Lesson 10

Demonstration in teaching

Demonstration

“An act of showing someone how something is  used” or “done an act of showing or proving something.”

Three instances of Demonstration

Audience

Process of speaking

Process of showing a product method or proofs

Principles of Demonstration

1. Establish rapport

2. Avoid the COIK fallacy (clear only I known)

3. Watch for key points

To Plan and Prepare for demonstration:

Determine your goals

Materials that you need

Steps

Rehears

In the actual conduct of demonstration we have to:

Get and sustain the interest of our audience.

Keep your demonstration simple focus and clear

Do not hurry nor drug out the demonstration

Check for understanding in the process of demo

Conclude with a summary

Hand out written materials at the end of the demo

Process of demonstration

Planning

Demonstration

Evaluation

Lesson 9

Teaching with dramatized experiences

All dramatization is a essentially process communication, in which both participant an spectators are engage. A creative reaction takes place, a sharing of ideas.

Dramatic experiences come to next contrived experience in the CONE. Can do this dramatic experience require us to be dramatic in our entrance into a classroom and in lesson presentation.

A Dramatic entrance is something that catches a hold our attention and has an emotional impact. Something dramatic is something that is stirring or affecting or moving. If our teaching is dramatic, students may get retracted, interested and affected and may leave impact on them.

 

Formal Dramatized experiences

A.     Plays – depict life, character, or culture or a combination of all three.

B.     Pageants – usually community dramas that are based on local history, presented by local actors.

C.     Puppets – unlike regular stage play, it can present ideas with extreme simplicity, without elaborate scenery or costume yet effective.

Less formal dramatized experiences                                                                   Pantomime ­– is the art of conveying a story through bodily movements only.                                                                              Tableau – (French word means PICTURE) is a picture-like scene composed of people against a background.

Types of puppets:

-          Marionettes – are generally fashioned from wood and resemble a human body. Body joints (ankles, knees, etc.) are connected by movable hinges. String is attracted to various part of the body, but most commonly to the arms, legs, and head, and it allows the puppeteer to create very lifelike movements.

-          Shadow puppets – similar to the marionettes, but less sophisticated, is the shadow puppet. Shadow puppets are generally flat characters created from heavy paper or cardboard.

-          Stick puppets – like most puppets, stick puppets vary in their complexity. A stick puppet can be as simple as a Styrofoam ball head attached to a stick, or a two dimensional picture attached to a stick, or as complicated as two stick process, whereby one stick support the puppet’s head and body and the other stick becomes an arm and hand.

-          Hand puppets – are by far the most common type of puppet. They are relatively sample to create and readily to purchase for those who are not inclined to make their own, with a hand puppet, the puppeteers hand is placed directly inside the puppet.

-          Mouth puppets – are my favourite type of puppet. They appear more lifelike than their counterparts (although this is not necessarily important to the child).

-          Rod puppet – flat cut out figures tacked to a stick, with one or more movable parts, and operated from below the stage level wire rods or slender stick.

-          Glove and finger puppets – make used of old gloves to which small costumed figure are attached.

Other puppet ideas

-          Stocking puppets

-           Silhouettes make good shadow puppets

-          Cardboard face on a stick is excellent for lower grade children

-          Cardboard face fastened to a band on pupils head

Role playing: how role playing is done?

-          It can be done by describing a situation which would create different viewpoints on an issue and then asking the students to play the roles of the individuals. Any kind o conflict situation, real or potential, is useful for role playing or any situation in which real feelings are concealed. Consider situation in school, at home, on the playground, at work, in the government.

Lesson 8

TEACHING WITH CONTRIVED EXPERIENCE

The model of atom, the globe, the planetarium, the simulated election process and the preserved specimen fall under contrived experiences, the second band of experiences in Dale’s Cone of Experience.

WHAT ARE CONTRIVED EXPERIENCES?

These are “edited” copies of reality and are used as substitutes for real things when it is not practical or not possible to bring or do the real thing in the classroom. These contrived experiences are designed to simulate to real-life situations.

