Will Technology Save or Destroy Teaching/Learning?

Last week, we began to share some examples of free and cheap technology. While I hope to have this topic repeat every month or so on a theme, it's worth a cautionary note.

Michael Wesch a Cultural Anthropologist from KSU has long favored the use of technology in teaching to get the messages to students in a variety of ways, to entertain as well as teach (recently the word "edutainment" has been floating around). In talking with his colleagues, many who have tried incorporating technology into the classroom, he found that technology for technology sake does not make a better learning experience. There needs to be a strong foundation to the material (what do you want the students to take away) and then look at the what technology can help deliver that content and make it interactive and participatory.

You can read more about his learnings here.

In the next few weeks, we will look at

• How learning goals can help create a better learning experience
• Explore the inverted classroom
• Building interactivity into online lectures
• Evaluate some online conferencing technology for student groups