Journal 6

In the article Connecting Depth and Balance in Class, the author Matthew S. Kuhn explains how new methods are being used to match the learning needs of all students. Many of these new methods blend educational technology with “long-established educational paradigms”, such as Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy and Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

The author explains that the daily rigors of schooling prevent teachers from implementing these teaching models into their classrooms. Fortunately, education technology makes it easier for teachers to have depth and balance in their lessons, while also meeting the learning styles and intelligences of their students. This is evident in cases of schools across the nation. For example, blogs have been used to meet the verbal/linguistic and interpersonal learning preferences through online discussions, peer feedback, class notes, and the highlighting of exemplary student work. New learning software has also replaced “drill-and-practice” methods to reflect neuroscience research on how the brain learns. Thus, software like FastForWord by the Scientific Learning Corporation mirror the way people learn and apply new knowledge in their everyday lives. In short, education technology has proved to be quite useful in classrooms across the nation in improving pedagogy.

Question 1: What are some of the disadvantages to education technology?

Reflecting on the previous article The Laptops Are Coming! The Laptops Are Coming!, there are certainly issues that can arise from incorporating technology into the classroom. This includes the loss of traditional methods of teaching and learning as well as building of relationships among students, teachers, administrators, and parents.

Question 2: Will education technology make it truly easier for teachers to apply the traditional paradigms?

I feel that while there are great advantages to education technology, it will not make the day-to-day rigors of schooling that the author refers to that much easier for teachers to apply Bloom’s or Gardner’s methods in their lessons. In fact, they may even make it more difficult as introducing and integrating these technological tools will take a lot of time and effort by both teachers and students. With emerging technologies, this will be a never-ending struggle to keep up with new software and applications.

Citation
Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading, 36, Retrieved August 3, 2008, from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=August_No_1_1&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4077&ContentID=21318&DirectListComboInd=D