is a simulated human-like interface between the learner and the content, in an educational environment. A pedagogical agent is designed to model the type of interactions between a student and another person. Mabanza and de Wet define it as "a character enacted by a computer that interacts with the user in a socially engaging manner". A pedagogical agent can be assigned different roles in the learning environment, such as tutor or co-learner, depending on the desired purpose of the agent. "A tutor agent plays the role of a teacher, while a co-learner agent plays the role of a learning companion".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technological pedagogical content knowledge</span> Educational technology knowledge

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework is an educational model that describes the intersections between technology, pedagogy, and content for the effective integration of technology into teaching. TPACK became popular in the early 2000s.

Niki Davis is an educator and researcher based in Aotearoa New Zealand whose work has focused on equipping teachers to effectively deliver information and communication technologies in a global education context. Her research has explored how teaching, learning and assessment can be inclusive and ethically managed in non-traditional spaces involving E-learning while acknowledging the role of the knowledge of indigenous peoples in assisting to build critically reflective research communities. She worked in universities in the United Kingdom and the United States before becoming a Distinguished Professor at the University of Canterbury in 2008, retiring and becoming Professor Emeritus in 2020. Davis has been involved in a range of initiatives and organisations that promote knowledge of digital technologies in education and is widely published in this field.

Jillianne Reay Code is a Canadian researcher and learning scientist. She is an associate professor in the faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia and director of the Assessment for Learning in Immersion and Virtual Environments (ALIVE) research lab.

References

  1. ↑ https://siyaphumelela.org.za/about.php
  2. ↑ Amory, A. (2010). Use of Information and Communication Technology in Teaching, Learning and Administration in the Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa. In Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 39-46). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
  3. ↑ Alan Amory (2014). "Tool-mediated authentic learning in an educational technology course: a designed-based innovation". Interactive Learning Environments. 22 (4): 497–513. doi:10.1080/10494820.2012.682584. S2CID   11795482.
  4. ↑ "National Research Foundation". Nrf.ac.za. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  5. ↑ Amory, A.; Naicker, K.; Vincent, J.; Adams, C. (1999). "The use of computer games as an educational tool: 1. Identification of appropriate game types and game elements". British Journal of Educational Technology. 30 (4): 311–322. doi:10.1111/1467-8535.00121.
  6. ↑ Amory, Alan (2007). "Game object model version II: A theoretical framework for educational game development". Educational Technology Research and Development. 55: 51–77. doi:10.1007/s11423-006-9001-x. S2CID   54689526.
  7. ↑ Amory, A.; Molomo, B. (2012). "Gendered play and evaluation of computer video games by young South Africans". Gender, Technology and Development . 16 (2): 177–196. doi:10.1177/097185241201600203. S2CID   145369548.
  8. ↑ Amory, A (2012). "Instructivist ideology: education technology embracing the past?". Interactive Learning Environments. 20 (1): 41–55. doi:10.1080/10494821003714707. S2CID   32483253.
  9. ↑ Amory, A. (2013). The Collaboration-Authentic Learning-Tool Mediation (CAT) Framework: design, expansive learning and contradictions. World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, 2013, submitted, Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
  10. ↑ ""Alan Amory" - Google Scholar". Scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  11. ↑ "Teaching and learning at the University of Johannesburg: A position paper". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
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