Lesson 3:

Roles of Technology for Teaching and Learning

Lesson Outcomes
1. Identified roles of technology in teaching and learning
2. Appreciated the value of technology in supporting student learning

Excite
Are students of today interested to use technology in order to learn? Do teachers have the skills to use
technology to enhance their teaching? With the 4th Industrial Revolution, nobody can deny the influence of
technology in our lives. As future teachers of the 21st century, it is high time that you prepare yourselves to
integrate technology in your classrooms. Using technology is a tool and a catalyst for change. What then are
the roles of technology for teaching and learning?

Explore
As teaching and learning go together, let us explore what would be the roles of technology for teachers
and teaching and for learners and learning. According to Stosic (2015), educational technology has three
domains:

1. Technology as a tutor. Together with the teacher, technology can support the teacher to teach
another person or technology when programmed by the teacher can be a tutor on its own. The teacher will
simply switch on or switch off radio programs, television programs or play DVDs, or CDs that contain
educational programs. There are on-line tutorial educational programs, too.
2. Technology as a teaching tool. Like a tutor, technology is a teaching tool, but can never replace a
teacher. This is like the handyman, which is just there to be reached. Like any other tool, it is being used to
facilitate and lighten the work of the teacher. It will be good if the teacher can also create
or develop technology tools that are needed in the classroom.
3. Technology as a learning tool. While the teacher utilizes technology as the tool for teaching, likewise
it is an effective tool for learning. As a learning tool, it makes learning easy and effective. It can produce
learning outcomes that call for technology-assisted teaching. Even the teachers who are teaching can utilize
similar tools for learning. As a learning tool, it is very interesting that even the elderly use these tools for
learning for life.

A. For Teachers and Teaching

There are numerous roles that technology plays in the job of teachers. As a tool, technology has
opened wider avenues in management of resources and management of learning. Likewise, it has modernized
the teaching-learning environment in schools. Here are some examples of the myriad of roles that technology
can do for teachers and teaching.

1. Technology provides enormous support to the teacher as the facilitator of learning. It transforms a
passive classroom to an active and interactive one, with audio-visual aids, charts and models, smart
classrooms, e-learning classrooms which motivate and increase attention level of learners. Many of these can
be searched on the web.

2. Technology has modernized the teaching-learning environment. The teachers are assisted and
supplemented with appropriately structured instructional materials for daily activities. There are varied available
technology-driven resources which can be utilized for remedial lessons or activities. Likewise there are also a
lot of technology-driven resources that can be used for enrichment purposes. You may search for the examples
on the web.

3. Technology improves teaching-learning process and ways of teaching. This will make the act of
teaching more efficient and effective. There are arrays of teaching methods and strategies that can use
technology which are found compatible with learning styles. The multiple intelligence theory of Howard Gardner
tells us that there is a genius in every child. This implies that there must be varied ways of teaching as there are
many varied ways of learning. All the learning styles can find support from technology, so that teaching will be
more effective and efficient.

4. Technology opens new fields in educational research. The areas of teaching testing and evaluation
are enhanced by technologies for teaching and learning. Current educational researchers will no longer find
difficulty in interpreting tests, assessment and other evaluation results. There are available programs that can
analyze and interpret results with speed and accuracy. Reference retrieval is also hastened because many of
the research materials are in digital form. Technology has also provided access to big data that can be
processed for problem solving and inquiry.

5. Technology adds to the competence of teachers and inculcates scientific outlook. Through the
utilization of theories of learning and intelligence, which are explained in references uploaded in the net, the
teachers are encouraged to imbibe skills to source these information with speed and accuracy.

6. Technology supports teacher professional development. With the demand of continuing professional
development for teachers, the availability of technology provides 'alternative way of attending professional
development online. For those who are involved as providers of continuing professional development like
trainers, facilitators or organizers, they can level up or enhance their delivery systems with the support of
technology tools.

