December 1997 — Features

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Instructional Technology: Pedagogy for the Future

The rising slope in Figure 1 is testimony to that relationship. Instructional technology mirrors this slope and provides a basis for the proper application of IT in the classroom, as shown in Figure 2.

 

IT Applications. Figure 2 plots the appropriate uses of technology to take full advantage of enactive learning without fear of presenting information at an inappropriate level of autonomy for younger learners. Consistent with the slope, computer-managed instruction (CMI) supports low levels of enactive learning combined with learner dependence on the teacher. Audio-only and video-only also provide for low levels of hands-on learning while relying on a learner's autonomy growing. Audio and video conferencing provide more interaction and therefore push the limits of learner autonomy, while the Internet and computer conferencing heighten the use of both high interaction and a high reliance on individual-learner independence.

 

IT Misapplications. Figure 2 can also help us explain some of the most common errors in the use of IT. Computer-based training (CBT), often applied in earlier grades, is fraught with potential problems for the highly dependent student. Dispersion of teacher attention and time on task, so critical for the less-autonomous student, violates the strengths of CBT, which is much more effective for students further along the rising slope of Figure 2's diagram. The Internet and computer conferences, so highly enactive as methods of presentation, are inappropriate learning environments for students demanding more of a teacherís time and attention.

 

Summary. Some children thrive in an environment of autonomy, especially when it comes to enactive learning. Others require a more hands-on approach. Instructional technologies run the gamut and while they can be a boon to the teacher in the classroom, they can also explain the failure of certain IT applications when applied at incorrect points along our slope.

 

Paradigm Two: Learning and Classroom Focus

The discipline of educational psychology recognizes certain theories regarding how individuals master material. Pedagogically, they are consolidated under three major schools of learning: behaviorism, cognitivism and humanism. In simplistic (and hopefully not misleading) terms, Figure 3 depicts a view that will help us define targets of opportunity in the use of instructional technology. We do not see a sloping line; we see windows of application, with the bordered windows being the strongest meld of theory and focus.