Lesson 3

The Roles of
Educational
Technology in
Learning
“Technology makes
the world a better
place.”
Which greater role did technology
play in your learning experiences:
 technology-as-teacher
 technology-as-partner in the learning
process?

Technology can play;

a traditional role - as delivery vehicles
for instructional lessons
 in a constructivist way as partners in
the learning process.
In traditional way:
 the learners learn from the technology and the
technology serves as a teacher.
 the learners learn the content presented by the
technology in the same way that the learner
learns knowledge presented by the teacher.

In constructivist way:
 technology helps the learner build more meaningful
personal interpretations of life and his/her world.
 technology is a learning tool to learn with, not from.
 it makes the learner gather, think, analyze, synthesize
information and construct meaning with what
technology presents.
Technology serves as a medium in
representing what the learner knows and
what he/she is learning.

From the traditional point of view:

 technology serves as source and presenter of
knowledge.
 it is assumed that "knowledge is embedded in
the technology
 the technology presents that knowledge to the
student
 Technology like computers is seen as a
productivity tool.

 The popularity of word processing, databases,

spreadsheets, graphic programs and desktop
publishing in the 1980s points to this productive
role of educational technology.

 Withthe eruption of the INTERNET in the mid 90's,

communications and multimedia have
dominated the role of technology in the
classroom for the past few years.
From the constructivist point of view:

 educational technology serves as learning tools

that learners learn with.
 it engages learners in "active, constructive,
intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning.
 it provides opportunities for technology and
learner interaction for meaningful learning.
 In this case, technology will not be mere delivery
vehicle for content. Rather it is used as facilitator
of thinking and knowledge construction.
From a constructivist perspective, the following
are roles of technology in learning:
1. Technology as a tools to support knowledge
construction
- for representing learners' ideas, understandings
and beliefs
- for producing organized, multimedia
knowledge bases by learners
2. Technology as information vehicles for exploring
knowledge to support learning-by-constructing
- for accessing needed information
- for comparing perspectives, beliefs and world
views
3. Technology as context to support learning-by-doing
- for representing and stimulating meaningful
real-world problems, situations and contexts
 - for representing beliefs, perspectives, arguments and stories of
others
- for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking

4. Technology as a social medium to support learning by conversing

- for collaborating with others
- for discussing, arguing and building consensus among members of
a community
- for supporting discourse among knowledge-building communities

5. Technology as intellectual partner to support learning-by-reflecting

- for helping learners to articulate and represent what they know
- for reflecting on what they have learned and how they came to
know it
- for supporting learners internal negotiations and meaning making
- for constructing personal representations of meaning
- for supporting mindful thinking
Research indicates that:
 Technology not only "increases students learning,
understanding and achievement but also augments
motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning and
supports the development of critical thinking and problem-
solving skills".
 Russell and Sorge (1999) also claims that the proper
implementation of technology in the classroom gives
students control of their own learning and . . . tends to
move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to
ones that are more learner-centered.
 The use of technology in the classroom enables the
teacher to do, differentiated instruction considering the
divergence of students, readiness levels, interests, multiple
intelligences and learning styles.
 Technology also helps students become lifelong learners.
Summing Up
 Educational technology plays various roles.
 From the traditional point of view:
- It serves as representer of knowledge just
like teachers.
- It also serves as a productivity tool
- With Internet, technology has facilitated
communication among people.
 From the constructivist perspective:
- educational technology is a meaningful
learning tool by serving as a learning
partner.
Personal Postscript
 No other choice but to learn how to use recent
technology in the classroom
- the younger generation of teachers is
admittedly better than the older generation of
teachers when it comes to the use of the most
recent technology, like the computer.
- the younger crop of teachers, unlike the
older generation, was blessed with basic
computer courses in their college curriculum.
- but if the older group of teachers would like
to remain responsive and relevant by keeping
their teaching fresh, interesting and challenging,
there is no choice but to learn how to use them.
Itis part of your continuing
professional development to
become a "digital native" and not
remain a "digital immigrant".

Itis good to become a "netizen" or

a "screenager", able to
participate not only in seminars but
also in "webinars".