.:.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.