Sample Education and Technology Essays / Q & A

Education and Technology

We have talked about the two distinct characteristics of the Web - visuals and connections. Drawing on your knowledge about the principles of visual literacy and theories behind concept mapping, discuss the principles and theories in terms of how these two Web characteristics support teaching and learning.

While visual literacy has always been paramount to education, the advent of the World Wide Web has reframed visual resources, manifesting visual connections as instantly accessible and applicable to a range of subject areas. Young children learn to read pictures long before they learn to read words, rendering visual literacy a precedent to textual literacy. Additionally, theories of concept mapping support the relationship between visual literacy and connections, with this relationship being integral to contemporary, web-based education.

There are a myriad of advantages to employing concept mapping within an academic context. In short, concept maps emphasise the links between concepts, or a perceived regularity inherent to an object, person, or event and designated by a definable label. Critical thinking theories highlight links between concepts as one of the most important elements of learning, with cross-linking of concepts making it possible for students to internalise multiple meanings of concepts.

Concept maps are grounded firmly in psychological theories of the learning process. Reception learning theory, for instance, posits that the learner must discern patterns and relationships between new and existing knowledge in order to learn. In order for meaningful learning to take place, by extension, the material presented must be conceptually clear so that the learner can readily make connections with prior knowledge; the World Wide Web undoubtedly facilitates this clarity and promotes visual literacy by concisely and cohesively presenting students with new domains of knowledge.

Visual literacy has become integral to the digital age, expanding the scope of education in the twenty-first century. The use of the internet in the academic realm has made the cross-links integral to concept mapping more easily identified, concurrently supporting the learning process by making information clearer, accessible both visually and textually. Visual literacy is essentially the ability to assess and apply visual representations, drawing upon connections made previously, and the information age has rendered it easier for educators and students alike to support visual literacy through the use of diverse tools. The future of education, undoubtedly, is inextricably bound to technology that will facilitate learning, broadening the scope of literacy well beyond its twentieth-century definitions.

During the course we were presented with 6 different teaching and learning theories and the role technology plays in each of them. Choose 2 theories out of the 6 and discuss their salient features and the role that technology plays in each. Within the framework of these 2 theories, discuss your own teaching philosophy and how your own beliefs share similar values and how they differ.

The role played by technology in modern education is undoubtedly paramount, concurrently framing technology as integral to many learning theories. Essentially asserting the salient aspects of how knowledge is constructed during the learning process, learning theories highlight technology as an invaluable tool for both the learner and the educator. The following inquiry explores two theories of learning, constructionism and connectivism, affording particular respect to the role played by technology within contemporary applications of each theory.

Constructionism posits that learners internalise knowledge more meaningfully if they are able to use that knowledge to create something personally valuable. Through planning, creating, and processing, knowledge is effectively constructed and applied during the learning process. The role played by technology in constructionism theory is critical, by extension, as it facilitates all three stages of learning. Because the construction of new knowledge depends on the incorporation of new information with existing information, technology can make both the new and old information more clearly presented via a website, online activity, or other application of information technology. Supporting visual literacy, the available technology allows connections to be made more quickly and easily than previous, non-technological methods.

Aligned closely with constructionism in several ways is connectivism, or the theory of learning that emphasises the importance of networks to the construction of knowledge. Connectivism posits that all knowledge already exists in the world and individuals learn by creating connections and developing a network of knowledge. The learner connects various sources of information and cultivates the strengths of connections made in order to prompt future learning. By extension, the ability of the learner to recognize possible connections is paramount to the educational environment, as is the accuracy and currency of new information. The role played by technology in connectivism is a weighted one, with technology facilitating clear connections, such as through links on a website, threaded discussions, or simple visuals.

Both constructionism and connectivism support this writer's teaching philosophy in several ways. Primarily, the role of the educator is to facilitate, rather than dictate, learning to students, and creating connections between existing and new knowledge as well as between sources of knowledge is most meaningfully done by the student and not the teacher. By employing technology in teaching strategies, however, the educator allows students to make connections more readily without reducing their meaningfulness or personal value to the student.

During the semester we have read and discussed the different aspects of change - how to define paradigm shifts and change - what is the process of change and what are the forces- what are the reasons people resist - what are the common reasons teachers resist. In a well organized essay, present what you know of these concepts and processes thoroughly. Discuss what these concepts and processes mean for you personally and professionally and lastly, what implications there may be for Oman.

The learning process is inherently linked to the process of change. The very acts of acquiring new knowledge, making connections between existing domains of knowledge and unfamiliar information, and meaningfully internalising new information involves a change; this change is from the old or existing body of knowledge to the new and altered body of knowledge. On a broader scale, paradigm shifts are profound changes from one way of thinking toward another in a way that is both revolutionary and evolutionary. The advent of the information age has birthed a significant, paradigm shift in the academic realm, with teachers resisting the change for the same reasons human beings have countered change since the dawn of humanking.

Paradigm shifts, like all changes, do not occur without the influence of a change agent. For example, a shift from subsistence foraging to a complex, agricultural society occurred in several parts of the world due to increasingly limited resources and climatic changes; this shift in the way societies garnered and perceived their food supply significantly informed a wide range of social aspects, including family life and kinship practices, architecture, and religion. Similarly, the World Wide Web is reframing a range of core, social elements, education included.

Change resistance occurs primarily because of fear. Those who are accustomed to an existing paradigm are uncertain how a change will affect their world. Consequently, they are also anxious regarding their own role in that new world, asking themselves whether they are truly capable of supporting the new paradigm. Underlying the fear of change is the idea that, once the change occurs, there will be no going back. If the change births undesirable consequences, then the element of irrevocability is a substantial burden.

Case in point, educators fear the influence of technology because of uncertainty. They are resistant to the advent of the internet and new teaching software because they do not fully understand how the technology will affect their world. They might be worried that they will not be capable of learning how to work the new tools and, in short, be rendered obsolete under the new paradigm.

Undoubtedly, the influence of technology is considerable, and it is overhauling the world of education in more ways than one. In most instances, however, these changes are positive ones. Resisting the ability of technology to facilitate learning is, by extension, a manifestation of ignorance and closed-mindedness. Monks that used to hand-make books likely resisted the invention of the printing press as well, as it would forever change their world in a way they could not predict. However, the printing press brought unprecedented masses of people in contact with knowledge, birthing a significant paradigm shift in the way knowledge was framed in Europe and around the world.

The paradigm shift occurring now is just as critical learning as the dawn of the printing press. For this writer, the influence of technology has been both personally and professionally relevant, with mobile phones and the internet affecting every facet of his world. For Oman, technology has facilitated connections that would have been impossible only a decade ago, making education more accessible and channeling interaction with the global marketplace. Change is, in short, a challenge; it demands learning in order to become accustomed to the new paradigm. In the end, however, change is a mainstay of the human world, and society depends on it for its very survival. As technology becomes increasingly integral to education, there will be more learners with access to information, greater personal freedom, and visible movement toward a global society defined by education, equality, and connection.