ROLES OF TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING

Technology has many roles in learning. In terms of traditional role, technology is a delivery vehicles for instructional lessons. In this role, he learner learns from the technology and the technology serves as a teacher. In other words, the learner learns the content presented by the technology in the same way that the learner learns knowledge presented by the teacher.   From the traditional point of view, technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge and it is assumed that knowledge is embedded in technology.

      

From the constructivist point of view, educational technology serves as learning tools that learners learn with.   It engages learners in" active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning. It provides opportunities for technology and learner interaction for meaningful learning.  Technology serves as supporter of knowledge construction such as representing learner's ideas, understanding and beliefs, producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners. It serves as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning by constructing such as accessing needed information, comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views. It serves as context to support learning -by - doing like representing and simulating meaningful real- world problems, situation and contexts, defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking.  It serves as a social medium to support learning by conversing like for instance collaborating with others, discussing, arguing, and building consensus among members of the community. It serves as  intellectual partner to support learning- by- reflecting such as helping learners articulate and represent what they know, reflecting of what they have learned and  how they come to know it, supporting learner's internal  negotiations  and meaning making.

      

Whether  used from traditional or constructivist point of view, when used effectively, research indicates that technology increases student's learning, understanding, and achievement but also augments motivation to learn , encourages collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

              

By effectively using the technology, I can now apply my learning.

"From the traditional point of view, technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge and it is assumed that knowledge is embedded in technology." - Jonassen

A very creative elementary teacher will retire in June because she no longer feels she can teach due to her district’s technology push.  Her district purchased a math online program in which the computer program presents the math concept and the program has students do stations for a designated amount of time each day. Her job is to make sure that the students rotate through the stations.

Another teacher no longer has time to relate his subject area to the real world because he has to push through his textbook so students can do the designated and scheduled online drill and practice for each unit. The district looks at the student data from the online activities as an assessment measure.

A science teacher has to have her students do a specified number of app activities for each unit.  Although this teacher used to do many student inquiry labs, she has had to eliminate those labs in order to provide students time to complete all the apps.

Finally, students in Carpe Diem schools spend half to two thirds of their day doing computer work. These students score well on state tests. (http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2011/04/22/carpe-diem-charter-school-seizes-tomorrows-innovations-today)

What is your view of the role of technology in the teaching learning process?  Do teachers or technology determine how students spend their learning time? Who/What makes decisions about what learning gap students have and supplies a new strategy to overcome the gap?

I have developed many Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation.  My Spanish spontaneous speaking activities (20+) includes Modified Speed Dating (Students ask  a question from a card-whole class), Structured Speaking (Students substitute in or select words to communicate in pairs),  Role Playing (Students talk as people in pictures or drawing from 2-4 people) and Speaking Mats (Can talk using a wide variety of nouns, verbs and adjectives to express their ideas- pairs or small group),  Spontaneous Speaking (based on visuals or topics in pairs),  and Grammar speaking games (pairs or small group). Available for a nominal fee at Teachers pay teachers:

Carpe Diem Charter School Seizes Tomorrow’s Innovations Today | Heart lander Magazine

Explaining the success of Carpe Diem Collegiate High School and Middle School requires more than simple answers, but the school’s innovations hold great promise for expanding educational excellence and opportunity.