Your keynote speech focuses on "Learning and technology: what is it all about?" Which aspects of the digital divide theme will your talk address?

Dr. Itiel Dror: My speech will focus on a normally neglected area of the digital divide: the chasm between learning and technology. Technology should be subservient to learning, but it isn't; currently technology is driving learning. Sometimes it's used as a marketing tool to boost learner numbers rather than as an instrument to enhance learning.


If technology is to be used successfully in the learning process, then there needs to be a better mapping process between its use and the human brain and cognitive system. The full potential of technology-enhanced learning depends crucially on those involved having an understanding of what learning is all about and the know-how to apply it in practice.

The brain has a limited capacity, and eLearning can often overwhelm students through a surfeit of information rather than enhancing learning. People can drown in facts and be unsure about how to apply them. Technology offers the opportunity to better package learning materials so that the brain can encode them more effectively, retain the information, and keep learners engaged, interactive, and participative.

When technology-enhanced learning is based on the brain and cognitive system and focuses on the learner, it becomes a fantastic instrument to achieve better learning. We have to remember that it's what students learn that counts, not what you teach! Successful learning is achieved when the cognitive system acquires information and stores it for future use. If teaching is not carried out in the most effective way, students may not acquire information or be able to remember or apply it appropriately.

Currently educators are taking traditional learning and transcribing it from one medium to the next without taking advantage of the full potential and spectrum that technologies offer; in many instances they're even making it less effective. For example, video clips can be primitive and unsophisticated: students just passively sit and watch.


However, video is a great medium to develop learning and make it better. Interactive video can be used to encourage learners to engage with the video or each other and to evaluate. They could be asked to try to spot problems and click on them and then discuss how they would solve them with the tutor or their peers.

We can pick up many tips to improve online learning from -˜leisure' areas such as the gaming world. Getting children to do their homework can be like flogging a dead horse, but technology such as interactive online games can transform a dead horse into a race horse. Games are designed to entertain us, but we can design them so that pedagogy is hidden in the fun.

How do you think organisations such as the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) can help enhance learners' experiences using technology in their studies?

Dr. Itiel Dror: eLearning is failing to deliver because it is being driven by cost-cutting and technology instead of the science of learning. Events such as the ALT conference allow educators to focus on learners and learning rather than on technology per se. ALT provides a very important link between science and practice and helps to put us on a much better road toward successful learning. Activities such as the conference, seminars, and newsletters that ALT arranges also offer an opportunity to share good practice: just a small change in teaching methods can make a huge difference in the way the brain processes information.