.:.Reflection #3.:.

Teaching with Technology
http://www.nowhereroad.com/twt/index.html

    This article is about educational technology and not technology in education. Why technology has failed in the past and ways that we can change this are also the focus of this article.   Educational technology involves applying ideas from various sources to create the best learning environments possible for students.  This website tries to show the ways in which this educational technology may be useful to teachers in the classroom conditions today and how it might influence how classrooms may change in the future.  There are five different stages of technology adoption: the first is familiarization.  Familiarization is the initial exposure and experience with technology.  The second stage is utilization, in this stage the teacher tries out the technology in the classroom or with the class in an activity.  The third stage is integration, in this stage the teacher decides to use the technology in certain tasks and responsibilities.  The fourth stage is reorientation, in this stage the teacher reconsiders the function and/or purpose of the classroom to be learner centered instead of teacher centered.  The fifth stage is evolution, this stage is just a reminder that the classroom should constantly evolve and change in order to suit the learner better. There is never going to be one final way. 
    The article then discusses the traditional role of technology in the classroom which they broke up into two main categories product technologies and idea technologies.  Product technologies is about hardware, or machine-oriented technologies including: audio-visual equipment(film strips, movies, audio-cassettes players/recorders, video-cassette players/recorders, laserdiscs, computers and cd-roms).  As well as software technologies which includes print-based materials like: books, worksheets, overhead transperencies and computer software).  In constrast idea technologies are represented through the product technologies, usually computer software and include such simulations as traveling back in time or the green house effect.
    How teaching with technology can deepen cognitive processing is another point that the article talks about.  There are three principles that use.  Principal 1: effective learners actively process lesson content.  Principle 2: presenting information from multiple perspectives increases the durability of instruction.  Principle 3: effective instruction should build upon students knowledge and experiences and be grounded in meaningful contexts.
    The article ends with presenting three examples of education products that include many of the points that this article has discussed.  The three examples are The Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series, The voyage of the Mimi, and The Geometric Supposer.