EDTEC 540 - Mod 2 Notes
By JoeBruin88. Filed in Education and Training |Tags: EDTEC, education_and_training
Module 02: Whence Educational Technology?
What are the roots of educational technology?
From the Western viewpoint, ed tech can trace its roots to the ancient Greeks, like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. The main thought about teaching and learning up until the late 1800s was that the mind was like a muscle and needed to be exercised.
Edward Thorndike: “Connectionism” states that learning depends on the improved firing of nerve impulses in the brain. Theories emphasized reward and punishment rather than repetition. Thorndike’s Five Principles of Teaching and Learning:
- The learner initiates all learning.
- The learner must be interested in learning or motivated.
- The learner must be prepared to learn, which includes reviewing prior knowledge.
- The learner must receive individualized instruction.
- The learner must learn in natural social settings.
John Dewey: Dewey believed that the goal of education was to enhance intelligence, which was accomplished through reflection and the scientific method. He said that learners get their cues from the environment.
Individualized Instruction: Students learn at their own rate with minimum teacher involvement. Self-instruction was more vital than teacher-led instruction. Emphasis on teaching to specific objectives, making customized instruction dependent upon ability levels and prior knowledge.
Stages of Cognitive Development: Montessori and Piaget were the primary thinkers of this theory which stated that learners have differing modes and needs for learning depending upon their developmental stage. Thus, teaching needed to provide learning tools that were appropriate for the learner’s stage of human development.
Visual Education: Sought to connect abstract concepts in learning to more easily grasped concrete ideas via visual symbols.
Educational Film: The US was the prominent producer of educational film after WW I.
Instructional Systems Design: Combines the psychology of learning with the systems approach of design, often using media to supplement learning activities. Heavily used in the military initially before appearing in businesses training.
Behaviorism: B.F. Skinner used to stimulus rewards and punishments to influence the learner’s responses. In education, a result was programmed instruction which presented learning in small chunks, as well as provided immediate feedback and prescriptive remediation based on responses.
Humanism: Maslow and Rogers emphasized self-actualization, which stated that a well-adjusted, self-confident individual with high self-esteem is best able to learn. Focused on learner-centered activities in learning where learners construct their own understandings without relying on teachers for formal instruction.
Cognitivism: Emphasized understanding about learning processes and perceiving relationships between concepts. Educational strategies (open education) included teachers asking questions and reinforcing correct answers. Strategies included manipulatives, peer and cross-age tutoring, negotiation of learning objectives, individualized instruction, and team teaching.
Constructivism: Learners construct their own understanding, while teachers just provide learning support through scaffolding of concepts. Strategies include problem solving, mind mapping, and metacognitive skill-building.
Performance Technology: Focus on the learning environment which best facilitates the skills and knowledge needed to fulfill a learning need or objective. Learners need the right tools and opportunities to put new knowledge to work.
New Media: Information Age, Internet, WWW lend themselves to constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. Strategies include collaboration, real-world problem solving contexts, and the use of multimedia.