What is the role of technology in education?

To enhance learning.

Wow, that was easy. Seriously though. At some point in time chalk and chalkboards was a technology, and it was found that teachers could enhance learning by drawing pictures (gasp!) for their students so that they could all see. Now we have multimedia presentations, videos, and more at our fingertips that will hopefully allow us to engage students and prepare them for the world of technology that is out there. I think that technology should really only be used if it does in fact enhance learning. Showing a video just for the sake of showing a video is worthless, there should be something the students get from the video that would be difficult or impossible for the teacher to get across himself. This goes for any technology.
Another important feature of using technology is the fact that it allows for students to be challenged at whatever level they need to be challenged at. Individual learning styles and levels have been talked about for years, and now we are getting technology on computers that allows a personalized differentiation of instruction.

Sweet.

That doesn't really answer the question though, does it? I think that the overall, technology should be considered another tool that teachers and students can use to enhance learning. The only asterisk to this is that technology is becoming so prevalent in the world around us that it is something that sometimes needs to be taught in and of itself. In this case, however, it becomes a different beast that is no longer a tool for the teacher, but instead a subject matter such as Math or English, and for this we would have to have a curriculum discussion. Overall, I think that technology use should be appropriate. discrete, and it should have a lasting effect on how students learn.

I would like to start this week’s blog by noting how big a nerd I really am. I practically can’t wait to finish up my website, and I am looking forward to working on my photovideo. The website in particular is something I have been wanting to do for the last 3 years. I made a basic website in college using html editing, which was a royal pain compared to using Dreamweaver. Though it took me a while to figure out what exactly I wanted my page to look like, once I got there it was a matter of mapping out the pages (I have something like 20 pages so far) and figuring out how to easily link them. I ended up linking my six or seven main pages with a common link bar on the left and redundantly on the bottom of the page, in case people scroll down the page a ways. Then each of these main pages have sub pages which are linked with menu bars on the top of each page. OK, a picture is worth a thousand words, just check it out here. I think I am going to add some color, but I have to figure out if I can make some links on a page one color and others a different color.

I am glad we looked at multiple platforms with which to do the photomovie. I am planning on using my Mac to do it here at home with iMovie. I still have not decided what topic to do it on as I don’t really have any school related pictures at the moment.

Now to digress a bit, I want to explore a question that was posed by Aaron; How do we move students to the highest level? Answer: We don’t. They move themselves. We can, however, guide them in ways that are most likely to lead to the highest level. I think that the main difficulty with this is the range of levels that are often in any particular class. In my general physics classes, for example, I have students who are just starting Algebra II and have not yet taken chemistry all the way to students who were in honors chemistry and are currently taking Calculus. I think that technology allows me to differentiate easily and in meaningful ways. I once did an activity were students were able to use an applet to explore motion graphs. Students who caught on quickly were able to go beyond the activity and make graphs with a variety of motion types, whereas students who had more difficultly were able to focus on the problem at hand. I think the main idea is that technology allows students to work at their own pace and as a result each student can work towards their own personal next level, leading them all towards the highest level.

I know that this is somewhat of an avoidance of the question; however, for lack of time I am going to hold off on more discussion for the time being.

Educational Blogging and Quantum Mechanics

At the beginning of last year I went to the Tech department at the High School I teach at and asked if I could set up a myspace site to communicate with students outside of the classroom.

They laughed at me.

The problem with wanting to ban things is that it makes them even more popular, and, since unregulated, more dangerous (don’t take this concept too far though….). On one hand we have myspace as an unregulated site where students brag about drinking and having sex, pedophiles thrive, and no one is who they appear to be, and and on the other hand we could have a community where a teacher is regulating the use simply through the fact that they are present, observing.

But I digress.

The real reason I am writing is to reflect on the idea of using blogging in the classroom. I teach physics. I can see it now… “What are your feelings about Albert Einstein in relation to the fact that he claimed that Quantum Mechanics could not be correct, stating boldly that ‘God does not play dice?’” A you can see, I am not sure how I personally would use blogging. Could I use it as a questions and answer session? Sure, if I wanted to figure out how to type equations into the blog programs, and if I wanted to monitor the site in the evenings. As reality sets in, however, I don’t see blogging in the Physics classroom as something that would enhance learning; it would simply be another ‘gimmick’ to get students ‘intrinsically motivated’. Actually, I’m not even against the idea of the gimmick to hook students, but I think that the gimmick should lead to enhancement in some way. However, was wrong once, it could happen again. For now I think I’ll take my chances with websites, Powerpoint, and Myth Busters.