Oldal 130 [130]
OCR
Part IV. Storytelling and Learning in the 21" Century ] 129 The contact learning environment is complemented by a networked learning environment, whether through institutional devices or students mobile devices, and the whole process can be supported by the institutions online learning management system (LMS) or virtual environment (e.g., Second Life). Digital technology allows for the creation of an integrated learning environment where technology is adapted to face-to-face, contact classroom activities. The objectives of classroom communication, information sharing, and creative work can be accompanied by digital tools and the appropriate use of the Internet to optimize learning outcomes. ‘The effectiveness of learning in an integrated learning environment also depends on student and teacher choices, the degree of interactivity of the learning community, the quality and quantity of activities, and the degree of student involvement rather than on the medium and tools used. True engagement can be achieved through activity-centered instruction designed with consistent pedagogical planning and implementation (Ollé, 2015). Students in the 21* century use the Internet on digital devices, an easily accessible but unquantifiable and not necessarily reliable source of data and information. Students are no longer limited to physically accessing information offline in a formal learning environment but now have the possibility to extend their learning environment infinitely through the possibilities offered by the Internet, their desktop computers and the set of applications on their smart devices (Ollé, 2017). The learning environment extended in this way is characterized by its functions as a database, an operation executor, and an interactive interface; as it provides unlimited access to delocalized content in different media formats, it also performs organizational, mathematical and editing functions, and provides a channel for virtual collaboration and communication (Komenczi, 2013). Such an approach is a shift from the traditional view of teachers’ monopoly of knowledge. In the pre-Internet era, traditional education relied on teachers, textbooks’ and libraries’ reliable but limited knowledge, whereas today, the web provides students with access to a wealth of resources. Textbooks, teacher narratives, online hypertexts, images and multimedia content can all be considered as sources of narrative information. Students have unlimited access to information of highly heterogeneous quality. It is, therefore, the teacher who remains the professional reference point for knowledge, and who guides students in their search for relevant and reliable sources on the Internet. The teacher's role is more important than ever, as he or she mentors and provides feedback on students’ digital content selection and production, as well as their online social communication, while at the same time helping them to organize content. In an activity-based integrated learning environment, interactive collaboration requires that all actors in the teaching-learning process are familiar with the functions of digital tools and media as well as their potential and limitations; it is also important that their online and offline communication
