What Should Teachers Know About Technology and Its What Should Teachers Know About Technology and Its Impact on Schools?Impact on Schools?

Chapter 7Chapter 7

Dr. Paul A. RodriguezDr. Paul A. Rodriguez

• Technology & technological change are not new to the field of education

• Schools are being pressured from many sides to incorporate contemporary technologies into instruction

• Students can use technology to promote creativity, collaboration and higher order thinking

• Technologies can help teachers change their role from dispensers of information to facilitators of students’ learning

• Teachers can benefit from the productivity of computers in areas ranging from record keeping to staff development

• The placement of technology within the educational setting affects how it can be used

Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, “We’ve always done it this way.” I try to fight that. That’s why I have a clock

on my wall that runs counterclockwise.

--Grace Murray Hopper, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

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• Do schools prepare students for modern life?

1. Parents are placing pressure on schools to use technologies in the classroom

2. Students are placing pressure on schools by knowing more about which technologies are currently available and how to use them than do many of the teachers

3. Teachers are placing pressure on schools because they need both access to technology in their classrooms and training to use the technology in their classrooms and training to use the technology effectively.

4. Businesses are placing pressure on school and governmental agencies to adequately prepare future employees.

5. The perception that the U. S. is falling behind the world in educational attainment has increased the pressure on schools and teachers to bridge this gap.

6. Governmental agencies have moved to support federal, state , and local initiatives to ensure access to technology from K-12 students.

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• You use word processors to write papers, you email programs to communicate, and you may use a spreadsheet to keep track of your personal finances. When used in these ways, these applications are called productivity tools

• Some computer applications can be classified as cognitive tools when they are used to engage and enhance thinking.

During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the

need for character in the individual or the ability to think

Bernard Mannes Baruch, American financier and Presidential Advisor• Word processors—ease of editing and rewriting• LCD projector—enables teachers to project a writing example• Digital storytelling—is a project that can engage even the most

reticent students. Students create images, often by taking digital photos.

• Web blogs—basically a journal that is available on the Web• Drill-and –practice—generally increase the fluency of a skill rather

than actually teaching it.

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Technology can facilitate interdisciplinary connections in a powerful way

• Ubiquitous computing—student has access to some type of mobile computing device to use inside the classroom, in the field and at home

• Spreadsheets are widely used tools for organizing data sets, conducting numerical analyses and creating graphs

The important think in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them

--Sir William Henry Bragg, British Physicist• Web Quest—is an inquiry-based learning activity that directs

learners in using information from the Web• Tutorials are educational software applications designed to provide

the initial instruction on a given topic. The goal is to give the learner small chunks of information in a careful sequence of instruction designed to adjust to students’ needs, allowing them to achieve success

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• News groups is a feature of the Web that can be compared with a large wall full of messages in chronological order

• Distance education involves using technology to link students and instructors in separate locations

• Assistive technology describes the array of devices and services that help people with disabilities perform better in their daily lives. This must be considered in Individualized Education Programs (IEP) required under law for each child with a disability

• Computers are especially helpful in allowing students to participate in normal classroom activities that would otherwise be impossible

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important

--Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft• Teachers as a Facilitator—can monitor students’ learning• Embedding Technology in the Curriculum—the students learn best

with technology rather than from it• Small-Group instruction—may mean that students learn different

things at different times

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• Importance of Formative Assessment—used to monitor and redirect students’ understanding as a lesson unfolds

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change

--Charles Darwin, English Naturalist

Schools must have:

1. Student-centered approaches to learning

2. Access to contemporary technologies, software and communications networks

3. Educators skilled in the use of the technology for learning

4. Technical assistance for maintaining and using technology resources

5. Ongoing financial support for sustained technology use

6. Content standards and curriculum resources

7. community partners who provide expertise, support and real-life interactions

8. Vision with support and proactive leadership from the education system

9. Assessment of the effectiveness of technology for learning 77

Key Terms

Assistive technology productivity tools

Blog simulation

Cognitive tools social media

Digital storytelling spreadsheet

Distance education tutorials

Drill-and-practice ubiquitous computing

LCD projector virtual fieldtrips

Mind maps WebQuest

News group word processor

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