Skip to main content

Module 2 - Education Technology

Hi everyone and welcome to module 2.Find out more about me here.



As an educator I’ve used several education technology tools for various purposes – teaching and learning, assessments, delivering content, activities and now recently to create a learning community. The tools I’ve used are as follows:



  • Digital Media & Learning tools - Youtube, TedTalks , Camtasia, Commoncraft, Qwizlets, Voki, Capzles, web portfolios 
  • Social Networking , Collaboration & Communication tools – Blogs, facebook, discussion forums, chat, google docs, sharepoint
  • LMS – Moodle, BBVista


I agree with the writer on all the ten reasons for using education technology. One of the best experiences I’ve had with a technology tools was when I used Camtasia to record lessons delivered in class while using screen annotators and MS OneNote (instead of whiteboard). Students could download and view the lesson from bbvista –they could go over it again and make up if they missed a class. They could work on their own pace. Since it was time consuming to produce the video, I gave this task to a student who was interested in video productions.


I love it when I share a Youtube, TedTalk or a CommonCraft video that explains a concept with multimedia -animations, illustrations and graphics, which I believe enriches students learning. I believe we can build learning communities using social networking tools. I also believe that we can engage the students in meaningful discussions using blogs, discussion forums. However the use of these tools requires a more structured approach with clear guidelines and expectations. There should be a clear purpose for using technology in the classroom. 

Technology many times can be time consuming and it can be a nuisance as well! Nevertheless, it has the potential to add value to the teaching and learning process. In addition to the ten fundamental reasons for using technology in education, I think the biggest reason for me is that technology is here to stay. It can act as a distraction if it is not embraced by us as educators to create an engaged learning environment. Moreover, students are expected to have the skills imparted by the use of technology in their workplace.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 29, 2012 at 2:39 PM

    So it sounds like you are very experienced in using technology in the classroom. Have you yet decided which course you will incorporate it in for this module and if so, why did you choose that class? I know I'm a bit early, so if you haven't gotten there, don't worry. I'm just curious, that's all.
    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GhazalaMarch 2, 2012 at 9:02 AM

      I'm an IT teacher so I'm fairly conversant with technology. There are so many new tools and ways of using it in class that I came across when I was working on my phenomena in module 1. The use of social media tools for teaching is new to me and I'm fascinated by it's potential. I explored it last semester with the use of blogs. Towards the end of module 1, I had decided to use facebook with a different strategy in my class this semester and I'm glad this module is aligned with my plans!!

      Delete
  2. Seema OmerMarch 2, 2012 at 2:49 PM

    I agree with you Ghazala when you say that technology is here to stay but at the same time it can be bothersome if students are not guided to use it for educational purposes. It surely is a great feeling to see our students comprehend a concept better when given additional examples through a video clip or TED presentations.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Education Technology Project

I'm an IT teacher and teach mainly practical courses that involve technology applications. One such course I'm teaching this semester to two section is CIS 1203 - Web Technologies . Throughout this course students learn about the web and emerging web technologies. They learn to evaluate websites and plan and design their own. This course is a very hands on and practical course. I've decided to use education technology tool in this course. There are two Web 2.0 tools I want to use in this course. The first tool I want to use is  Facebook , as a means to build a PLN between the two sections taking this course. The reason for the choice of this tools is two fold. One thing is that students need to be exposed to various web based emerging technologies as part of the course. The other reason is that I would like to expand the students understanding of the potential of social networking tools beyond entertainment.  I've read a lot about how facebook can be used in a clas...
2 comments
Read more

Lifelong Learning

Learning, the way I see it, is by default lifelong and always has been that way since the beginning of time. Learning has no end. I don't think there was ever a time period where one could have said -'OK, now I learnt what I need to know in school. It's time for me to apply what I've learnt at my workplace and not learn anything new in the process!' Whether information age or not, this was never the case. So what's new now, in this knowledge society? Well, it's not the fact that we need to keep learning but pace at which learning needs to happen. The rate at which technology is changing is so rapid that we constantly have to learn and relearn new things. We need to prepare students for jobs that do not exist yet and prepare them to be proficient in their work in a short period of time. According to Toffler (2001), "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." ...
4 comments
Read more