LESSON 3 The Roles of Educational Technology in Learning

LESSON 3

The Roles of Educational Technology in Learning

Objective:

    What are the roles of educational technology in learning?

From the traditional point of view, technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge. It is assumed that “knowledge is embedded in the technology (e.g. the content presented by films and tv programs or the teaching sequence in programmed instruction) and the technology presents that knowledge to the student (David H. Jonasssen, et al, 1999).

            Technology like computers is seen as a productivity tool. The popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphic programs and desktop publishing in the 1980’s points to this productive role of educational technology.

            With the eruption of the INTERNET to the mid 90s, communication 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: (Jonassen, et al 1999)

·         Technology as tools to support knowledge construction:

·         for representing learners’ ideas, understanding and beliefs.

·         for producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners.

·         Technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing:

·         for accessing needed information.

·         for comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views.

·         Technology as context to support learning-by-doing:

·         for representing and simulating meaningful real-world problems, situations and context.

·         for representing beliefs, perspective, arguments, and stories of others.

·         for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking.

·         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.

·         Technology as intellectual partner (Jonassen 1996) 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.

            Whether used from the traditional or constructivist point of view, when used effectively, research indicates that technology not only “increases students’ learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn, encourages and collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills” (Scharter and Fagnano, 1999). Russell and Sorge (1999) also claims that the proper implementation of technology in the classroom gives students more “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, interest, multiple intelligences, and learning styles. Technology also helps students become lifelong learners.