Technology and Software in Relation to Multicultural Education
As the times change, so must an educator's style of teaching. Computer technology can play a large role in this change. There are many reasons and ways schools can introduce this technology into their curriculum. There will be three of these reasons and ways discussed in the following pages.
In today's society, many people believe it is time for school reform. The problem is employers are concerned that high school graduates do not have the necessary skills to be successful at a job when they graduate. Some researchers say that these reform efforts need to focus on the root causes of school problems (International). According to a California study by Paplin and Weeres in 1992, students and teachers saw little meaning in what they were asked to study. Students also wanted more activities and more opportunities to share ideas with classmates. This is not to say the basic skills are not important, but schools are not venturing much beyond the basic skills in providing a school-to-work transition. Before graduates can begin working they need to master foundation skills and competences. The three foundation skills are basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. The competencies describe what people actually do at work and they include: resources, interpersonal skills, information skills, system skills, and technology utilization skills. Using these thinking skills is the alternative practice to the traditional rote memorization practice. This is the basic thought of the Constructivism theory. It basically says that, a teacher will encourage interaction between students' existing knowledge and new experiences. There are several different instr...
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... challenges the relationship between students and teachers, because technology enables learners to gain control of their own learning. The new technology provides access to information that was once under the control of teachers.
Bibliography:
Rakes, Glenda C., Beverly F. Flowers, Holly B. Casey, and Ronnie Santana. "An Analysis of Instructional Technology Use and Constructivist Behaviors in K-12 Teachers." International Journal of Educational Technology. Dec. 1999.
http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/v1n2/rakes/index.html
"Integrating Technology in the Classroom." Considerations. Department of Mathematics, Purdue University. 1999.
http://www.math.purdue.edu/highSchool/technology/consider-software.html
Vail, Kathleen. "Online Learning Grows Up." Electronic School.com. Sep. 2001.
http://www.electronic-school.com/2001/09/0901fl.html
Technology is everywhere; in the home, office, restaurant and the classroom. As teachers, we need to begin to embrace this technology and apply it to our students’ lives. But this begins with the teacher’s attitude and according to Johnson,
Technology can enhance class communications by offering many different ways to reach parents and students. The use of different technologies can help teachers to answer student questions as well as continue a class discussion outside of class. This is helpful for both the student and teacher because it allows the teacher to see which students are comprehending the material they are learning.
Within the past few decades, technology has immensely increased in use and availability. As a result, millions of people worldwide have taken advantages of benefits technology has supplied. In addition to these contemporary people, schools are realizing the possibility technology provides in the classroom and are implementing the use of them in their curriculum. New technologies in the classroom, however, provoke some concerns amongst those planning to utilize their potential benefits; schools must consider the prospectively detrimental implications and effects technology holds to the user whether it be that they forge a skewed and impractical view of reality or that they promote an inability to think independently.
devices in almost every classroom. Technology enhances learning, boosts confidence, and eliminates geographical limitations. Technology enriches learning by being able to come in different forms and do different things. "For lessons traditionally done with a paper and pencil, we now were able to do them in color, with animation, and with more depth and complexity"(McCollum). Teachers are now able to help stu...
“ . . . Hank Becker’s research shows that the preferred teaching strategies and styles of teachers usually determine or shape their patterns of technology usage. Those he calls “traditional” teachers are far less apt to allow students to use new technologies than “constructivist” teachers even when they have 5 or more networked computers in their classrooms.” (McKenzie, 2001,).
Delaney explains that technology allows, “the educators...interact with students, parents and each other in ways they never have before.” The teachers are able to stay in contact with a student even when they are not at school. When a kid is sick and misses a day of school he no longer falls behind but is able to keep up with the help of technology. He also explains that technology not only helps the connection between the student and the teacher but also between the student and other students. He explains that teachers now have their students post online their papers so that other students can read over it and help them. This is an extremely powerful tool in the world of education that students and teachers have never had before until now. Although these new methods of learning are cutting edge and extremely beneficial they also have the recoil of the struggle of having adults and teachers who did not grow up with technology not being able to communicate with the students of
Teachers are able to design, develop, and use materials they gather from online resources. It’s often time consuming for teachers but good for students (Álvarez). “I’m certainly not one who thinks technology is a silver bullet,” says Adam Frankel, executive director of Digital Promise. “If it is used well, it allows teachers and schools to personalize education. That is the dream of education, to help students be taught in the way they need to be taught” (Reiss).
