TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION

As a classroom teacher, your role is to establish learning environments that foster the defined outcomes for your learners.

1. Asses prior knowledge – To learn from most material and activities, student must possess prerequisite knowledge and skill (Newby, Stepich, Lehman & Russel 2010)

2. Consider individual differences – Learners vary in terms of personality, general aptitude, knowledge of a subject, and many other factors. Be aware of the multiple learning needs of your students. Effective instruction allows individuals to progress at different rates, cover different materials, and even participate in different activities (Cooper & Varma, 1997)

3. State objectives – For you and your students to know where instruction is going and what is to be accomplished, the goals must be specified. Learning objectives must match expected outcomes or standards(Mager, 1997)

4. Develop metacognitive skills – the skills of selective monitoring, evaluating and adjusting their approaches enhance students’ learning and help to make them lifelong learners. Learners need assistance in understanding how they learn and what resources help in that process. (Nelson, 1992) Metacognition refers to higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Activities such as planning how to approach a given learning task, monitoring comprehension, and evaluating progress toward the completion of a task are metacognitive in nature.

5. Provide social interaction – teacher and peers serving as tutors or group members can provide a number of pedagogical as well as social supports. Learners gain experience and expertise when collaborating with others in and beyond the classroom. (Jonassen, Howland, Marra & Crismond, 2008)

6. Incorporate realistic context – learners are most likely to remember and to apply authentic knowledge presented in real-world context. Rote learning leads to “inert knowledge”; that is, learners know something but cannot apply it to real life, students benefit from understanding how their knowledge and skills fir into the world around them (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000)

7. Engage students in relevant practice – the most effective learning experiences are those requiring learners to practice skills that build toward the desired outcome. Learner participation increases the probability of learning. Practice, especially in varying context, improves retention rate and the ability to apply the new knowledge , skill or attitude. Practice promotes deeper, longer lasting learning (Morrison & Lowther, 2010)

8. Offer frequent, timely and constructive feedback – student learning requires accurate information on misconceptions, misunderstandings and weaknesses. Learners need to know if their thinking is on track. Feedback may come from a teacher, tutor, electronic messages from a computer, the scoring systems of a game, or oneself. In addition to knowing that responses are incorrect, students need to know why they have been unsuccessful and how they can improve their performance. Further knowing details about their correct responses I terms of how and why they are accurate helps students understand more about what they have learned (black & William, 1998)

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATIONTeacher are expected to be competent in the use of technology in their teaching (Bowing, D’Onofrio, &

Marker, 2006). This is especially true when working with the 21st century learners and addressing the skill outlined for them, for which teachers not only need to use technology effectively in their teaching but also need to guide students in using those tools to enhance their learning. The advent of newer technologies requires critical decisions related to the best tools to integrate into teaching.

The National Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), noted in the following list especially outline expectations for students use of technology to guide their learning (International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE], 2007).

Creativity and innovation Creativity is the capability or act of conceiving something original or unusual.Innovation is the implementation of something new.

Communication and collaboration Research and information fluency Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making Digital citizenship Technology operation and concepts

Many of these standards address the essential elements for success in acquiring 21st century knowledge and skills. Teacher also have standards for acquiring these skills. These are also provided by the ISTE namely;

Student learning and creativity Digital-age Learning experiences and assessments Digital-age work and learning Digital citizenship and responsibility Professional growth and leadership

As a teacher, you will be expected to enhance students’ abilities to engage in the use of technology to support their learning and addresses these six areas of competency, also known as technology literacy skills.

You can combine knowledge and skills related to content areas and information literacy skill by using technology in ways that help students learn information and communicate knowledge. For example, in a science lesson on weather, you can present a problem to your students that will require them to search websites for data or information, use communication tools to collaborate with outside experts, generate solutions to the problem collaboratively, and present their ideas to classmates using creative resources. By approaching your instruction in that manner, you have addressed many of the standards by which your students will be measured and will be given guided practice in developing their knowledge skill.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE MEDIA UTILIZATION

We are continually learning from multiple sources of media that provide us with information and challenge our thinking. As users of these sources, we need media literacy skill to know how to access them, how to understand and analyze the content, and how to create new media messages (Stanbury, 2009)

Text, television, video and a host of other media sources that will be covered within this textbook are all valid and vital sources of information. Your role is to guide your students to use these media as sources for their learning in ways that are wise, safe and productive. For example, students need to learn to find multiple sources to verify facts they may have heard on the television news. They need to learn to be critical users of these resources to ensure that they are well informed and their conclusions are accurate. As mentioned earlier the ISTE NETS-S address many of skill learners need to be successful consumers of the media resources surrounding them.

