Week Three Reflection Question

Question 3. what role do education technologies play in teaching and learning?

Early in the chapter, the authors of the textbook make the statement "Effective instruction is instruction that has been thoroughly thought out and articulated by a skillful and creative educator." It is interesting that nowhere in the statement does the word or idea of technology exist. It seems that in today's environment, people think that technology is the key to improving our failing educational system. In truth, teachers can be effective with or without technology.

The keys to being an effective teacher are knowing your students, creating a positive learning environment, mastering teaching strategies, and planning, planning, and more planning. Chapter one dealt in depth about knowing your students, so I will skip any further discussion. A positive learning environment is where the students feel safe, and exhibit confident attitudes about the classroom. Teaching strategies include both methods and media. Methods are the means a teacher uses to present information. Would a lecture be more effective, or would cooperative learning groups explain the material more effectively? Should a presentation be utilized, or should a class discussion be used? The method or combination of methods, used is vital in effective communication. This is where technology comes in. Technologies are designed to facilitate the method of instruction. For example, if a presentation is to be given, PowerPoint slides could be used. Technology is simply a tool that the teacher can utilize. Technology can be used to support instruction, and it can be used to enhance instruction; however, technology can never be seen as having a starring role in the instruction.

The fourth key is planning. The textbook emphasized this over and over again. When it comes to the use of technology, planning is critical. Using technology just for the sake of using it would probably detract from the instruction. On the other hand, failing to use technology that would have been effective is cheating students of the possibility of knowledge. The textbook says the rule is that technology “should make it possible for something that was done before to be done better or make it possible for something that couldn’t have been done before to happen.” To illustrate this, I would like to use an example from my educational experiences. In college, I took a history course on Tudor England. The professor started the semester by showing a movie on the subject. Then every lecture, presentation or discussion revolved around the differences between fact and fiction in the movie. I still remember this as one of the most interesting, thought provoking classes I ever took. On the other hand, there is a movie titled “Stand and Deliver”. It concerns the exploits of a math teacher as he attempts to teach calculus to high school students. While it is an excellent movie, the value of showing in a mathematics class would be negligible.