The atom, the planetarium as classified as models. A MODEL is a “reproduction of a real thing in a small scale, or large scale, or exact size-but made of synthetic materials. It is a substitute for a real thing which may or may not be operational.” (Brown, et al, 1969)

The planetarium may also be considered a mock up. A MOCK UP is “an arrangement of a real device or associated devices, displayed in such a way that representation of reality is created. This mock upmay be simplified in order to emphasize certain features. It may be an economical reproduction of a complicated or costly device, to be observed for learning purposes. Usually, it is a prepared substitute for a real thing; sometimes it is a giant enlargement.” (Brown 1969) The planetarium is an example of a mock up, in the sense that the order or the arrangement of the planets is shown and the real processes of the planets’ rotation on the axis and the revolution of the planets around the sun are displayed. A MOCK UPis a special model where the parts of a model are singled out, heightened and magnified in order to focus on the part or process under study.

The preserved specimens fall under SpECIMENS and OBJECTS. A SpECIMENis any individual or item considered typical of a group, class or whole. OBJECT may also include artifacts displayed in a museum or objects displayed in exhibits or preserved insect specimen in science.

The school election process described above is a form of SIMULATION. SIMULATION is a “representation of a manageable real event in which the learner is an active participant engaged in learning a behavior or in applying previously acquired skills or knowledge.” (Orlich, et al, 1994). In addition to the election of class and school officers given above other examples of these are fore and earthquake drill which schools usually conduct. Organizers of earthquake drills and fire drills create a situation highly similar to the real situation when a building is on fire or when an earthquake happens.

Another instructional material included in contrived experiences is GAME. Is there a difference between games and simulation? Games are played to win while simulation need not to have a winner. Simulation seem to be more easily applied to the study of issues rather than processes.

WHY DO WE MAKE USE OF CONTRIVED EXPERIENCES?

We use models, mock ups, specimens, objects, to:

1.       Overcome limitations of space and time

2.       To “edit” reality for us to be able to focus on parts or a process of a system that we intend to study

3.       To overcome difficulties of size

4.       To understand the inaccessible, and

5.       Help the learners understand abstraction

We use simulations and games to make our classes interactive and to develop the decision-making skills and knowledge construction skills of our students. Orlich, et al (1994) enumerates ten (10) general purposes of simulations and games in education:

1.       To develop changes in attitudes

2.       To change specific behaviors

3.       To prepare participants for assuming new roles in the future

4.       To help individuals understand their current roles

5.       To increase the students’ ability to apply principles

6.       To reduce complex problems or situations to manageable elements

7.       To illustrate roles that may affect one’s life but that one may never assume

8.       To motivate learners

9.       To develop analytical processes

1.   To sensitize individuals to another person’s life role

In English subject, David sudol (1983) found that literary concepts could be successfully taught by involving the students by having them develop characters and then develop a plot. Sudol also suggested that similarly, you could select classic quote, for example, the opening paragraph from A Table of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and ask the students to simulate a plot, a story line, characters and location. Use the current year. How closely do you think the students might parallel Dickens? After the simulation, A Table of Two Cities could be read both for knowledge and for comparison to the student outlines.

GAMES

Games are used for any of these purposes:

1.       Practice and/or to refine knowledge/skills already acquired

2.       To identify gaps or weaknesses in knowledge or skills

3.       To serve as a summation or review, and

4.       To develop new relationships among concepts and principles

If you want a class that is fully alive, think of how you can integrate native games in your lessons. Refer to Science and Mathematics of Toys, a sourcebook for teachers, published and printed by the Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development of the University of the Philippines.

Finally, what questions should we ask in evaluating any contrived experience used in class? Edgar Dale (1969) enumerates the following:

·         Is the model or mock up necessary or can you make use of the original?

·         Could some other devices such as photograph or chart portray the idea more effectively?

·         Is the idea appropriate for representation in a model? (is it too elementary? Too complicated?)

·         Are the important details of construction correct?

·         Could wrong impressions of size, colors and shape result from using this model?

·         Does the model oversimplify the idea?

·         If it is workable, will it stand up under frequent use?

·         If it is to be made by students, is the model likely to be worth the time, effort and money involved?

·         If it is purchased, will the model be used often enough to justify the cost?

·         Will the model act as a stimulus to further learning?