B. For Learners and Learning

1. Support learners to learn how to learn on their own. All teachers fully understand that subject matter or
content is a means to achieve the learning outcomes. There are three categories of knowledge according to
Egbert (2009): declarative knowledge, structural knowledge, and procedural knowledge.
a. Declarative knowledge consists of the discrete pieces of information that answers the questions
what, who, when, and where. It is often learned through memorization of facts, drills and practice. It can be
learned by simple mnemonics or conceptual maps. Declarative knowledge is the fundamental knowledge
necessary for students to achieve more complex higher order thinking such as critical thinking and creativity,
inquiry and production.

b. Structural knowledge consists of facts or pieces of declarative knowledge put together to attain
some form of meaning. An example of declarative knowledge is “pencil”. The idea that evolved from a pencil is
an understanding that: “it is something used to write.” This is referred to as structural knowledge. It can be
presented by concept maps, categorization or classification.

c. Procedural knowledge is knowledge in action or the knowledge of how to do something. It is based

on facts but learned through the process of procedural knowledge. Examples include how to drive a car, how to
use a cell phone, or how to speak English. Procedural knowledge is indicated by a performance task or
graphical representation of a concept.

The traditional sources of knowledge are printed books, modules and journals. Other sources are
primary sources such as information taken from research. However, knowledge or content can be learned in
many ways.
But how can technology support the learning of declarative, structural or procedural knowledge? To
teach content, time is always an issue for teachers. Oftentimes, we hear teachers say: "Too many things to
teach, too little time to do.” Technology may be the answer, however the challenge is for teachers to use
technology to learn the technology first. As a facilitator of learning, the teacher can guide the students to look for
the resources and to utilize them appropriately. There are varied programs that can be used by students off-line
or on-line for students. What should be necessary is that the students are engaged, the tasks should focus on
questions like how, why and which in addition to who, what, when and where.

2. Technology enhances learners' communication skills through social interactions. This is commonly described
as the transmission of information from one person to another as a single individual or groups of individuals.
According to Shirly (2003) in Egbert (2009), there are three basic communication patterns:
 a. Point to point two-way or one-to-one like Internet chat, phone conversation or even face-to-face
conversation.
b. One-to-many outbound like a lecture, or television. There is no social interaction.
c. Many-to-many like group discussion, buzz session, heads together. This kind of interaction provides
opportunities for social interaction.

Social interaction occurs in two ways where the participants ask for clarification, argue, challenge each
other and work towards common understanding. Social interaction through communication occurs through
technology (directly between two persons via email, a cell phone or other communication technology). It can
also occur around technology like students discussing about a problem posed by a software program or with
support of technology like teachers and students interacting about the worksheet printed from a website. In all
the three modalities, communication occurs and technology is involved.
For this particular role, what are the benefits derived from technology supported communication?

a. Enables any teacher to guide the learners virtually and making learning unlimited because
communication and social interaction go beyond a school day or a school environment
b. Enhances students’ freedom to express and exchange ideas freely without the snooping eyes of the
teacher face to face
c. Enables learners to construct meaning from joint experiences between the two or more participants
in communication
d. Help learners solve problems from multiple sources since there are limitless sources of information
that the teacher can direct or refer to the learners
e. Teaches learners to communicate with politeness, taking turns in sending information and giving
appropriate feedback
f. Enhances collaboration by using communication strategies with wider community and individuals in
a borderless learning environment
g. Develops critical thinking, problem solving and creativity throughout the communication

3. Technology upgrades learners' higher-order-thinking skills: critical thinking, problem solving and creativity
Twenty-first century learning requires the development of higher-order thinking skills.
Technology has a great role to play in the development and enhancement of these skills. Let's discuss
this in the lesson.

