Module 3: The Roles of Educational Technology in Learning

Prerequisite Skills:
Instructor:
Level:
Allotted Time:

Aurelio F. Polonio
Second Year College

Overview

After understanding the comprehensive meaning of educational technology, let us now dwell on the
roles of educational technology in the teaching-learning process.
Objectives

1. Identify the roles of educational technology in learning

2. Compare and contrast the roles of educational technology from the traditional point of view with the
constructivists point of view.
3. Give uses of technology as partner in learning and technology as a teacher
Pretest

1. Make a reaction on the following statements:

Technology, including, information technology (IT) has great potential to support improved
student learning , but there is nothing inherent in the use of technology in teaching, by
themselves, that would lead to improvement in student leaning.

Innovations in teaching that lead to improve student learning are possible without
technology but the capabilities of IT make them easier, more practical, and perhaps more
engaging for students.

Use of technology, including IT, is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Learning Focus
Technology can play a traditional role, i.e., as delivery vehicles for instructional lessons or in/a constructivist
way as partners in the learning process. In tile traditional way, the learner learns from the technology and the
technology serves as a teacher.
In other words, the learner learns the content presented by the technology in the same way that the learner
learns knowledge presented by the teacher. In the constructivist way, technology helps the learner build more
meaningful personal interpretations of life and his/her world. In the constructivist approach, technology is a learning
tool to learn with, not from. It makes the learner gather, think, analyze, synthesize information and construct meaning
with what technology presents. Technology serves as a medium in representing what the learner knows and what
he/she is learning.

From the traditional point of view, technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge. It is assumed that
"knowledge is embedded in the" technology (e.g. the content presented by films and tv programs or the teaching
sequence in programmed instruction) and the technology presents that knowledge to the student. (David H.
Jonassen, et al, 1999),
Technology like computers is seen as a productivity tool. The popularity of word processing, databases,
spreadsheets, graphic programs and desktop publishing in the 1980s points to this productive role of educational
technology.
With the eruption of the INTERNET in the mid 90s, communications and multimedia have dominated the role of
technology in the classroom for the past few years.
From the constructivist point of view, educational technology serves as learning tools that learners learn with. It
engages learners in "active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning. It provides opportunities
for technology and learner interaction for meaningful learning. In this case, technology will not be mere delivery
vehicle for content. Rather it is used as facilitator of thinking and knowledge construction.
From a constructivist perspective, the following are roles of technology in learning: (Jonassen, et al 1999).
Technology as tools to support knowledge construction: ' for representing learners' ideas,
understandings and beliefs for producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners
Technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing:

for accessing needed information for comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views
Technology as context to support learning-by-doing: for representing and simulating meaningful
real world problems, situations and contexts for representing beliefs, perspectives! arguments,
and stories of others for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking
Technology as a social medium to support learning by conversing: for collaborating with others
for discussing, arguing, and building consensus among members of a community for supporting
discourse among knowledge-building communities
Technology as intellectual partner (Jonassen 1996) to support learning-by-reflecting: for helping
learners to articulate and represent what they know for reflecting on what they have learned and
how they came to know it for supporting learners 'internal negotiations and meaning making
for constructing personal representations of meaning for supporting mindful thinking

Whether used from the traditional or constructivist point of view, when used effectively, research indicates that
technology "increases students' learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn,
encourages collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills."
(Schacter and Fagnano, 1999) Russell and Sorge (1999) also claims that the proper implementation of technology in
the classroom gives students more "control of their own learning and... tends to move classrooms from teacherdominated environments to ones that are more learner-centered. The use of technology in the classroom enables
the teacher to do differentiated instruction considering the divergence of students' readiness levels, interests,
multiple intelligences, and learning styles. Technology also helps students become lifelong learners.
Educational technology plays various roles. From the traditional point of view, it serves as presenter of
knowledge just like teachers. It also serves as a productivity tool. With Internet, technology has 'facilitated

communication among people. From the constructivist perspective, educational technology is a meaningful learning
tool by serving as a learning partner.

Learning Activities

Activity 1: Based on the roles of educational technology from the constructivist's perspective, given above, identify
under which role and process is illustrated by each of the following:

Water samples from ponds, steams and faucets were analyzed locally, then transmitted to researchers
who pooled the data and returned them to all sites, where students drew conclusions and compared
them with those of other
classes. (Jonassen, et al, p.26)

Students were asked to give a graphic presentation of the causes and effects of alcoholism.

Students were asked to conduct an in-depth research on the causes and effects of global warming by
the extensive use of books, journals and the Internet and to give a powerpoint presentation of their
findings.
Students were assigned to gather proposals from various sectors on how to solve the present rice
crisis and on how to prevent the same in the future and make a video presentation on their interviews.
Student groups were asked to read and analyze a comicstrip and present their own thinking also by way of
a comic strip.
Activity 2: Give at least 3 uses or functions of educational technology. Categorize them either as technology as
teacher (source of knowledge) or technology as partner in learning (one that engages the student in thinking and in
the construction of knowledge and meaning). Use the table given below. An example for each category is given for
you.
Technology as teacher

Technology as partner in learning

1. Video presentation on the tourist

spots in the country

1. Setting up an experiment shown

through video presentation and
requiring the student to predict the
outcome of the experiment

Posttest
Discussion:

1. The constructivists' thinking is this: Technology cannot teach students. Rather, learners should use
the technologies to teach themselves and others. Do you agree with the constructivists? Discuss
briefly.
2. Is there anything pedagogically wrong with the traditional use of technology as a presenter of
knowledge like the teacher as a source of knowledge?
3. Why use technology in teaching? Answer this question based on what you learned from this
Lesson. Present it in your own creative way, other than merely enumerating them.