·         Does the stimulated procedure reduce the amount of instruction required to master the desired skills, attitude and information?

Lesson 7

DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES AND BEYOND

WHAT ARE REFFERED TO AS DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES?

These are our concrete and firsthand experiences that make out the foundation of our learning. These are the rich experiences that our senses bring from which we construct the ideas, the concepts, the generalizations that give meaning and order to our lives. (Dale, 1969) They are sensory experiences.

These direct activities may be preparing meals, making a piece of furniture, doing power point presentation, performing a laboratory experiment, delivering a speech, or taking a trip.

In contrast, indirect experiences are experiences of other … people that we observe, read or hear about. They are not our own self-experiences but still experiences in the sense that we see, read and hear about them. They are not firsthand but rather vicarious exp

experiences.

Climbing a mountain is firsthand, direct experience. Seeing it done in film or reading about it is vicarious, substitute experience. It is clear, therefore, that we can approach the world of reality direct through the senses and indirectly with reduced sensory experience. For example we can make bake black forest cake or see it done in the t.v or read about it.

WHY ARE THESE DIRECT EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED TO BE PURPOSEFUL?

Purposeful because the experiences are not purely mechanical. They are not a matter of going through the motion. These are not “mere sensory excitation”. They are experiences that are internalized in the sense that these experiences involve the asking of questions that have significance in the life of the person undergoing the direct experience.

They are also described as purposeful because these experiences are undergone in relation to a purpose, i.e. learning. Why do we want our students to have a direct experience in conducting an experiment in the laboratory? It is done in relation to a certain learning objective.

Where should these direct, purposeful experiences lead us to? The title of this lesson “Direct, Purposeful Experiences and Beyond” implies that these direct experiences must not be the period or the end. We must be brought to the higher plane. The higher plane referred to here is the level of generalization and abstraction.

An ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory because it is only in experience than any theory has vital and verifiable experience. An experience, a very humble experience, is capable of generating and carrying any amount of theory (or intellectual content), but a theory apart from an experience cannot be definitely grasped as a theory. It tends to become a mere verbal formula, a set of catchwords used to render thinking, or genuine theorizing unnecessary and impossible.

IF DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES OR FIRSTHAND SENSORY EXPERIENCES MAKE US LEARN CONCEPTS AND SKILLS EFFECTIVELY, WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY TO THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS?

First, let us give our students opportunities to learn by doing. Let us immerse our students in the world of experience. Second, let us make use of real things as instructional materials for as long as we can. Third, let us help the students develop the first five senses to the full to heighten their sensitivity to the world. Fourth, let us guide our students so that they can draw meaning from their firsthand experiences and elevate their level of thinking. As mentioned in Lesson 5, let us not be tempted to get stuck to the concrete and fail to bring up our students’ to the higher level of thinking process.

Lesson 6

USING AND EVALUATING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

One of the instructional materials used to attain instructional objectives is field trip.

It is not enough to bring the class out for a field trip and make them observe anything or everything or use other instructional materials for no preparation and clear reason at all. Perhaps this is what happened to the field trip joined in by Linus, that’s why he seems not able to cite something specific that he learned from the field trip.

For an effective use of instructional materials such as field trip, there are guidelines that ought to be observed, first of all, in their selection and second, in their use.

SELOECTION OF MATERIALS

The following guide questions express standards to consider in selection of instructional materials:

·         Do the materials give a true picture of the ideas they present? To avoid misconceptions, it is always good to ask when the material was produced.

·         Do the materials contribute meaningful content to the topic under study? Does the material help you achieve the instructional objective?

·         Is the material appropriate for the age, intelligence, and experience of the learners?

·         Is the physical condition of the material satisfactory? An example, is a photograph properly mounted?

·         Is there a teacher’s guide to provide a briefing for effective? The chance that the instructional material will be used to the maximum and to the optimum is increased with a teacher’s guide.

·         Can the materials in question help to make students better thinker and develop their critical faculties? With exposure to mass media, it is highly important that we maintain and strengthen our rational powers.

·         Is the material worth the time, expense and effort involved? A field trip, for instance, requires much time, effort and money. Is it more effective than any other less expensive and less demanding instructional material that can take its place? Or is there a better substitute?