Critical thinking is part of the cluster of higher order thinking skills. It refers to the ability to interpret,
explain, analyze, evaluate, infer and self regulate in order to make good decisions. With the use of technology,
one will be able to evaluate the credibility of the source, ask appropriate questions, become open-minded,
defend a position on an issue and draw conclusions with caution. All of these competencies are covered by
Bloom's Taxonomy of Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation.
Teachers play a significant role in supporting learners with technology. How?
As a role model, teachers should display and practice critical thinking processes, so that the learners
can imitate them. Here are some ways that teachers can do to develop critical thinking.
a. Ask the right questions.
Most often teachers ask questions to find out if the students can simply repeat the information from the lesson.
Although these are necessary questions like what, who, when and where, these do not develop critical thinking.
Critical thinking questions should ask for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth and logic.
Clarity: Here are some examples: Can you give examples of ...
Accuracy: What pieces of evidence support your claim?
Precision: Exactly how much ...
Breadth: What do you think the other group will say about the issue?

b. Use critical thinking tasks with appropriate levels of challenge.

 Teachers should be mindful of the readiness of the students. Students who have higher ability may
find the task too easy, thus getting bored early, while those who have low ability may find the task too difficult.
Thus, there is a need to have activities that are appropriate for the learners. These can be determined by
interview, observations and other forms to determine the level of readiness.
What are some simple ways that teachers should do?
1. Vary the questions asked.
2. Introduce new technologies.
3. Modify the learners' grouping.
4. Modify the critical thinking task.
5. Encourage curiosity.

By nature learners are curious. They ask lots of questions all the time. Why is the sky blue? Why do I
have to learn geometry? How do people choose what will they become in the future? Can robots solve the
problems of climate change? How?
These questions will lead to critical thinking, but some of these questions cannot be answered by the
teacher. The unanswered questions are avoided or answered unsatisfactorily. Sometimes teachers shut down
the question that curtails the first step in critical thinking. The internet as a problem solving and research tool
can help find answers to the questions.
Creativity is characterized as involving the ability to think flexibly, fluently, originally, and elaborately
(Guildford, 1986 & Torrance, 1974 in Egbert, 2009). Flexibly means able to use many points of view while
fluently means able to generate many ideas. Originally implies being able to generate new ideas and
elaborately means able to add details. Creativity is not merely a set of technical skills, but it also involves
feelings, beliefs, knowledge and motivation.
Seven Creative Strategies (Osborn, 1963). These have been simplified into fewer categories. To be
creative, one can use any of these strategies.
1. Substitute - Find something else to replace to do what it does.
2. Combine - Blend two things that do not usually go together.
3. Adapt - Look for other ways this can be used.
4. Modify/Magnify/ Minify - Make a change, enlarge, decrease.
5. Put to another use - Find other uses.
6. Eliminate - Reduce, remove.
7. Reverse - Turn upside-down, inside out, front-side back.
All together, the strategies will be labelled as SCAMPER.

What should teachers do to support student creativity? Here are some suggestions:
1. Provide an enriched environment.
2. Teach creative thinking strategies.
3. Allow learners to show what they can do.
4. Use creativity with technology.

Further, teachers can do the following to develop and enhance critical thinking, problem solving and
creativity. As a future teacher, try these suggestions.
1. Encourage students to find and use information from a variety of sources both on-line and off-line.
2. Assist students to compare information from different sources.
3. Allow students to reflect through different delivery modes like writing, speaking, or drawing.
4. Use real experiences and material to draw tentative decisions.
5. Involve students in creating and questioning assessment.

To do these, the teacher should see to it that the right questions are asked, student's tasks should be
appropriate to the levels of challenge and curiosity is encouraged.
 There are several critical thinking tools and technology software that can support critical thinking skills.
Some of these you will encounter in the succeeding modules:
1. Encourages digital production projects
2. Popularizes e-learning modalities
3. Enhances global awareness and citizenship

References:

Bilbao, P.P. et.al. (2019). Technology for Teaching and Learning I. Lorimar Publishing. Inc.
Garo, C.D. (2014). Educational Technology 1. National Bookstore
Hill, J. (2014). Emerging Patterns of Educational Technology. Koros Press Limited