Furthermore, you teaching approach should provide student with opportunities to explore how to use these media resources to communicate their knowledge.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TEXT UTILIZATION

Text is everywhere in students’ learning experiences. Text materials include textbooks, fiction and nonfliction books, newspapers, booklets, computer screen, magazines, study guides, manuals and worksheets, as well as word-processed documents prepared by students and teachers. The ability to use text as a means to gather informations or to communicate is known as text literacy. The two aspects to becoming literate in in the use of text as part of leaning process are Reading and Writing. Reading is the ability to look at text and gather knowledge from the message. Writing is the ability to generate text through tools such as pencils, pens or computers to communicate.

ADVANTAGES

AVAILABILITY – text-based materials are readily available on a variety of topics and in many different formats. FLEXIBILITY – text is adaptable to many purposes and may be used in any well-lit environment. Portability – text are easily carried from place and do not require any equipment or power supply. USER FRIENDLY – properly designed text materials area easy to use, requiring no special effort to "navigate“

through them

LIMITATIONS

READING LEVEL – some students are nonreaders; others lack adequate literacy skill for text materials above their reading level. Still others lack the prerequisite knowledge to comprehend the vocabulary and terminology.

MEMORIZATION – some teachers require students to memorize many facts and definitions, which diminishes text materials to mere memorization aids.

VOCABULARY – some textbooks introduce a large number of vocabulary terms and concepts in a short amount of space, placing a heavy cognitive burden on students, which may be overwhelming for some.

ONE WAY PRESENTATION – because most text material are not interactive, they tend to be used in a passive way, often without comprehension.

CURRICULUM DETERMINATION – Sometime textbooks dictate the curriculum rather that supporting it. Textbook often written to accommodate the curriculum guidelines of particular states or province. Consequently, the prefences of these authorities disproportionately influence textbook content and its treatment.

CURSORY APPRAISAL – Selection committees might not examine textbooks carefully.

INTEGRATION

Teacher need to understand the best ways to use text to facilitate learning. Designing good text-based materials involves a few basic elements;

FONT CHOICE – select clear font. Select only one or two fonts. BACKGROUND AND PATTERNS – Used background that are not busy distracting images. Don’t srimp on the page

margins or use space. Use double spacing and wide margins for learners of all ability levels to read. ARRANGEMENT – used space and text styles like bold and italics. CHECK AND REVISE – always be sure to proofread your materials.

EVALUATION

Consider all the types of text based materials as well as their individual reading abilities. Address materials by taking the time to evaluate all reading materials in your classroom.

WHEN TO USE TEXT-BASED MATERIALS

GUIDELINES EXAMPLEReading text information for which they will be held accountable Students read an assigned article from an online source

Supplementing teacher-presented material Students use library books, encyclopedias, or newspapers to add to their knowledge of a topic.

Using handouts that guide them through learning activities Students use a step-by-step guide to write a book report

Implementing the Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review Method (SQ3R)

Students survey, ask questions, read, recite and review information about the bill of rights.

USING TEXT MATERIALS

Get learners actively involved with the materials. One technique is to have students use the “SQ3R” method: Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review

Survey stage requires students to skim through the text material and read the overview and/or summary. Question stage requires students to write a list of questions to answer while reading. Read stage, students are lead to look for the organization of the material. Put bracket around the main ides,

underline supporting details and answer the questions written in previous step. Recite requires them to test themselves while reading ad to put the content into their own words. Review suggest that students look over the material immediately after reading it, the nest day, a week later and

so on. (Robinson, 1946).

Direct student reading with objectives or questions and provide a worksheet if one is not included with the materials.

Emphasize the use of visuals in text materials and teach students to study visuals in an effort to increase their comprehension of the content.