Lesson 3: Roles of Educational Technology

Technology can play a traditional role, i.e. as delivery vehicles for instructional lessons  or in a constructivist way as partners in the learning process. In  a constructivist way, technology helps the learner build more personal interpretations of life in her/his world. Technology is a learning tool to learn with not from. It makes the learner gather, think, analyze, synthesize information and construct meaning with what technology presents

• Technology as tools to support knowledge construction

1.       For presenting learners’ ideas, understandings and beliefs

2.       For producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases for learners

• Technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing

1.       For accessing needed information

2.       For comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views

• Technology as context to support learning by doing

1.       For representing and simulating meaningful real-world problems, situations and contexts

2.       For representing beliefs, perspectives, arguments, and stories of others

3.       For defining safe, controllable problem space for student thinking

• Technology as a social medium to support learning by conversing

1.       For collaborating with others

2.       For discussing, arguing, and building consensus among members of the community

3.       For supporting discourse among knowledge building communities

• Technology as intellectual partner

1.       For helping learners to articulate and represent what they know

2.       For reflecting on what they have learned and how they come to know it

3.       For supporting learners’ internal negotiations and meaning making

4.       For constructing personal representations of meaning for supporting mindful thinking

Whether used from the traditional or constructivist point of view, when used effectively, research indicates that technology not only  “increases students’ learning, understanding, and achievement but also augments, motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills” (Shacter and Fagnano, 1999)

Proper implementation of technology in the classroom gives students more “control of their own learning and … tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments  to ones that are more learner-centered (Russel and Sorge, 1999)

Educational technology plays various roles. Form the traditional point of view, it serves as presenter of knowledge just like teachers. It also serves as productivity tool. With the internet, technology has facilitated communication among people. From the constructivist’s perspective, educational technology is a meaningful learning tools by serving as a learning partner