THE PROPPER USE OF MATERIALS?

You may have selected your instructional material well. This is no guarantee that the instructional material. Will be effectively utilized. It is one thing to select a good instructional material, it is another thing to use it well.

To ensure effective use of instructional material, Hayden Smith and Thomas Nagel, (1972) book authors on Instructional Media, advise us to abide by the acronym PPPF.

PREPARE YOURSELF. You know your lesson objective and what you expect from the class after the session and why you have selected such particular instructional material. You have a plan on how you will proceed, what question to ask, how you will evaluate learning and how you will tie loose ends before the bell rings.

PREPARE YOUR STUDENTS. Set class expectations and learning goals. It is sound practice to give them guide questions for them to be able to answer during the discussion. Motivate them and keep them interested and engaged.

PRESENT THE MATERIAL. Under the best possible conditions. May teachers are guilty of the R.O.G Syndrome. This is means “running out of gas” which usually results from poor planning. (Smith, 1972) Using media and materials, especially if they are mechanical in nature, often requires rehearsal and a carefully planned performance. Wise are you if you try the materials ahead of your class use to avoid a fiasco.

FOLLOW UP. Remember that you use instructional material to achieve an objective, not to kill time nor give yourself a break, neither to merely entertain the class. You use the instructional for the attainment of a lesson objective. Your use of the instructional material is not the end in itself. It is a means to an end, the attainment of a learning objective. So, there is need to follow up to find out if objective was attained or not.

lesson 5

THE CONE OF EXPERIENCE

The cone of experience is a visual model, a pictorial device that presents band of experience arranged according to degree of abstraction and not on degree of difficulty. The farther you go from the bottom of the cone, the more abstract the experience becomes.

Dale (1969) asserts that:

the pattern of arrangement of the bands of experience is not difficulty but degree of abstraction – the amount of immediate sensory participation that is involved. A still photograph of a tree is not more difficult to understand than a dramatization of Hemlet. It is simply in itself a less concrete teaching material than the dramatization (Dale, 1969)

Dale further explains that “the individual bands of the Cone of Experience stand for experiences that are fluid, extensive, and continually interact” (Dale, 1969). It should not be taken literally in its simplified form. The different kinds of sensory aid often overlap and sometimes blend into one another. Motion pictures can be silent or they can combine sight and sound. Students may merely view a demonstration or they may view it then participate in it.

Does the cone of experience mean that all teaching and learning must move systematically from the base to pinnacle, from direct purposeful experiences to verbal symbols? (Dale, 1969) categorically says:

… No. we continually shuttle back and forth among various kinds of experiences. Every day each of us acquires new concrete experiences – through walking on the street, gardening, dramatics, and endless other means. Such learning by doing, such pleasurable return to the concrete is natural throughout our lives – and at every age level. On the other hand, both the older child and the younger pupil make abstractions every day and may need help in doing this well.

In our teaching, then, we do not always begin with direct experience at the base of the Cone. Rather, we begin with the kind of experience that is more appropriate to the needs and abilities of the particular learner in a particular learning situation. Then, of course, we vary this experience with many other types of learning activities (Dale, 1969).

One kind of sensory experience is not necessarily more educational useful than other. Sensory experiences are mixed and interrelated. When students listen to you as you give your lecturette, they do not just have auditory experience. They also have visual experience in the sense that they are “reading” your facial expressions and bodily gestures.

We face some risk when we overemphasize the amount of direct experience to learn a concept. Too much reliance on concrete experience may actually obstruct the process of meaningful generalization. The best will be striking a balance between concrete and abstract, direct participation and symbolic expression for the learning that will continue throughout life.

It is true the older a person is, the more abstract his concepts are likely to be. This can be attributed to physical maturation, more vivid experience and sometimes greater motivation for learning. But an older student does not live purely in his world of abstract ideas just a child does not live only in the world of sensory experience. Both old and young shuttle in a world of the concrete and the abstract.

What are these bands of experience in Dale’s Cone of Experience? It is best to look back at the Cone itself. But let us expound on each of them starting with the most direct.

