Technology utilization

1. TECHNOLOGYUTILIZATION
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION
As a classroomteacher,yourrole isto establishlearningenvironmentsthatfosterthe definedoutcomesforyour
learners.
1. Assesprior knowledge – To learnfrom mostmaterial andactivities,studentmustpossessprerequisite
knowledge andskill (Newby,Stepich,Lehman&Russel 2010)
2. Considerindividual differences –Learnersvary intermsof personality,generalaptitude,knowledge of a
subject,andmanyotherfactors. Be aware of the multiple learningneedsof yourstudents. Effective instruction
allowsindividualstoprogressatdifferentrates,coverdifferentmaterials,andevenparticipateindifferent
activities(Cooper&Varma,1997)
3. State objectives– For youand your studentstoknow where instructionisgoingandwhatis to be accomplished,
the goalsmust be specified.Learningobjectivesmustmatchexpectedoutcomesorstandards(Mager,1997)
4. Developmetacognitive skills – the skillsof selectivemonitoring,evaluatingandadjustingtheirapproaches
enhance students’learningandhelptomake themlifelonglearners.Learnersneedassistanceinunderstanding
howtheylearnand whatresourceshelpinthatprocess.(Nelson,1992) Metacognitionreferstohigherorder
thinkingwhichinvolvesactive control overthe cognitive processesengagedinlearning.Activitiessuchas
planninghowtoapproach a givenlearningtask,monitoringcomprehension,andevaluatingprogresstowardthe
completionof atask are metacognitive innature.
5. Provide social interaction– teacherandpeers servingastutorsor groupmemberscanprovide anumberof
pedagogical aswell associal supports.Learnersgainexperience andexpertise whencollaboratingwithothersin
and beyondthe classroom.(Jonassen,Howland,Marra& Crismond,2008)
6. Incorporate realisticcontext – learnersare mostlikelytorememberandtoapplyauthenticknowledge
presentedinreal-worldcontext.Rote learningleadsto“inertknowledge”;thatis,learnersknow somethingbut
cannot applyitto real life,studentsbenefitfromunderstandinghow theirknowledge andskillsfirintothe world
aroundthem(Bransford,Brown& Cocking,2000)
7. Engage studentsin relevantpractice – the mosteffective learning experiencesare those requiringlearnersto
practice skillsthatbuildtowardthe desiredoutcome.Learnerparticipationincreasesthe probabilityof learning.
Practice,especiallyinvaryingcontext,improvesretentionrate andthe abilitytoapplythe new knowledge ,skill
or attitude.Practice promotesdeeper,longerlastinglearning(Morrison&Lowther,2010)
8. Offerfrequent,timelyand constructive feedback – studentlearningrequiresaccurate informationon
misconceptions,misunderstandingsandweaknesses.Learnersneedtoknow if theirthinkingisontrack.
Feedbackmaycome froma teacher,tutor,electronicmessagesfromacomputer,the scoringsystemsof agame,
or oneself.Inadditiontoknowingthatresponses are incorrect,studentsneedtoknow whytheyhave been
unsuccessful andhowthey canimprove theirperformance.Furtherknowingdetailsabouttheircorrect
responsesItermsof howand whytheyare accurate helpsstudentsunderstandmore aboutwhattheyhave
learned(black&William,1998)
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGYUTILIZATION
Teacherare expectedtobe competentinthe use of technologyintheirteaching(Bowing,D’Onofrio,&
Marker, 2006). This isespeciallytrue whenworkingwiththe 21st
centurylearnersandaddressingthe skill
outlinedforthem,forwhichteachersnotonlyneedtouse technologyeffectivelyintheirteachingbutalsoneed
to guide studentsinusingthose toolstoenhance theirlearning.The adventof newertechnologiesrequires
critical decisionsrelatedtothe besttoolstointegrate intoteaching.

2. The National EducationTechnologyStandardsforStudents(NETS-S),notedinthe followinglist
especiallyoutline expectationsforstudentsuse of technologytoguide theirlearning(InternationalSocietyfor
TechnologyinEducation[ISTE],2007).
 Creativityandinnovation
Creativityisthe capabilityoractof conceivingsomethingoriginal orunusual.
Innovationisthe implementationof somethingnew.
 Communicationandcollaboration
 Researchandinformationfluency
 Critical thinking,problemsolving,anddecisionmaking
 Digital citizenship
 Technologyoperationandconcepts
Many of these standardsaddressthe essential elementsforsuccessinacquiring21st
centuryknowledgeandskills.
Teacheralsohave standardsfor acquiringthese skills.Theseare alsoprovidedbythe ISTEnamely;
 Studentlearningandcreativity
 Digital-age Learningexperiencesand assessments
 Digital-age workandlearning
 Digital citizenshipandresponsibility
 Professionalgrowthandleadership
As a teacher,youwill be expectedtoenhance students’abilitiestoengage inthe use of technologytosupporttheir
learningandaddressesthese sixareasof competency,alsoknownas technologyliteracyskills.
You can combine knowledge andskillsrelatedtocontentareasandinformationliteracyskill byusingtechnologyinways
that helpstudentslearninformationandcommunicate knowledge.Forexample,inascience lessononweather,youcan
presentaproblemtoyour studentsthatwill require themtosearchwebsitesfordataor information,use
communicationtoolstocollaborate withoutside experts,generate solutionstothe problemcollaboratively,andpresent
theirideastoclassmatesusingcreative resources.Byapproachingyourinstructioninthatmanner, youhave addressed
manyof the standardsby whichyourstudentswill be measuredandwill be givenguidedpractice indevelopingtheir
knowledge skill.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE MEDIA UTILIZATION
We are continuallylearningfrommultiplesourcesof mediathatprovide uswithinformationandchallenge ourthinking.
As usersof these sources,we need medialiteracyskill toknow how toaccess them, how to understandandanalyze the
content, andhowto create newmediamessages(Stanbury,2009)
Text,television,videoandahost of othermediasourcesthat will be coveredwithinthistextbookare all valid andvital
sourcesof information.Yourrole isto guide yourstudentstouse these media assourcesfortheirlearninginwaysthat
are wise,safe andproductive.Forexample,studentsneedtolearntofindmultiple sourcestoverifyfactstheymayhave
heardon the televisionnews.Theyneedtolearntobe critical usersof these resourcestoensure thattheyare well
informed andtheirconclusionsare accurate.Asmentionedearlierthe ISTENETS-Saddressmanyof skill learnersneedto
be successful consumersof the mediaresourcessurroundingthem.
Furthermore,youteachingapproachshould provide studentwithopportunitiestoexplore how touse these media
resourcestocommunicate theirknowledge.

3. PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TEXT UTILIZATION
Textiseverywhere instudents’learning experiences. Textmaterialsinclude textbooks,fictionand nonflictionbooks,
newspapers,booklets,computerscreen,magazines,studyguides,manualsand worksheets,aswell asword-processed
documentspreparedbystudentsandteachers.The abilitytouse textasa meanstogather informationsorto
communicate is knownas text literacy.The twoaspectsto becomingliterate ininthe use of textaspart of leaning
processare ReadingandWriting.Readingisthe abilitytolookattextandgather knowledgefromthe message.Writing
isthe abilitytogenerate text throughtoolssuchaspencils,pensorcomputerstocommunicate.
ADVANTAGES
 AVAILABILITY–text-basedmaterialsare readilyavailable onavarietyof topicsand inmanydifferentformats.
 FLEXIBILITY – textisadaptable tomany purposesandmaybe usedin any well-litenvironment.
 Portability –textare easilycarriedfromplace anddo not require anyequipmentorpowersupply.
 USER FRIENDLY– properlydesignedtextmaterialsareaeasytouse,requiringnospecial effortto"navigate“
throughthem
LIMITATIONS
 READINGLEVEL – some studentsare nonreaders;otherslackadequate literacyskillfortextmaterialsabove
theirreadinglevel.Stillotherslackthe prerequisite knowledgetocomprehendthe vocabularyandterminology.
 MEMORIZATION – some teachersrequire studentstomemorize manyfactsanddefinitions,whichdiminishes
textmaterialstomere memorizationaids.
 VOCABULARY– some textbooksintroduce alarge numberof vocabularytermsandconceptsina short amount
of space,placingaheavycognitive burdenonstudents,whichmaybe overwhelmingforsome.
 ONE WAY PRESENTATION –because mosttextmaterial are not interactive,theytendtobe usedina passive
way,oftenwithoutcomprehension.
 CURRICULUM DETERMINATION – Sometime textbooksdictate the curriculumratherthatsupportingit.Textbook
oftenwrittentoaccommodate the curriculumguidelinesof particularstatesorprovince.Consequently, the
prefencesof these authoritiesdisproportionatelyinfluence textbookcontentanditstreatment.
 CURSORY APPRAISAL–Selectioncommitteesmightnotexaminetextbookscarefully.
INTEGRATION
Teacherneedto understand the bestwaysto use textto facilitate learning.Designinggoodtext-basedmaterials
involvesafewbasicelements;
 FONTCHOICE – selectclearfont.Selectonlyone ortwofonts.
 BACKGROUNDANDPATTERNS – Used backgroundthatare not busydistractingimages.Don’tsrimponthe page
marginsor use space.Use double spacingandwide marginsforlearnersof all abilitylevelstoread.
 ARRANGEMENT– usedspace and textstyleslike boldanditalics.
 CHECK ANDREVISE – alwaysbe sure to proofreadyourmaterials.
EVALUATION
Considerall the typesof textbasedmaterialsaswell astheirindividual readingabilities.Addressmaterialsbytakingthe
time to evaluate all readingmaterialsinyourclassroom.

4. WHEN TO USE TEXT-BASED MATERIALS
GUIDELINES EXAMPLE
Readingtextinformationforwhichtheywill be held
accountable
Studentsreadan assignedarticle fromanonline source
Supplementingteacher-presentedmaterial
Studentsuse librarybooks,encyclopedias,ornewspapers
to add to theirknowledge of atopic.
Usinghandoutsthat guide themthroughlearning
activities
Studentsuse astep-by-stepguide towrite abookreport
Implementingthe Survey,Question,Read,Recite and
ReviewMethod(SQ3R)
Studentssurvey,askquestions,read,reciteandreview
informationaboutthe bill of rights.
USING TEXT MATERIALS
Get learnersactivelyinvolvedwiththe materials.One techniqueistohave studentsuse the “SQ3R” method:Survey,
Question,Read,Recite andReview
 Surveystage requiresstudentstoskimthroughthe textmaterial andreadthe overview and/orsummary.
 Questionstage requiresstudentstowrite alistof questionstoanswerwhile reading.
 Readstage,studentsare leadto lookforthe organizationof the material.Putbracketaroundthe mainides,
underline supportingdetailsandanswerthe questionswritteninpreviousstep.
 Recite requiresthemtotestthemselveswhile readingad toput the contentintotheirownwords.
 Reviewsuggestthatstudents lookoverthe material immediatelyafterreadingit,the nestday,a weeklaterand
so on.(Robinson,1946).
Directstudentreadingwithobjectivesorquestionsandprovide aworksheetif one isnotincludedwiththe materials.
Emphasize the use of visualsintextmaterialsandteachstudentstostudyvisualsinanefforttoincrease their
comprehensionof the content.