Skip to main content

What Comes First, Education or Technology?

By


http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2016/2/24/what-comes-first-education-or-technology

This is a good article about putting education technology in perspective.

"What has happened is that the existence of the technology has enabled you to reconsider some of your teaching methods."

Technology has sparked a critical change in education. When integrating technology in education, for the most part of the 20th century, the focus was on adding technology to already existing teaching practices.

“I want to get people to start from the notion that there are educational things that they want to do, or educational processes that they would like to engage with, and then - and only then - talk about the technology.”— The death of the digital native...

Technology is inspiring us to change what we are doing in our classrooms and how students are learning.

Here is an example of how technology can inspire a change in teaching practice:

1990s Tech Example: VCR usage in classrooms really started to take off in the 90s. This was a result of home videos and VCRs becoming cheaper. Videos were shown as a way to present lessons and make the content more concrete. Example, showing a video re-enactment of a Civil War batter, rather then describing or conceptualizing what a Civil War battle was like.  However, this resulted in a leasson where  instead of a teacher lecturing while all of the students followed along at the same pace, all students would follow along with a video at the same pace. The teaching/learning style did not change.

Current Technology Example: Students can start off watching a video on YouTube or another streaming platform, at their own pace on their individual devices. Students with hearing impairments can turn on closed captioning if needed. Students with visual impairments can zoom in on the video or enlarge and shrink. Not all students have to watch the same video. Students who do not know as much about a topic can watch a different video covering more information than those with a high skill level. If a students wants to learn more about a topic, they can research or watch further material on the subject. Learning has become individualized.

Technology has improved to allow us, in this situation, to differentiate classroom instruction to create a more personal and meaningful learning experience. The learning/teaching style has improved.

"I agree that technology shouldn't be used at the expense of learning, but I think that is a different argument altogether."

Of course, technology should not be used simply because we are required or feel obligated to use it. Different activities and learning experience require different tools to complete. 

  • What tools will I need?
  • How can this lesson be improved with technology?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 Google Sheets Add-ons Teachers Need!

By
Google sheets is a very powerful, although a bit basic when compared with the industry standard Microsoft Excel. Google Sheets Add-ons add some of the advanced features of other spreadsheet programs into Sheets. These add-ons have allowed me to completely move away from Excel for all data entry.

We ...selected for you the 8 most popular applications there. Using these add-ons will enable you to:
Create graphs and forms and write complex math in your sheetsCreate and modify a planning schedule for project management in a spreadsheet; easily scaffold, manage and assess students projects in Google Drive...see the article below for more
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2017/07/8-google-sheets-add-ons-every-teacher.html


1 comment
Read more

Microsoft Office: 40 of the Best Add-ins for PowerPoint

By
Check out these Add-ins for PowerPointhttp://www.powerusersoftwares.com/#!40-of-the-best-addins-plugins-and-apps-for-Microsoft-PowerPoint-free-or-not/biauv/56b62cf80cf26832893d6eb2

Now with the updated link.
Add-ins, similar to Google's Apps for Education Add-ons, add more features to Microsoft Office products. These are usually developed by other parties rather than by Microsoft.
6 comments
Read more

The Internet and My Life Thus Far...

By
Our Early History Together The internet has been around, long before I came into being on this planet. From the early days of the ARPANET in the 1960s to the creation of the WorldWideWeb, the internet was still nothing but a shadow of what it has become today when I was born in August 1986. Being a child of the late 80s, growing up in the 90s, I grew up with the internet explosion that would occur and continues to impact my life in various ways.

My introduction to the internet was in 1996 at the age of 10, on a, then brand new, Packard Bell PC with a 133MHz processor, 16MB of RAM, a 1GB hard drive, and a 28.8K modem. My parents bought the computer with the intent of helping my education. I was instantly hooked, for one hour at a time, as our internet was paid for by the hour. With my Windows 95 machine, I quickly learned to ditch the virtually useless Internet Explorer for a more user friendly Netscape Navigator.

I spent hours in online chat rooms, playing Shockwave and Flash games, b…
1 comment
Read more