Technology and Software in Relation to Multicultural Education

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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

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