Week Three (Chapter Two)
3. What role do educational technologies play in teaching and learning?
In a nutshell, educational technologies play and integral part in making classroom instruction the most efficient that it can possibly be. Ideally, we, as instructors, should strive to make our instruction cater to as many students and learning types as possible. This is most efficiently done through the use of one of the many forms of educational technologies at the disposal of teachers today. However, just because a form of technology is available for use, doesn't mean that we should use it nor should we rely solely on the technology to do the teaching for us.
While technology has made instruction more interactive, interesting and effective than ever, this does not mean that technology does our planning for us. On the contrary, making use of technology requires more planning from teachers than ever before. Teachers wanting to make use of a specific technology in their lesson must weigh out both the pros and the cons of using the aforementioned technology. As the textbook states, the use of technology should be reserved for cases in which something previous can be done better or it allows something that previously could not be done to become possible. When intending to use technology to enhance your instruction, it is important to decide how exactly you want the technology chosen to make your instruction better and to what learning style you are trying to cater. Also, it is very important to consider possible backfires that the use of the technology may cause. Will the use of your chosen technology cause distraction from the primary message? Will it cause more confusion than clarity? Will students benefit more from the use of this technology than through simple lecture instruction? These are some questions that all teachers should consider when planning to integrate some form of technology into their instruction.
I enjoyed your post. I try to use technology as often as possible in the classroom. However, you are correct, there is such thing as to much technology. As teachers we must make sure we use to technology to help and not hinder our students. Many times teachers believe "oh well I will just show a video today on Ancient Greece, and that will be a lesson." However, if the students don't understand the basic knowledge of Ancient Greece, the video would either be confusing, or have no effect on the students learning. Technology should only be used when it is enhancing student learning. As teachers we must not use to technology as a crutch for lack of planning, but rather, a resource to help students excel once they have grasped the information.
ReplyDeleteYour posted reflection not only states the questions teachers must decide upon, but gives an excellent perspective of the value judgments that must be made. Since there is no right answer, teachers are left to weigh teaching performance based on the input of the students, their parents, and teaching peers. A teacher must use the tools provided, and make judgment calls on lesson plans, along with the integration of technology into those lesson plans within the school district and departmental guidelines. Some school districts have funding to purchase more then enough equipment per student, while others can purchase no equipment. As teachers, we need to be prepared to teach and enable the learning process effectively in either environment; one with educational technologies, and one without.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
ReplyDelete