What I can see now ...
Perspectives differ on whether "educational technology" involves state-of-the-art digital processes or merely involves the latest tools. Most broadly, however, educational technology means both the digital hardware and all software used for teaching and for learning across the curriculum. But, is technology really useful for teaching and/or learning?
The answer to this question basically depends on how well the teacher uses that particular technology and for what particular goal.
In my classroom, I teeter along the razor’s edge of knowing how much to tell students versus how much to discovery to allow them. Finding the right balance between direct instruction and social knowledge-making is never easy — or shouldn’t be. Even a sorcerer has a tough time supplying his apprentice’s needs: active engagement, participation with other learners, frequent interaction or feedback, and face time with the real expert. Outside this balance of “watching v.s. doing” lies the dread zone of anti-matter, where students only pretend that your class matters.
Education technology is the magic wand that makes this balance achievable. I use computer tutor software to remediate; the web opens windows to other cultures; Skype will do this too, someday, when the bandwidth is there; email works for collaborating; video recording and editing puts the kinesthetic learners in their elemment, and I’m just biding my time to try songwriting and studio recording.
But this tech magic only works when it’s part of a daily routine that’s easily followed, and for which students have individual accountability to meet the goals of the kingdom, or in our case, the North Carolina DPI (edutopia.org).
More and more, I’m thinking of myself in the role of “educational technologist,” — someone “who acts as a learning consultant, an educational materials producer, a manager of learning resources or [as] a systems developer and planner” (Luppicini 2005).
But really, I’m just another mage on tightrope.
The answer to this question basically depends on how well the teacher uses that particular technology and for what particular goal.
In my classroom, I teeter along the razor’s edge of knowing how much to tell students versus how much to discovery to allow them. Finding the right balance between direct instruction and social knowledge-making is never easy — or shouldn’t be. Even a sorcerer has a tough time supplying his apprentice’s needs: active engagement, participation with other learners, frequent interaction or feedback, and face time with the real expert. Outside this balance of “watching v.s. doing” lies the dread zone of anti-matter, where students only pretend that your class matters.
Education technology is the magic wand that makes this balance achievable. I use computer tutor software to remediate; the web opens windows to other cultures; Skype will do this too, someday, when the bandwidth is there; email works for collaborating; video recording and editing puts the kinesthetic learners in their elemment, and I’m just biding my time to try songwriting and studio recording.
But this tech magic only works when it’s part of a daily routine that’s easily followed, and for which students have individual accountability to meet the goals of the kingdom, or in our case, the North Carolina DPI (edutopia.org).
More and more, I’m thinking of myself in the role of “educational technologist,” — someone “who acts as a learning consultant, an educational materials producer, a manager of learning resources or [as] a systems developer and planner” (Luppicini 2005).
But really, I’m just another mage on tightrope.
Contact |
References:
Edutopia. (n.d.). What is technology integration? Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-description Luppicini, R. (2005). A systems definition of educational technology in society. Educational Technology & Society, 8 (3), 103-109. Retrieved June 7 from http://www.ifets.info/journals/8_3/10.pdf Understanding the Implications of Online Learning for Educational Productivity (2012) Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/technology/research/ U.S. Department of Education. (2010) National Education Technology Plan 2010 Executive Summary. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010 |