The Roles of Educational Technology in Learning

Lesson 3

“Technology makes the world a better place.”

Which greater role did technology play in your learning experiences:

technology-as-teacher technology-as-partner in the learning

process?

Technology can play;

a traditional role - as delivery vehicles for instructional lessons

in a constructivist way as partners in the learning process.

In constructivist way:

the learners learn from the technology and the technology serves as a teacher.

the learners learn the content presented by the technology in the same way that the learner learns knowledge presented by the teacher.

In traditional way:

technology helps the learner build more meaningful personal interpretations of life and his/her world.

technology is a learning tool to learn with, not from. it makes the learner gather, think, analyze, synthesize

information and construct meaning with what technology presents.

Technology serves as a medium in representing what the learner knows and what he/she is learning.

technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge.

it is assumed that "knowledge is embedded in the technology

the technology presents that knowledge to the student

From the traditional point of view:

Technology like computers is seen as a productivity tool.

The popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphic programs and desktop publishing in the 1980s points to this productive role of educational technology.

With the eruption of the INTERNET in the mid 90's, communications and multimedia have dominated the role of technology in the classroom for the past few years.

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.

In this case, technology will not be mere delivery vehicle for content. Rather it is used as facilitator of thinking and knowledge construction.

From a constructivist perspective, the following are roles of technology in learning:

1. Technology as a tools to support knowledge construction- for representing learners' ideas, understandings and beliefs- for producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners2. Technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing- for accessing needed information- for comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views3. Technology as context to support learning-by-doing- for representing and stimulating meaningful real-world problems, situations and contexts

- for representing beliefs, perspectives, arguments and stories of others - for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking

4. Technology as a social medium to support learning by conversing - for collaborating with others - for discussing, arguing and building consensus among members of a community - for supporting discourse among knowledge-building communities

5. Technology as intellectual partner to support learning-by-reflecting - for helping learners to articulate and represent what they know - for reflecting on what they have learned and how they came to know it - for supporting learners internal negotiations and meaning making - for constructing personal representations of meaning - for supporting mindful thinking

Research indicates that:

Technology not only "increases students learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills".

Russell and Sorge (1999) also claims that the proper implementation of technology in the classroom gives students control of their own learning and . . . tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to ones that are more learner-centered.

The use of technology in the classroom enables the teacher to do, differentiated instruction considering the divergence of students, readiness levels, interests, multiple intelligences and learning styles.

Technology also helps students become lifelong learners.

Summing Up Educational technology plays various roles. From the traditional point of view:

- It serves as representer of knowledge just like teachers.

- It also serves as a productivity tool- With Internet, technology has facilitated communication among people.

From the constructivist perspective:- educational technology is a meaningful

learning tool by serving as a learning partner.

Personal Postscript

No other choice but to learn how to use recent technology in the classroom

- the younger generation of teachers is admittedly better than the older generation of teachers when it comes to the use of the most recent technology, like the computer.

- the younger crop of teachers, unlike the older generation, was blessed with basic computer courses in their college curriculum.

- but if the older group of teachers would like to remain responsive and relevant by keeping their teaching fresh, interesting and challenging, there is no choice but to learn how to use them.

It is part of your continuing professional development to become a "digital native" and not remain a "digital immigrant".

It is good to become a "netizen" or a "screenager", able to participate not only in seminars but also in "webinars".