The Pedagogics

The Pedagogy of Technology, Development and Learning Styles E-lecture

The development of technology is sometimes overwhelming for teachers. It seems we are always trying to catch up. For some it may seem that the children we teach are one step ahead because they grew up on computers, but has this changed their development? Has technology created new learning styles? And what can we do as teachers to keep up?
Technology is going to grow and teachers are going to have to grow with it. We must take the time to examine the effects technology has on our students’ development and learning. As Ben Parker said to Spiderman, "With great power, comes great responsibility". Although the world has opened up for us and it seems we have access to more knowledge than we could ever use, we, as teacher, must use it efficiently and effectively.
The first thing that is important is to remember how children develop. Take a look at the following sites:

National Network for Child Care

ProTeacher: Ages and Stages has everything a teacher could want to know about child development. Explore the vast list of topics.

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory

examined the "Critical Issue: Technology: A Catalyst for Teaching and Learning in the Classroom". Dr. Gilbert Valdez addresses the pros and cons of technology in the classroom.
Read it over and make your own list of pros and cons.

Finally, Let us look at

NW Regional Educational Laboratory

says about "Technology in Early Childhood Education: Finding the Balance". Can this information be generalized to older students in high school and college? If so how? What effect does the early childhood experience have on adolescence?
Make another pros and cons list.

Now that we have a good idea of how technology may or may not effect development, it is important for us to determine how that knowledge can be effective transferred to students.

Howard Gardner

has been developing research on different learning styles and processes in adults and children since 1967. He created

Project Zero

with the mission "to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity in the arts, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, at the individual and institutional levels". His research has ignited the education world. Let us look at some that pertains directly with learning styles and technology.

First let us look at an article by Shirley Veenema and Howard Gardner in

The American Prospect Online

that examines “Multimedia and Multiple Intelligences.” What is the Cognitive Revolution? Based on the knowledge gathered from Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory, what learning styles are addressed with the use of technology? What role does the teacher play?

New Horizon for Learning

has an article by David Thornburg, Ph.D. that claims “Multimedia Encourages New Learning Styles”. What do you think? What role does the teacher play?

There is no doubt that technology is going to change the future of pedagogy as we teachers know it, but what can we do to keep up? We have discussed in other postings FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) and its applications in the classroom in other postings, what we are offering to you now are two more sites that will allow you to take development and learning style into consideration. Explore the following sites:

Take the Learning Style Indicator Assessments at

The Learning Styles Backgrounder

by Marcia L. Conner in her article “Introduction to Learning Styles.” Think about which assessments would best help you determine what type of learners you have. How could you incorporate this knowledge into you classroom?

Teachnology and Multiple Intelligences

Answer the last question, How can I incorporate these ideas into teaching and learning?

We have examined development and technology and you should have two “pros and cons” lists, take the time to compare the two. How do they differ, and how are they the same?

We have examined learning theories and multiple intelligences and you were asked to think about the role of the teacher in this technological world. What role do you want to play as a teacher?

We have examined indicators and pedagogic practices that are used to determine the most effective way to reach learners. How are you going to incorporate this knowledge into your classroom to make it efficient?

Together we can take these steps to keep up with the running world of technology. Just for fun try to imagine where education will be in the next 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years. Will you be there? If yes, what will your classroom be like?

posted by The Pedagogics @ 12:24 PM