Learning with Technology

Introduction

Technology has brought about many changes in today’s society. We interact, exchange information, and socialize in whole new ways that were not even possible twenty years ago. These changes apply to all areas of life, and can even be incorporated into the classroom to bring about positive results in students. The use of technology in the classroom for cooperative learning, personalized learning, and group learning have the potential for great impact on the way learners learn and teachers teach.

Cooperative Learning

Any educator in the classroom today would argue that students learn and retain information better when they are in a collaborative environment. Students need social interaction to help reinforce content and allow them an outlet for discussion and analysis. “Numerous studies have shown that students benefit positively in their academic and social development through cooperative learning” (Ramli, 2010).

Many psychologists have discussed the benefits of social interaction to learning. As Kim and Baylor point out in their article, A Social-Cognitive Framework for Pedagogical Agents as Learning Companions,

“Teaching and learning are highly social activities. Seminal psychologists such as Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura have theorized that social interaction is a key mechanism in the process of learning and development. In particular, the benefits of peer interaction for learning and motivation in classrooms have been broadly demonstrated through empirical studies” (Kim & Baylor, 2006).

In a traditional classroom, this would mean that students would be grouped together and then asked to have a discussion or work collaboratively on a project. Bringing technology into the education scene opens many ne...

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