Week 2

After reading Chapter One I learned that technology has come a long way and continues to grow everyday. We can learn a lot about technology from looking at the past. There are many things that have shaped what technology is today. First the audiovisual movement of the 1930's began to see teachers using films and slides as a way to deliver information rather than the traditional lectures. This view of media as a teaching tool still exist today and has become another medium of education that is now called educational technology. The second area technology has shaped is the area of technology as a instructional systems and instructional design. The idea behind this was to develop a method that would make instruction more efficient for students while they were in school. They wanted to focus on systems that would help to better productivity and competence while on the job. Finally, until the 1980's many students focused on woodworking, printing, metals and other vocational skills. During this technology movement the focus shifted to technology skills such as desktop publishing, computer design and robotics.
There are several things we can learn about technology from the past. One, technology is not a panacea for education. While we would like a quick solution to many things, even the best technology can't offer that solution. Two, Teachers are not the one who come up with the software and programs used in the classroom. Often its publishers and developers who come up with and fund the software materials used within the classrooms. Finally, things change fast with technology. Resources, materials and methods change so rapidly sometimes that teachers cannot keep up. This rapid change makes teachers have to work even harder to stay up to date with the latest technology for the classroom and how to use the programs correctly within the class.
While there have been many changes and thing learned about technology from the past and many of our students today often knowing more about technology than even the teacher. There is no substitute for great teacher in a classroom.