EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 2

REPORTERS:
Imprido, Josephine
Dadulo, Gladys mae
Antipuesto, May ann
Compo, Marlon
LESSON 11
The Computer as the Teachers Tool

In this lesson we will look at the computer, but this time from another perspective
the computer as the teachers handy tool. It can be in fact support the constructivist
and social constructivist paradigms of learning
Constructivist was introduced by Piaget (1981) and Bruner (1990). They gave
stress to knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning
process. Various strategies have been suggested to foster knowledge discovery, among
these, is making students engaged in gathering unorganized information from which
they can induce ideas and principles. Students are also asked to apply discovered
knowledge to new situations, a process for making their knowledge applicable to real
life situations.
While knowledge is constructed by the individual learner constructivism,
knowledge can also be socially constructed. Social constructivism is an effort to show
that the construction knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts.
In effect, this is to say that the learner who interprets knowledge has a predetermined
point of view according to the social perspectives of the community or society he lives
in.
The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social
influences. He therefore, suggested, the interactive process in learning. The more
capable adult (teacher or parent) or classmate can aid or complement what the learner
sees in a given class project. In addition Dewey, sees language as a medium for social
coordination and adaptation. For Dewey, human learning is really human languaging

that occurs when students socially share, build and agrees upon meanings and
knowledge.

The Computers Capabilities

Based on the two learning theories, the teacher can employ
the computer as an/an:
An informative tool
A communication tool
A constructive tool
As co-constructive tool
A situating tool

Informative tool

still image

animation

text

The computer can provide vast amount of information in various forms, such as
text, graphics, sound, and video. Even multimedia encyclopedias are today available
on the Internet.

Communication tool

Constructive tool
The computer itself can be used for manipulating information, visualizing ones
understanding, and building new knowledge. The Microsoft word computer program
itself is a desktop publishing software that allows users to organize and present their
ideas in attractive formats.

Co-constructive tool

Students can use co-constructive tools to work cooperatively and construct a

shared understanding of new knowledge.

Situating tool
By means of virtual reality (RS) extension systems, the computer can create 3-d
images on display to give the user the feeling that are situated in a virtual environment.
A flight simulation program is an example of a situating tool which places the user in
a simulated flying environment.

The computer serves as a teachers tool in a sense that the educators used
computers as their instructional materials in supplementing the cognitive development
of the learners when it comes to technology. Computer has a great help for both the
teachers and the learners, for the teachers it facilitate their instructional methods and
improves their instructional materials; for the learners it contributes a lot in the cognitive
development and learning experiences.