Gilberto Teixeira (Prof. Doutor FEA/USP)
Why use Technology?
As you might imagine, the answers to that question are as various as the possibilities out there and the people using them.
As you might imagine, the answers to that question are as various as the possibilities out there and the people using them.
In general, technology is presenting educators with innovative opportunities for enhancing, and sometimes even transforming, their existing instructional efforts, including boosting efforts to help students:
-find and analyze information
-interact with other students
-communicate with others outside
-interact with other students
-communicate with others outside
the classroom walls
-interact with content in the course
-make connections with the world around
-interact with content in the course
-make connections with the world around
them, and
-critically think about their ideas and those of others
-critically think about their ideas and those of others
Despite the possibilities, we're certainly not advocating diving in without exploring and planning according to your needs and teaching situation. And there are some drawbacks to using technology that are worth considering from the beginning:
-it can be expensive
-it can be time-consuming
-from time to time, it will be technically unstable
-it can be time-consuming
-from time to time, it will be technically unstable
What technology would work best?
Again, the answer to that question depends on your specific teaching situation, experience, resources, and other considerations.
The first thing to do is to clearly define for yourself your course's goals and strategies. Then, with your goals and strategies in mind, here are some questions to explore:
-Which technology is best suited to helping students through cognitive barriers in the course?
-Can the technology enable collaboration that fulfills the course's goals?
-Do you need to reach students beyond a campus classroom?
-Different technologies can enhance different types of interaction in your class. Given your goals, what is the best allocation of course time for:
-Can the technology enable collaboration that fulfills the course's goals?
-Do you need to reach students beyond a campus classroom?
-Different technologies can enhance different types of interaction in your class. Given your goals, what is the best allocation of course time for:
-the instructor interacting with the students?
-students interacting with each other?
-students interacting with course materials?
-students interacting with each other?
-students interacting with course materials?
Different technologies will meet the needs in different ways.