DIRECT PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCE – these are first hand experiences which serves as the foundation of our learning. We build up our reservoir of meaningful information and ideas through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. In the context of the teaching-learning process, it is learning by doing. If I want my student to learn how to focus in compound light microscope, I will let him focus one, of course, after I showed him how.

CONTRIVED EXPERIENCES – in here, we make use of a representative models or muck up of reality for practical reasons and so that we can make the real-life accessible to the students’ perception and understanding. For instance a mock up of Apollo, the capsule for the exploration of the moon, enable the North America Aviation Co. to study the problem of the lunar flight.

Remember how you were thought to tell time? Your teacher may have used a mock up, a clock, whose hands you could turn to set the time you were instructed to set. Simulations such as playing “sari-sari” store to teach subtracting centavos from peso is another example of contrive experience. Conducting election of class and school offers by simulating how local and national elections are conducted is one or more example of contrived experience.

DRAMATIZED EXPERIENCE – by dramatization, we can participate in reconstructed experience, even though the original event is far removed from us in time. We relive the outbreak of the Philippine revolution by acting out the role of the characters in a drama.

DEMONSTRATIONS – it is a visualized explanation of an important fact, idea or process by the use of photographs, drawings, films, displays, or guided motions. It is showing how things are done. A teacher in Physical education shows the class how to dance tango.

STUDY STRIPS – these are excursions, educational trips, and visits conducted to observe an event that is unavailable within the classroom.

EXHIBITS – these are displays to be seen by spectators. They may consist of working models arranged meaningfully or photographs with models, charts, and posters. Sometimes exhibits are “for your eyes only”. There are some exhibits, however, that include sensory experiences where spectators are allowed to touch or manipulate models displayed.

TELEVISION AND MOTION PIUCTURES – television and motion pictures can reconstruct the reality of the past so effectively that we are made to feel that we are there. The unique value of the messages communicated by film and television lies in their feeling of realism, their emphasis on person and personality, their organized presentation, and their ability to select, dramatize, highlight, and clarify.

STILL PICTURES, RECORDINGS, RADIO – these are visual and auditory devices which may be used by an individual or a group. Still pictures lack the sound and motion of a sound film. The radio broadcast of an actual event may often be likened to a televised broadcast minus its visual dimension.

VISUAL SYMBOLS – there are no longer realistic reproduction or physical things for these are highly abstract representations. Examples are charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

VERBAL SYMBOLS – they are not like the objects or ideas for which they stand. They usually do not contain visual clues to their meaning. Written words fall under this category. It may be a word for a concrete object (book), an idea (freedom of speech), a scientific principle (the principle of balance), a formula (e=mc²).

What are the implications of the Cone of Experience in the teaching-learning process?

1.       We do not use only one medium of communication in isolation. Rather we use many instructional materials to help the learner conceptualize his/her experience.

2.       We avoid teaching directly at the symbolic level of thought without adequate foundation of the concrete. Learners’ concepts will lack deep roots in direct experience. Dale cautions us when he said: “These rootless experiences will not have the generative power to produce additional concepts and will not enable the learner to deal with the new situations that he faces” (Dale, 1969).

3.       When teaching, we don’t get stuck in the concrete. Let us strive to bring our students to the symbolic or abstract level to develop their higher order thinking skills.

lesson 4

SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO LEARNING

As depicted in the chart, the focus of systematic international planning in the learner. Instruction begins with the definition instructional objectives that consider the learner’s needs, interests, and readiness. On the basis of these objectives, the teacher selects the appropriate teaching methods to be used and in turn, based on the teaching method selected, choose also the appropriate learning experiences and appropriate material, equipment and facilities.

The use of learning materials, equipment and facilities necessitates assigning the appropriate personnel to assist the teacher and defining the role of any personnel involved in the preparation, setting and returning of these learning resources. (In some school settings, there is a custodian/librarian who take care of the learning resources and/or technician who operate the equipment while teacher facilitates.) the effective use of learning resources is dependent on the expertise of the teacher, the motivation level or responsiveness, and the involvement of the learners in the learning process. With the instructional objective in mind, the teacher implements planned instruction with the use of the selected teaching method, learning activities, and learning materials with the help of other personnel whose role has been defined by the teacher.

