When it comes to education and technology, there are a lot of opinions. As the video points out, many people are unsure of the effectiveness of technology use in education. This video points out that there are several reasons that technology doesn’t work in education, but that each of these problems arise simply from the way it is used. The problems with technology mentioned really hit home with me, especially the fact that student data is only given to the student when it is too late to be used. The speaker, Richard Culatta, uses the example of a report card. Once the student sees the report card, the student can no longer do anything about their grade. If technology in education was being used properly this result could be avoided.
The speaker also states that, in the past, technology has only been used to digitize the things that we already have in textbooks or in lectures. This is why classrooms with technology are currently providing the same results in students as classrooms without that technology. I know that personally this has always been an issue for me. If a teacher has a PowerPoint of the lecture, it’s never much different from what’s being shown in the textbook. Culatta shows in his lecture that we can get more out of our technology in the classroom by allowing it to provide personalized instruction, give timely feedback, and vary the pace of the instruction. All of these are critical aspects of education and, through the use of technology, can be extremely beneficial in the classroom.
If you would like to watch the video for yourself, be sure to check it out below.
Courtney Martin's EDM 310 Blog 
Hey Courtney! I like how in your blog post you brought up a really good point made by Richard Culatta. Once a student sees their report card they can no longer do anything about the grade. I definitely think technology should be incorporated in teaching. Their are so many different ways it can help a student learn better.
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I couldn’t agree more Courtney!! With so much technology available why do teachers feel simply copy pasting the text to a powerpoint somehow makes it better. Using the technology to make each lesson more personalized is exactly what we should be shooting for. adding links to additional info or practice questions or quiz me sections built into the lecture would allow the presentation to be more interactive and allow each student to gain a higher level of mastery of the subject. Using the data collected from interactive presentations can be used to get a general idea of how well our classes are grasping each section as well. Great ideas!!
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Hey Courtney! I completely agree! I loved that you pointed out the effects of late feedback. I always hated that in high school! That would be one of the first things i tried to accomplish with technology in my future classroom. I want my students to have quick feedback so that there is time to go back over things and make sure everyone understands before moving on and leaving some students behind.
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I have to agree that students need to have more access to their grades. This is becoming more and more available to students. My younger sisters are able to log into their account and see the grade that they made on a quiz that day. It is a great resource for students. I think that more schools need to get involved in that kind of program. I think that they also need some kind of activity using a piece of technology that the students are comfortable with. I think that teachers should even incorporate an activity on a piece of technology that the students are not familiar with.
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