Educational Technology

After finishing four days in the program, I have to say my brain is completely saturated. I am enthralled with the presentations that I have seen over the past couple of days.

I was thinking I had a fairly clear idea about what educational technology was about. On a personal level when I think about educational technology, I am coming from the perspective of a teacher in a high school. I see it as an understanding of an evolving field that gives teachers an insight into how to use technology to create opportunities for effective learning in the classroom to engage students in meeting their individual learning needs by making activities more meaningful. It is about taking learning outside of the typical structure that is unfortunately still a part of the many classrooms; read this text and answer questions.

The definition is only part of a broader perspective for all that is encompassed in this area. It is a field of study that keeps redefining itself as the rapid changes occur. As we move forward with new developments in this field, seemingly on a daily basis, this definition will likely be refined. People could not even imagine some of the resources we have available to us today. The technology used twenty years ago that was cutting edge has now become obsolete. To be relevant as a teacher, it is important to understand the impact of educational technology on learning. “Curriculum and pedagogy must drive technology use.” (Jacobsen, Saar, Friesen, 2008) This is a critical perspective in a classroom setting because of the expectations for curricular outcomes in particular subject areas.

The presentations from Dr. Gail Kopp, Dr. Qing Li, Dr. Sharon Friesen and Dr. Michele Jacobsen dramatically broadened my perspective about this field.

The Affordances in Second Life for Virtual Patients by Dr. Gail Kopp demonstrated advances in technology that I was not even aware of in my role as a high school teacher. I printed the draft of her research in order to further review.

I had read Dr. Li's paper, Instructional Design and Technology Grounded in Enactivism: A Paradigm Shift before I attended the class which made me more prepared for building on previous knowledge. Dr. Li's ideas about enactivism stimulated thought and discussion around learning in the classroom. Having us use Scratch confirmed how students were able to use hands on technology activities to enrich their learning, build motivation and instill confidence. She simply gave students three principles of Physics that they needed to use in the creation of games. It was engaging and fun. The benefit was students were using the Physics in a meaningful way which would be more likely to transfer to other learning.

I had also read Dr. Friesen and Dr. Jacobsen's presentation on One on One is About Personalized Learning Not Laptops which was most closely linked to my area of passion of making a difference in schools using educational technology. Their research showed how educational results improve as technology is imbedded into learning in a meaningful way. Teachers and students need access that is consistent. Their project demonstrated that allowing students to use laptops that could be taken home and integrated effectively into their activities promoted more opportunities for growth then when students have only partial access.

What a full four days. I feel like I need time to sythesize all of the information presented this week in order to speak in a coherent manner about it. I was so fatigued today that I can barely remember taking the train home.