Will the teacher use direct instruction or indirect instruction? Will he/she teach using the deductive or the inductive method? It depends on his/her instructional objectives, nature of the subject matter, readiness of students and the facilitating skills of the teacher himself or herself.

Examples of learning activities that the teacher can choose from, depending on his/her instructional objective, nature of the lesson content, readiness of the students, are reading, writing, interviewing, reporting or doing presentation, discussing, thinking, reflecting, dramatizing, visualizing, creating judging and evaluating.

Some examples of learning resources for instructional use are textbooks, workbooks, programmed materials, computer, television programs, video clips, flat pictures, slides and transparencies, maps, charts, cartoons, posters, models, mock ups, flannel board materials, chalk board, real objects and the like.

After instruction, teacher evaluates the outcome of instruction. From the evaluation results, teacher comes to know if the instructional objective was attained. If the instructional objective was attained, teacher proceeds to the next lesson going through the same cycle once more. If instructional objective was not attained, then teacher diagnoses what was not learned and finds out why it was not learned in order to introduce a remedial measure for improved student performance and attainment of instructional objective. This way no learners will be left behind.

lesson 3

THE ROLES OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING

From the traditional point of view, technology serves as source and presenter of knowledge. It is assumed the “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 point to this productive role of educational technology.

With the eruption of the INTERNET in the mid 90s, communication 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:

o   for representing learners’ ideas, understandings and beliefs.

o   for producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners.

·         Technology as information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing:

o   for accessing needed information

o   for comparing perspectives, beliefs and world views.

·         Technology as context to support learning-by-doing:

o   for representing and simulating meaningful real-world problems, situations and context

o   for representing beliefs, perspectives, arguments, and stories of others

o   for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking

·         Technology as a social medium to support learning by conversing:

o   for collaborating with others

o   for discussing, arguing, and building consensus among members of a community

o   for supporting discourse among knowledge-building communities

·         Technology as intellectual partner (Jonassen, 1996) to supports learning-by-reflecting:

o   for helping learners to articulate and represent what they know

o   for reflecting on what they have learned and how they came to know it

o   for supporting learners internal negotiations and meaning making

o   for constructing personal representations of meaning

o   for supporting mindful thinking

Whether used from the traditional or constructivist point of view, when used effectively, research indicates that technology not only “increases students” learning, understanding and achievement but also augments motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning and supports development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills” (Schacter and Fagnano, 1999). Russel and Sorgse (1999) also claims that his proper implementation of technology in the classroom gives more student more “control of their own learning and … tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to ones that are more learner-centered. The use of technology in the classroom enables the teacher to do differentiated instruction considering the divergences of students’ readiness levels, interests, multiple intelligences, and learning styles. Technology also helps students become lifelong partners.

lesson 2

BOON OR BANE

Technology is a blessing for man. With technology, there is a lot that we can do which we could not do then. With cell phones, webcam, you will be closer to someone miles and miles away. So far yet so close! That is your feeling when you talk through a cell phone to a beloved who is far away from here. Just think of many human lives saved because of speedy notifications via cell phones. Just think of how your teaching and learning have become more novel, stimulating, exciting, fresh and engaging with the use of multimedia in the classroom. With your tv, you can watch events as they happen all over the globe. President Ramos had a lively interaction with his audience in Tacloban in his tele-address without disputing his work schedule in Manila. I know of one Ph. D student who defended his dissertation with one member of the panel in Japan interrogating the Ph. D candidate through teleconferencing.

However, when not in used properly, technology becomes a detriment to learning and development. It can destroy relationships. Think of the husband who is glued to tv unmindful of his wife seeking his attention. This may eventually erode marital relationship. Think of a student who surfs the internet for pornographic scenes. He will have trouble with his development. The abuse and misuse of the internet will have far reaching unfavourable effects on his moral life. The teacher who schedules class tv viewing for the whole hour to free herself from a one-hour teaching and so can engage in “tsismis”, likewise will not benefit from technology. Neither will her class truly benefit from the whole period of tv viewing.

In education, technology is bane when:

·         The learner is made to accept as Gospel truth information they get from the internet.

·         The learner surfs the internet for pornography.