Brooks, J. G., Brooks, M. G. (1999). In Search of Understanding: The Case of Constructivist Classrooms, with a new introduction by the authors. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10078162&ppg=28
The constructivism theory is a theory that is relatable something students are interested in and to real life experiences. Students need to get excited every day about learning. It needs to be fun and relatable so they get and stay engaged. As teachers, we must focus on our students learning what we are teaching no matter what it takes. Keeping the students focused and excited about school important. This theory is great for all students, because it is more focused on the individual child; and because there are no two students that are alike and that learn in the same manner. After all, each child is their own person and they all learn and accept things in a different matter and God made each child special.
For the teacher, computer technology can lead to more efficient time management in record keeping and developing lessons plans as well as the ease of conducting any kind of research and communication without having to leave the classroom.
Information processing focuses on learning from the outside in. In constructivism, the learner constructs knowledge as they “actively impose organization and meaning on the surrounding environment” RD 40. They actively attempt to create meaning. The learning theory started to gain popularity in the 1940’s with Piaget. Lev Vygotsky was also a major influence and contributed to an iteration called social constructivism. Social constructivism emphasizes that learning is collaborative in nature. Taken together, constructivism and social constructivism focus on student-centered instructional strategies, active collaborative learning, and increased student engagement (Sivec 8). Proponents of constructivism focus on the active role learners can take in discovery and learning in meaningful contexts. Those against these principles focus more on the need to teach to the test, as well as how constructivist principles may not be best for all learners. In a 2010 study, Overbay, Patterson, Vasu, and Grable focus on the increased belief in constructivist principles and how that relates to classroom technology and it’s ever increasing presence in the classroom. In an authentic constructivist environment, they assert that technology should be “utilized in such a way that it engages students and pushes them to make deeper connections with the material under study, to generate meaning, rather than
Technology have changed the way teachers are now accountable to teach, and the way students are learning. During this course I have learned key implications of new
There are methods that are considered very different than constructivism that are used in the classroom. One of the approaches is the traditional approach where the teacher teaches the information to the student, and the student does not contribute as much or convey the prior knowledge of the material during instruction (Airasian & Walsh, 1997). It has been said that traditional teaching can segregate students, especially ones with special needs, in the classroom (Bloom; Perlmutter& Burrell, 1999). In other words, traditional instruction is a more teacher-centered approach that uses rote, fact based learning. The teachers create the values, behaviors, and beliefs for the students. The teacher is in charge of the classroom, where they have rewards and consequences, and the students work mostly by themselves (this is very different that the constructivist classroom, which will be explained) (Windschitl, 1999).
Technology properly used in the classroom has many advantages to a student’s learning. Technology can help students become more involved in their own learning process, which is not seen in the traditional classroom. It allows them to master basic skills at their own rate rather than being left behind. Teachers and students alike can connect to real life situations by using technology in the classroom; this can also help to prepare students for real world situations. Technology can be used to motivate students as well as to offer more challenging opportunities. It can also be used as a visualization tool to keep students interested in the subject that is being taught. When technology is used effectively, students have the opportunity to develop skills that they may not get without the use of technology (Cleaver, 2011). Assessing and monitoring students is easier on the teacher because of the ability to use technology in the classroom. When technology is used correctly it offers limitless resources to a classroom atmosphere.
The introduction of technology into education has revolutionized the teaching quality and learning outcome in the last ten years. The integration of technology into lectures by teachers in classroom has become so natural that both teachers and learners consider computers and their related applications for instruction are “a routine component of the classroom and educational processes in general” (Nuldén, 1999 cited in Buzzard et al., 2011, pp.131-139).