{"id":2158,"date":"2005-03-08T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2005-03-08T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnhub.aucegypt.edu\/cltnewsletter\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2026-10-22T07:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:41:47","slug":"smart-classrooms-classroom-action-research-and-electronic-portfolios-the-articulation-of-a-modern-liberal-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learnhub.aucegypt.edu\/cltnewsletter\/?p=2158","title":{"rendered":"Smart Classrooms, Classroom Action Research and Electronic Portfolios: The Articulation of a Modern Liberal Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on:<\/strong> March 8, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent issue of Liberal Education<\/strong>, Rick Vaz places information technology at the core of modern liberal education when he argues that \u201ccomputer literacy is an empowering and liberating skill for undergraduates, useful in virtually every discipline and profession\u201d<\/em> (Vaz, 2004).\u00a0 In this respect, Vaz is locating at the core of the liberal education agenda the fact that it is now widely recognized by most teachers (at whatever level of instruction) that \u201ctechnology\u201d affects the way we learn and teach.\u00a0 Thus, \u201csmart classrooms\u201d (of whatever form) are no longer an added luxury in cotemporary liberal educational institutions or a generous contribution from corporate sponsors; they are the foundation on which modern pedagogy is evolving.\u00a0 This view is echoed by Steve Ehrmann in another contribution to Liberal Education<\/strong> in which he argues that a key element in enhancing learning is the ability of students and faculty to think with the technology rather than thinking about it.\u00a0 Ehrmann argues that \u201cLearning involves a transition from novice to expert, and technology can in some cases enable relative novices to ask meaningful questions of their own, facilitating more active and inquiry-based learning and allowing students to navigate their way through new spaces and ideas\u201d <\/em>(Ehrmann, 2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Vaz also argues that \u201ccomputers and the Internet in higher education are not always used wisely, do not always enhance learning, and indeed do not always work reliably. At their best, though, they hold the promise of positive and transformative change for learning and teaching, change that can give our students richer experiences, broader perspectives, and wider audiences for their work\u201d<\/em> (Vaz, 2004).\u00a0This reflects a view shared by many in liberal education, especially as we are exploring a variety of learner-centered environments and a variety of instructional strategies that will and can support the active engagement of students. This, of course, derives from the fact that we are now cognizant that faculty-centered instruction in the oral tradition has seriously been challenged by both students and faculty and found wanting.\u00a0Instead, more and more faculty in a great variety of liberal educational institutions seek to identify ways in which their teaching will contribute to critical thinking and active learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, information technology and especially a variety of forms of smart classrooms constitute a key element that facilitates our search for appropriate instructional strategies.\u00a0 Vaz, however, reminds us again that \u201cjust as quantitative literacy is distinct from mathematics, computer literacy is distinct from technology studies. Technology best serves liberal education when it is neither teacher nor subject, but a useful tool for student and faculty work. Faculty, often less comfortable with some aspects of technology than are their students, need both support and creative models for its use, and institutions must determine ways of managing technology so that it is reliable and accessible\u201d<\/em> (Vaz, 2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in the above context that Classroom Action Research<\/strong> (presented by Dr Aziza Ellozy in the previous issue of New Chalk Talk<\/em><\/strong>), gains significant importance as the means by which faculty can identify the appropriate instructional strategy that will blend information technology with modern pedagogy and thus enhance active learning.\u00a0 As Gwynn Mett et al. note, \u201cCAR is a way for instructors to discover what works best in their own classroom situation, thus allowing informed decisions about teaching\u201d (Mett et al., 2003).\u00a0 Learning and Teaching Centers such as CLT<\/strong> can of course assist in this process, but what is critical about CAR<\/strong> is that it \u201coccupies a midpoint on a continuum ranging from teacher reflection at one end to traditional educational research at the other. It is more data-based and systematic than reflection, but less formal and controlled than traditional educational research\u201d <\/em>(Mettetal, 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is, of course, beyond the scope of this short essay to identify and discuss appropriate instructional strategies that combine information technology with modern pedagogy.  Nevertheless, a generic strategy that does that, is suggested by Stephen Ehrmann and may deserve noting since it relates specifically to a liberal educational environment and reflects the interests of faculty, students, institutions and potential employers.  Ehrmann argues that electronic portfolios <\/strong>constitute a key element in modern liberal education as they provide the means by which students can move beyond computer literacy as a goal in itself and instead make use of information technology as a methodology for critical and reflective thinking in relationship to learning goals and objectives (Ehrmann, 2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this respect, Ehrmann\u2019s suggestion articulates well with the fact that learning is now recognized by most educational experts as a lifelong process, no matter what we do, both in work and at leisure. By recording all the different things we have done, currently do, and expect or plan to do in the future we are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n