Question 1
My definition of educational
technology is a collection of media that is easily interchangeable and with subtle
transitions between media types while maintaining relevance by keeping the
information within the technology real-time current. This definition does differ from the book, which
sees educational technology as a process that has changed throughout the years
and does not seem as focused on the media being used for instruction, but as a system
for learning. I recognized that as the
years have gone by the definition has changed due to the needs that were common
at a specific time, however, I still see the underlying component is that
educational technology is a process that fills the needs of our students. My definition has changed a little as I did
not view educational technology as a process as I do now, but I do feel that I
have the essence of educational technology for today’s definition.
Question 2
I feel that my lesson involving
technology adheres to most of the six characteristic of instructional design; 5
out of 6 easily. I feel I could make it
more collaborative by having more group centered aspects such as turn and
talk. Working in teams is an important
part of the lesson that I could improve on.
I start my lesson with a short
video clip to activate my student’s schema.
I use a mobile device, iPad to be specific, to do a short direct mini-teach
for about 10 minutes. I then give them a
problem to solve and have them log into to their devices and complete an
on-line survey where they choose the answer they came up with from a
multiple-choice window. I can see the
results immediately and this guides my lesson to the next step or reteach of
the subject.
Question 3
I feel that the reason that instructional media was distinguished
from instruction design is because I feel instructional design is the content
teachers teach and instructional media is more of how we teach the
content. I would certainly consider
teachers, chalkboards and textbooks instructional media as they are still a media
of delivery for instruction. They are just
not as exciting as modern technology. I
do not think the purpose of instructional design is to incorporate media into instruction
because I believe that media has a stronger purpose by allowing instructional design
to be more effective by being more aesthetically pleasing to the students
viewing the lesson.
Steffanye,
ReplyDeleteYou said that even though teachers, textbooks, and chalkboards are considered instructional media, "they are just not as exciting as modern technology". Even though this is true to a degree, it doesn't have to be. I have seen some teachers make lecturing fun and get the whole class involved. Then I have seen some teachers actually put the class to sleep reading from a textbook in a slow monotone voice. Teachers are in the classrooms for one purpose and that is to teach. To teach their students and give them an education. If it wasn't for teachers, then there wouldn't be any schools.
Nice post by the way!
It is interesting for me to see the different ways that teachers are incorporating technology into their lessons. I like the way that you defined educational technology as "a process that fills the needs of our students". I think that many times we tend to think of educational technology simply in terms of the media that can be used, but your definition focuses on the idea of it being a process to facilitate learning. I also agree with the idea that instructional media are the tools to help teach the content.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your post.
In your post, you state, "I do not think the purpose of instructional design is to incorporate media into instruction because I believe that media has a stronger purpose by allowing instructional design to be more effective by being more aesthetically pleasing to the students viewing the lesson." I worry about the concept that making something more aesthetically pleasing makes it more effective. Using this logic, pretty teachers are more effective. I think that maybe you were meaning "exciting" instead of "aesthetically pleasing". I worry that the excitement that surrounds technology now will become less and less as students who have been using it their entire lives (iPhones in the hands of toddlers) make their way into our classrooms. However, maybe that is a good thing. Perhaps if technology by itself is not exciting, teachers will be forced to make the content presented on the technological devices more exciting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts!
Christi Abramsky