Educational values of Instructional materials

Instructional materials  are highly important for teaching, especially for inexperienced teachers. Teachers rely on instructional materials in every aspect of teaching. They need materials for background information on the subject they are teaching. Young teachers usually have not built up their expertise whenever they enter into the field. Teachers often use instructional materials for lesson planning.  These materials are also needed by teachers to assess the knowledge of their students. Teachers often assess students by assigning tasks, creating projects, and administering exams. Instructional materials are essential for all of these activities.

One cannot utilize instructional methods without using any form of media for communication. In this sense, the two are inseparable. In line to this, Corpuz et.al (2008) said that instructional materials play different roles in the execution of a lesson. These roles may either be Traditional, wherein it serves as delivery vehicles for instructional lessons or Constructivist in which IMs are viewed as partners in teaching and learning. For us to further understand, enumerated below are the roles of the IMs in traditional and constructivist perspectives:

Traditional perspectives

1. Serves as delivery vehicles for instructional lessons2. Technology serves as sources and presenter of knowledge. It is assumed that knowledge

is embedded with technology and technology presents that knowledge to the students. 3. Learners learn from technology and Technology serves as teachers.

Constructivist perspectives

1. Partners in teaching and learning 2. Helps build more meaningful interpretations of a learner’s life and world.3. Have roles as:

Tools to support knowledge construction Information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning by constructing Context support learning by doing Social media to support learning by conversing Intellectual partners to support learning by reflecting.

May it be traditional or constructivist both views agree that IMs, when used effectively, will increase student learning and support development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. Proper implementation in the classroom gives more control of their own learning and tends to move classrooms from a teacher-dominated to a learner centered environment.

Traditional perspectives Constructivist perspectives Similarities1. Serves as delivery

vehicles for instructional lessons

1. Partners in teaching and learning

May it be traditional or constructivist both views agree that IMs, when used effectively, will increase student learning and support development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. Proper implementation in the classroom gives more control of their own learning and tends to move classrooms from a teacher-dominated to a learner centered environment.

2. Technology serves as sources and presenter of knowledge. It is assumed that knowledge is embedded with technology and technology presents that knowledge to the students.

2. Helps build more meaningful interpretations of a learner’s life and world.

3. Learners learn from technology and Technology serves as teachers.

4. Have roles as: Tools to support

knowledge construction

Information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning by constructing

Context support learning by doing

Social media to support learning by conversing

Intellectual partners to support learning by reflecting.

A table showing the differences and similarities of the Traditional and Constructivist perspectives.

Lesson prepared by:

CHRISTIAN L. CHUA Student, BSE 4-English

To be submitted to:

DR. PRISCILA V. SAN PEDROInstructor, English 136