Which came first?

Hello!

For the second week of my graduate school class we were asked to share our thoughts on the relationship between pedagogy and technology.  Here are my thoughts:

A teachers role in the technology revolution is pivotal.  Whether we as educators understand, embrace, or even believe in the need for all of it, this is the world in which we live in and we have to prepare our students to use technology and move them forward.  Dr. David Thornburg spoke about the evolution of technology and its effects on good pedagogy.

            The invention of certain technologies has made it somewhat mandatory to embrace technology.  The evolutions from a one computer classroom to individual laptops or tablets on every students desk, there are inherent needs to alter teaching to accommodate these new technologies.  Keyboarding, mouse navigation, and basic knowledge of the programs on that device are just a few of the skills that need to be taught in order to use the equipment efficiently.  Also, the popularity of cell phones and their evolution into smartphones and all of the other fingertip technology offer “true, anytime learning experiences” (Thornburg, 2010).  Additionally, they “shrink the space by facilitating collaboration at a distance” (Thornburg, 2010). 

            To have all this technology really allows more “inquiry based direct instruction” (Thornburg, 2010).  Society and the new technology trends dictate what we need to address in the classroom.  We have begun to “enter the main event,…an era in which technology will truly transform every aspect of business, of government, of society, of life” (Friedman, 2005). 

            To conclude, there are so many opportunities to use technology as a conveyer of information in the classroom.  The interaction of society and technology and the important correlation between the two must be addressed in order to have a cohesive curriculum.  After all, “society seeks out a new technology and they dictate how successful they will be” (Thornburg, 2010). 

Resources:

Friedman, T. (2005).  The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century.  New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.