Heuristic Technology in Distance Education
Andrey Khutorskoy, Ph. D., Moscow, Russia
For the last 2-3 years in Russia there has been an increase of
interest of schools and universities to the distant forms of
training due to progressing expansion of computer technology and
development of telecommunication networks. However the technical
equipment or software products do not solve the problem of the
contents and technology of distance education. Is it sufficient
to only copy traditional methods of education to the distant
forms? The problem is to receive a qualitatively new level of
education grounding on creative potential of the students. In
this article I shall state some results of my research on
constructing heuristic technology in distance education. The
results of this research are approved in practice (Khutorskoy
A., 1997) though still require discussion and development.
How can distance education differ from face-to-face traditional
training? The purpose of traditional training is frequently
understood as expansion of knowledge volume of the student. The
knowledge itself is often realized only as getting the ready
information. We believe knowledge isn't not only information but
also ways of its creating.
Distance forms of education due to the computer technologies
increase an opportunity to achieve the main purpose of
traditional training in such simple way that this purpose stops
to be actual. Progressing enhance of volume and availability of
educational information contained in Web does not demand of the
student its profound learning. What for to learn information, if
with the help of search system it is always possible to find and
use any information for the solution of educational problems.
The information becomes then a means of distant training not its
purpose. What is the purpose in this case? The answer is
necessary to search at a level of the intention of education.
Let's compare two opposite approaches to learning. According to
one of them it is reception of knowledge and such approach is
very widespread nowadays. The other less known approach connects
education with extension of ignorance.
What do we set our questions for? "To receive the answers" – a
lot of people will say. In traditional education getting the
answers is the main thing. I think the answer to a question is
ceasing of self-movement, the end of knowledge. The educational
process slows down, as there is little possibility of the new
questions on the subject. The student finds out more of the
answers increasing volume of the information. Many teachers
would like to transfer this traditional approach to distant
training.
There is another way of training based on heuristic technology (Khutorskoy
A., 1996). It grounds upon the increase of questions, instead of
answers. Not increase of knowledge, but increase of ignorance.
The purpose of a question is not to receive the answer, but to
expand the question. Think of heuristic method of Socrates whose
wisdom was in asking questions. Knowledge of your ignorance can
be a source of self-movement. How is it possible in distance
education?
Educational movement of the student in distant training can be
ensured by special heuristic technology. This technology links
the forms and methods of designing by the students their
personal training. The basic purpose of students' activity is
creation of educational production on all the levels: from a
formulation of personal sense and purposes of own training up to
discoveries in different spheres and application of
self-evaluation system of the results. If we think such things
are available only for the scientists we are very much mistaken.
In our research where the students used both face-to-face and
distant forms of classes we have found out that even 7-year-old
children can put their purposes, carry out research and estimate
their results.
Let's consider the elements of heuristic technology in distance
training. The construction by the student of his/her own
knowledge acts as the basic process in this technology;
therefore they do not only extract but also acquire suitable
information and methods of its extraction. The knowledge
extracted by the students can be classified as following:
1) knowledge of the world and its special areas,
2) knowledge of knowledge,
3) knowledge of ignorance,
4) knowledge of ways of learning and creativity,
5) knowledge of training organization.
To construct the above given kinds of knowledge it is enough for
the student to master three kinds of activity: cognitive,
creative and managerial. Each activity has its set of the
methods. Cognitive activity includes, for example, empathy
methods, observation, search and classification of the facts,
questions construction, formulation of hypotheses, versions,
comparison of the alternative approaches, construction of the
theories, proofs of its applicability.
Creative activity is carried out with the help of methods of
definitions of concepts, rules constructing, creation of
standards, making symbolical and art images, hyperbolization,
agglutination, brainstorming, synectics, inversion,
morphological box etc.
Managerial activity includes methodological methods of setting
purposes, scheduling, planning norms of activity, reviewing,
reflection, control and estimation of the received results;
communicative methods of students, teachers and experts
interaction; project and other methods of training.
The heuristic technology in distance education includes
application and mastering by the students of a listed above set
of methods to create knowledge. The contents of training and
sequence of used methods depend on course specifics, age and the
preparation level of the learners, qualification of the teacher
or instructor. We shall consider a sequence of technological
stages in heuristic distance training as following:
1. The teacher offers to the student to form his/her personal
attitude to the designated educational area, for example, to
answer questions or to write an essay about a role of this theme
in his/her life and education. During this work the student
finds out his/her attitude towards the theme and with the help
of managerial methods formulates the purposes of the further
activity, makes the tentative program of their studies. The
teacher estimates and confirms the individual program of the
student training.