·         The learner has an uncritical mind on images floating on televisions and computers that represent modernity and progress.

·         The tv makes the learner a mere spectator not an active participant in the drama in life.

·         The learner gets glued to his computer for computer-assisted instruction unmindful of the world and so fails to develop the ability to relate to others.

·         We make use of the internet to do character assassination of people whom we hardly like.

·        Because of our cell phone, we spend most of our time in the classroom or in our workplace texting.

·         We use overuse and abuse tv or film viewing as a strategy to kill time.

Let’s go back to the question asked at the beginning of this lesson. Is technology boon or bane to education? It depends on how we use technology. If we use it to help our students and teachers become caring, relating, thinking, reflecting and analysing and feeling beings, then this is a boon, a blessing. But if we abuse and misuse it and so contribute to our ruin and downfall and those of other persons, it becomes a bane or a curse.

Lesson 1

Meaning of Educational Technology

              To understand the meaning of educational technology, it may be good to begin with the meaning of technology. The word "technology" comes from the Greek word techne which means craft or art. Based on the etymology of the word "technology", the term educational technology, therefore, refers to the art or craft of responding to our educational needs.

     

Many people think that technology refers only to machines such as computers, tv, videos, and the like. All these form part of technology but educational technology is all these and more! Technology is not just machines. It is a "planned, systematic method of working to achieve planned outcomes - a process not a product. Technology is the applied side of scientific development." (Dale, 1969) Technology also refers to any valid and reliable process or procedure that is derived from basic research using the scientific method."(http://en.wikipedia.org?wiki/Educational_technology#Perspectives_and_meaning) Technology refers to "all the ways people use their inventions and discoveries to satisfy their needs and desires"(The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol 19). So, educational technology refers to hoe people use their inventions and discoveries to satisfy their educational needs and desires, i.e. learning.

Educational technology is "a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, and organization for analyzing problems and devising, implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning." (Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 1977. The definition of educational technology: A summary, In the definition of educational technology, 1-16, Washington D.C.: AECT).

Educational technology "consists of the designs and environments that engage learners ... and reliable technique or method for engaging learning such as cognitive learning strategies and critical thinking skills." (David H. Jonassen, et al 1999).

Educational technology is a theory about how problems in human learning are identified and solved. (David H. Jonassen, Kyle L. Peck, Brent G. Wilson 1999). As a theory, educational technology has an "integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events."

Educational technology is a field involved in applying a complex, integrated process to analyze and solve problems in human learning (David H. Jonassen, et al 1999).

Educational technology is a field study which is concerned with the practice of using educational methods and resources for the ultimate goal of facilitating the learning process (Lucido and Borado, 1997). As a field, it operates within the total field of education.

Educational technology is a profession like teaching. It is made up of organized effort to implement the theory, intellectual technique, and practical application of educational technology. (David H. Jonassen, et al 1999).

From the definitions of educational technology given above, we can say that educational technology is a very broad term. It is the application of scientific findings in our method, process or procedure of working in the field of education in order to effect learning. It embraces curriculum and instructional design, learning environment, theories of teaching-learning. It is also a field study and profession. It is used of all human inventions for teachers to realize their mission to teach in order that students learn.

There are other terms that are associated with educational technology. We come across terms like technology in education, instructional technology and technology integration in education, books, educational media. Are they synonymous with educational technology?

TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION is "the application of technology to any of those processes involved in operating the institution which house the educational enterprise. It includes the application of technology to food, health, finance, scheduling, grade, reporting, and other processes which support education within institutions" (David H. Jonassen, et al, 1999)

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY is a part of educational technology. Instructional technology refers to those aspects of educational technology that "are concerned with instruction as contrasted to designs and operations of educational institutions. Instructional technology is a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives" (Lucido and Barado, 1997)

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION means using "learning techniques to introduce, reinforce, supplement and extend skills." (William, ed. 2000.) Like instructional technology, it is a part of educational technology. Technology integration is part and parcel of instructional technology, which in turn is a part of educational technology.

Educational media are channels or avenues or instruments of communication. Examples are books, magazines, newspapers, radio, television and Internet. These media also serve educational purposes.