Learning with Technology
"The computer is a leaning tool that students learn with, not from." Jonassen, Peck and Wilson (1999) The computer, used as a tool, has the ability to enhance student leaning as it enables students to interact and communicate and reflect on information, to understand the relevance of information, to work independently and be interested and involved in their studies and to learn through different modes. Computers in the traditional classroom are used to "teach in a drill and practice kind of way, or as a fancy typewriter (word processor)...or to illustrate a lesson, they are seen as a kind of audio-visual device (Scriven 1986). This kind of computer usage while justifiable is only scratching the surface of its versatility. Teachers need to embrace information technology, regardless of their teaching philosophy or style and use information technology to its fullest capacity, that is as a tool that maximizes student learning.Social constructivism and the theories of Vygotsky highlight the importance of student interaction and communication to learn and make sense of the world. "Social environment is important to children's development because it can accelerate or decelerate development." (Vygotsky 1962). The dialogue that
" Finlayson and Cook conducted an experiment on the contribution that the computer had on the interactive behaviour of children. Alternatively the messages posted on the Information Technology forum were curriculum based and lacked the aggression and discontent that the other subjects' messages contained. " Thus the relevance of information is able to be placed in context for students, via resources outside the classroom. Mercer and Wegerif conclude that classroom activities should be designed to "deal more directly with the development of children's capacities for collaborating and using language to reason. The forum provided for distance students at CSU is one such example of the relevance of student communication. The Media Studies course has a number of topics but by far the most 'popular' is the creation of video projects using digital camcorders and a Macintosh computer. Students must be interested and involved in their education for learning to take place. If the concept is not related to prior knowledge, schema, social situations or the individual world of the student, then the student has little chance of making sense of the overall concept. Information technology is a field that is advancing rapidly and does not remain a constant variable in student learning. They observed student interest in an 'on computer task' and an 'off computer task' with blocks. Bosco (1986) argues that "Teachers who want to make use of the computers as an essential tool in their instruction may need to reconstitute their perception of their role as teachers. Being a Media Studies teacher I can relate to their theory. They quote Salomon (1984) "The major reason students do not successfully learn from watching televised instruction is that they are not mentally engaged by it".
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Acceptance Essays