2. The student is offered to carry out searching of the basic
concepts, questions and problems of the investigated theme in
WWW, in virtual libraries and other sources of the information.
It is noticed that the contents of a theme is not the subject of
learning, that is the student does not study the information on
a theme, but finds out its structural marks. Simultaneously the
student states questions and problems arising in the process of
the searching.
3. On the basis of notional apparatus fundamental educational
objects and categories are pointed out. The student makes
taxonomy problems on the studied theme in hypertext form. The
fulfillment of the given task is carried out under the
algorithmic instruction, which is offered to the students by the
teacher. The hierarchy of problems comprises both questions
found by the student in information sources and his/her own
questions.
4. The student examines the outlined problem block using
cognitive methods. The expansion of the contents of his/her
knowledge about ignorance goes on three directions: а)
construction of logic chains of questions following one another;
б) increase of a number of varied questions to one object; в)
combinatorics of questions, that is creation of question groups
of different types. The students build up their own schemes of
theoretical description of the problems in studied theme.
5. The students expose their works on educational server
(Web-site). The products of their activity are compared and
discussed via means of telecommunication. The students exchange
questions, reviews. The instructor provides for the students an
opportunity of interaction with the experts in investigated
area. The result of this stage is a formulation of arising
questions, collective selection and fixing of leading problems
in the theme.
6. Selected problems are developed by using creative methods of
individual and group telecommunication. The instructor organizes
a teleconference, Olympiad, brainstorming, other forms of
promoting individual and collective educational results. The
received results are published on Web-site.
7. The students' reflection and self-estimation of educational
results round up technological cycle of distant education. The
students realize difficulties and results of their activity
through analysis of their individual program results. The
reflexive analysis and self-estimations made by the students are
sent to the teacher. The teacher gives his opinion on their
activity.
Each of the stages is completed with the student creation of
educational product, which s/he shows to the teacher. The
teacher should provide the students with algorithmic
instructions of their activity, access to information space,
organization of telecommunications between the students, advice,
review and estimation of educational products created by the
students.
As an example of realization heuristic technology in distant
education we could regard distant heuristic Olympiad, devised by
our staff. In February 1997 we organized International Distant
Heuristic Olympiad in which 167 students from 6 to 13 years old
from Russia, the Ukraine, USA, Great Britain and Norway took
part. The participants of the Olympiad competed to create
knowledge in seven metasubject nominations: "Know yourself",
"Phenomenon", "Symbol", "Sign", "Research", "Composition",
"Future". During 2 hours children made personal educational
products, which were estimated by the following criteria:
outlook depth, originality, creative efficiency. On the basis
results, received in the heuristic Olympiad distant educational
project "Phenomenon" was conducted in which the authors of the
most successful results in similar Olympiad nomination competed.
We suggest the following types of Heuristic Olympiad tasks.
I. Nomination "Idea".
1. Suggest your way of travelling into the Past. Please, draw it
and explain.
2. Think of the way how to teach all the pupils of the school to
make good
deeds.
3. Suggest all the possible ways of using a mug.
II. Nomination "Image".
1. Imagine you are lucky to find youself on the flying comet.
Draw it and write
what you see around and what you feel like when on its surface.
2. Imagine you open this window and look into the room. What
would you like
to see there?
3. Think of The Symbol of the Time and paint it in a picture.
Invent the
unusual name for your picture.
III. Nomination "Sign".
1. Draw as many animals as you can in whose names you come
across the
letter "G'.
2. Draw alive number 5.
IY. Nomination "Experiment".
1. Make several different experiments with a drop of water and
write down
the most interesting facts you've found out.
2. Ask yourself your best question about this drop of water and
write down
your answer to it.
3. Think of your own task for your friends to study this drop of
water.
Y. Nomination"Construction".
1.Build from the blocks the house nobody has ever had.
2. Make out of the paper the construction which will be the
slowest to land.
Take part in the competition "The Slowest Construction".
The heuristic Olympiad has caused interest of the students and
schoolteachers both in Russia and in other
countries-participants. Many participants expressed the desire
to continue Olympiads. Therefore in 2005 we are planning to
carry out next distant heuristic Olympiad. Contact address:
andreykh@mail.ru
Handlist:
Khutorskoy, A. (1996). Heuristics in Education: Teaching Aspect.
Magister. International Journal on Problems of Education 6,
18-32.
Khutorskoy, A. (1997). Free Development as Space Education. New
Educational Values. Cultural Models of Schools 7, 23-33.
Khutorskoy, A. (2003). Didactic & Heuristic. M.: Moscow
University. - 420 p.
