How will the Internet and the World Wide Web make a major impact on:
A) K-12
According to Chapter 3 Instructional Technology has had little success in affecting public schools. Each moment (Visual,Film, TV, Computers) prior to having computers hooked up to the Internet and the World Wide Web showed great interest/promise and experts made very outlandish predictions about how each would change the face of education. However after a few years each type of technology lost ground and reports indicated that these technologies had little affect on learning.
I agree with the author at the end of the chapter that recent data is showing that more and more teachers are using computers and the Internet for meaningful lessons. However, I disagree with the author when he says that the growth will be slow and steady. Although his prediction is based on data collected from studies conducted from 2001-2003 I see this trend declining. The main reason I see this trend declining is lack of money in the schools (equipment and training teachers) and teacher reluctantcy to use technology.
I feel that it can be helped by a couple things. Schools need to train teachers on how to incorporate technology and how to lesson plan using these technologies. I see too many times technology being put in the classroom and no training being given in how to use it! Also schools need to look for grants that support technology integration and training. I feel that parents can be more involved in this process and help school look for the dollars to be successful instead of reling on the State for funds.
Reiser, Robert A and Dempsey, John V (2007) 2nd edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall
B) Higher Education
I see continued use of online classes and degree's. I feel that it a real money maker for the colleges and they have already been using it for awhile now.
C) Adult Education
I see my friends and siblings having to do training more and more online. Most of which is self paced and their is no facilitator. I see more and more companies using this technology to save money and train more people at a time. The mention of human performance as a branch of instructional design and technology has me very curious about the subject.
I see your point when you say that you see the trend of internet usage declining but I do not so much see it as a decline as more of a stagnating. I think this is happening mostly, as you say, to poor teacher training. Many teachers who are teaching in the school system were teachers before the internet and computers were having any affect on education. They continue to teach in a way that they are comfortable with and for many of them that means not using the technology (ie. internet). I think this stagnation will slowly ebate as the older generation teachers slowly begin to leave the teaching field and are replaced by younger and more technologically savvy teachers.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I went along with the author's prediction that World Wide Web use would increase in K--12 education because of the combination of many resources being easily accessible within the computer now, you do make some valid points. The main point that I agree with is the lack of training and teacher reluctance. I know that my school has had certain technologies available, but they did not get used very often because people were not aware of how to use them. Also, for technologies that have been available that some teachers have wanted to use, we have only had a few available and they were being dominated by a few teachers on a regular basis. Perhaps there would not be as much reluctancy if there was better and more access to on-going technolgy training for teachers. This would be a good use of professional development time. Parent Teacher Organizations could search for the grants you spoke of to support technology integration. They are always looking for ways to help to support what teachers need in the classroom. Teachers alone don't always have or make the time to do this, so this would be a great use of the PTO.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard that Grand Rapids Public Schools is considering on line courses, but in light of the extreme numbers of staff that has been cut there, it would be a great asset to them. I do believe that teachers are shying away from the technology, but we need to train them better and show them how to make this a positive change as our students are already using the technology and we don't want to leave them behind. They may only have experience with games, chat rooms, and e-mail, but we know that this is only the tip of the ice berg and we need to guide them to improve their use of technology and their education. They will hold the key to our future and may find the answers to questins that haven't even been asked yet.
ReplyDeleteMargie