In the last post, I started looking at educational technology by introducing two thoughts: how we tend to remember those things we actively learn about, and how the cost of technology has made it readily available. Now, how have those two things come together in education?
Think about what you and I had to do in the past to learn about things actively (not just passively taking in what the teacher said). Perhaps the teacher took the class to the school library for a class period or two, or maybe we went there during a study hall. Or after school we had our mom take us to the public library to do some research. And most middle-class families in the 50s and 60s had a set of World Book encyclopedias at home, so we would look things up there. But if we were interested in something more arcane than was included in those sources - such as designing a nuclear power source - we were probably out of luck. We had to wait until we went to college, and then only if we enrolled in the advanced physics program.
But now consider the resources we have. If I'm interested in nuclear power, I can do a quick Google search and come up with information from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a Congressional report on nuclear power plant design and safety considerations relative to seismology, or any number of other documents. Then, if I have specific questions, I can email a nuclear physicist and may very well get a quick response.
Access to this information has been available for probably the last 10-15 years over the Internet. But if our students were going to access it, they still had to be taken to the school library (now a "media center") or the public library, unless they had reliable internet access at home. But, for most students, by the time they get to the library or fire up the home computer, their immediate interest has waned somewhat.
Enter the personal computing device - smartphone, tablet, or laptop - with instant access to the internet. Now if a teacher mentions something in class about nuclear power plants, the student who is particularly interested in it can look it up on the spot. If he has an advanced question, the teacher can have him immediately Tweet a professor of nuclear physics at Georgia Tech and get a quick response during class.
Or think about presenting what the students have learned. There are still the formal research papers which are vital to a student's education. But what about other presentations? Remember when Mom or Dad had to take you to the store one evening to get a three-panel posterboard display for a project which was due the next day (which you knew about for 4 weeks)? So you cut pictures out of magazines, drew faint pencil lines on the poster so your captions would be relatively straight, and then carried it to class the next day (hoping your pictures didn't fall off). I'm not sure what skill that is teaching students - I doubt that the CEO of Coca-Cola goes for his annual report to the Board of Directors carrying a three-panel posterboard with pictures of Coke products glued to it.
But now a student - even in lower elementary school - can develop a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, including sharp graphics, effective pictures, video, and sound. He can store that presentation on his iPad and, when the time comes, wirelessly connect to the classroom projector to show it to the class. Much more effective, much more engaging, and much better at teaching the child skills that he can use in the future.
So the concepts of active learning (rather than passively taking in just what the teacher says) along with the ready availability of connected computing devices have come together to enable a new way of conducting class. But the more important question should be, "Just because we can do this, should we do it?" Is it a good thing to bring technology into the classroom in this way? And even more important for Christian educators, is it aligned with a Christian approach to education? We'll take up that discussion next week.
Think about what you and I had to do in the past to learn about things actively (not just passively taking in what the teacher said). Perhaps the teacher took the class to the school library for a class period or two, or maybe we went there during a study hall. Or after school we had our mom take us to the public library to do some research. And most middle-class families in the 50s and 60s had a set of World Book encyclopedias at home, so we would look things up there. But if we were interested in something more arcane than was included in those sources - such as designing a nuclear power source - we were probably out of luck. We had to wait until we went to college, and then only if we enrolled in the advanced physics program.
But now consider the resources we have. If I'm interested in nuclear power, I can do a quick Google search and come up with information from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a Congressional report on nuclear power plant design and safety considerations relative to seismology, or any number of other documents. Then, if I have specific questions, I can email a nuclear physicist and may very well get a quick response.
Access to this information has been available for probably the last 10-15 years over the Internet. But if our students were going to access it, they still had to be taken to the school library (now a "media center") or the public library, unless they had reliable internet access at home. But, for most students, by the time they get to the library or fire up the home computer, their immediate interest has waned somewhat.
Enter the personal computing device - smartphone, tablet, or laptop - with instant access to the internet. Now if a teacher mentions something in class about nuclear power plants, the student who is particularly interested in it can look it up on the spot. If he has an advanced question, the teacher can have him immediately Tweet a professor of nuclear physics at Georgia Tech and get a quick response during class.
Or think about presenting what the students have learned. There are still the formal research papers which are vital to a student's education. But what about other presentations? Remember when Mom or Dad had to take you to the store one evening to get a three-panel posterboard display for a project which was due the next day (which you knew about for 4 weeks)? So you cut pictures out of magazines, drew faint pencil lines on the poster so your captions would be relatively straight, and then carried it to class the next day (hoping your pictures didn't fall off). I'm not sure what skill that is teaching students - I doubt that the CEO of Coca-Cola goes for his annual report to the Board of Directors carrying a three-panel posterboard with pictures of Coke products glued to it.
But now a student - even in lower elementary school - can develop a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, including sharp graphics, effective pictures, video, and sound. He can store that presentation on his iPad and, when the time comes, wirelessly connect to the classroom projector to show it to the class. Much more effective, much more engaging, and much better at teaching the child skills that he can use in the future.
So the concepts of active learning (rather than passively taking in just what the teacher says) along with the ready availability of connected computing devices have come together to enable a new way of conducting class. But the more important question should be, "Just because we can do this, should we do it?" Is it a good thing to bring technology into the classroom in this way? And even more important for Christian educators, is it aligned with a Christian approach to education? We'll take up that discussion next week.