My understanding about Educational technology and it’s pedagogical use

Portfolio assignment 2

My understanding is growing in every lessons we have had during the Introduction course.Putting it in words is challenging. I am asking my self questions all the time. Question like What really is educational technology? Is it everything from pen and paper to computer apps?

Pedagogical use they all have. Is the point that technology in the learning environment means nothing without using it? Room full of technology is not pedagogical. Only the way technology is used to help learning is meaningful. Pedagogical use of technology doesn’t mean either that the teacher/expert only uses technology.

• What you want to teach and to who?

Pedagogical use starts from the fact on learners previous knowledge. What do they know before, what are theirs skills, what you need to teach or tell, what helps and how? So basically the key point is to know how people learn, so that you can choose the best technology to support the learning.

The basic misunderstanding focus on the question that Do you need the teacher anymore if you use technology? Do computers replace teachers?

• Computers can’t replace teachers in the educational interaction.

Why? Because we are human. By using technology one can learn better, quicker, more effectively, but people always need someone to stand on the edge of Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotski. In the learning situations technology is always only one tool with all the other tool there are to support learning.

• Technology is only a tool to better learning, not the goal

As I mentioned ZPD by Vygotski I want to about education, teaching and learning in social interaction with people, where learning with tools on the zone of ZPD can better the learning it self and learning as part of the real environment.

Technology can stand on the ZPD, but technology can’t stand on the other side of the learner. We humans need interaction to learn and to understand, to motivate and to develop. To know the scientific theoretical fact of learning helps us to imagine the pedagogical use of technology, the environment needed, the transfer of learning to other concepts, the meaning of teacher or experts and mainly to understand learning better. Learning is not putting information in learner’s mind, not with teacher or not with technology. So as a teacher you can’t think that technology puts information easily on learner’s mind. Learning is much more something created between the people in the interaction, in some place, with help of technology or imagination.

Why to use technology in learning situations?

Aren’t these other learning equipments just enough. Books, papers and pens versus computers. Or perhaps they all together? Should we replace something with technology?

With the use of technology things are easier to connect, part of the interaction with peer or experts can be shared in through technology to save time and on to share more information.

One point in the question of learning is that people learn best when things are connected to real world questions. Pedagogical use of technology should be seen from the learners view. Teacher or expert doesn’t nessesserely need technology for teaching but the point is that learners should have an opportunity to use technology for learning.

These moments with books, pens and talk are valuable, but can we add technology on these moments? And why to add it? For what?

Next Popplet is created on our jigsaw lesson on learning. This popplet is based on the Book How People Learn by National research council, 2000. In our group we described learning from the theories in the book.

In your opinion what technology enables us to learn and teach?

I have been following conversation in the Facebook group which concentrates on pedagogical use of ICT.

Educational technology and its pedagogical use.