The Daily Eastern News “is the 9,100-circulation paper for Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.”
I was quite surprised to learn I was referenced in the article, “Trumping technology in the classroom,” published in today’s edition. I would guess the article’s author did some googling for “technology integration.”
Amazingly, a Google search for the words “technology integration” (without using quotation marks) brings up my Tools for the TEKS website as hit #9 out of “about 189,000,000” websites.
That statistic is really amazing.
My main comment on the article (which does not allow blog commenting, btw) would be that those who argue distance education removes the personal / interactive aspect to instruction have what Paulo Freire termed a “banking model” of education. Authentic education is not “sit and get.” It is not “memorize on cue, regurgitate on command.” It is the creation of authentic knowledge products with a purpose: at times collaboratively, at times individually. And the role of the teacher in the educational environment– be that virtual or face to face, is unquestionably pivotal.
People who fear that technology and distance education specifically will remove the teacher from the education equation misunderstand what education is. The simple test for this is to ask someone to tell about the teacher that made the biggest impact on them growing up.
Teachers make the difference, not technology. A good teacher worth his/her salt is going to use whatever tools and resources are available to reach students and engage them in worthwhile learning experiences. Technology is a powerful tool, but at the end of the day, just a tool.
I was immediately notified about this published article by a Google News email alert I have set to my full name. I do prefer using Google news RSS feeds for most news tracking, but in cases like this (my name doesn’t appear much in the regular news you know) it is cool to receive an immediate email. 🙂
I am very impressed that the Daily Eastern News is already including podcasting on their website. Quite progressive. They need to add RSS feeds to their news categories now, like Google News!
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On this day..
- A Return to the Simple Pleasures of Daily Blogging – 2020
- 2nd PLAYDATE PD Event in Oklahoma: Saturday October 4th! – 2014
- iPhone5 Weight & Form Factor – 2012
- Blocked Sites in China – 2010
- Purchase a new webkinz or say goodbye to WebKinz World Online – 2009
- An Exemplary Interactive Mobile Conference Website (Vision 2020 Conference) – 2009
- Deer Creek (Oklahoma) Students and Teachers Using Skype – 2009
- Edmond Parents Protested President Obama’s Speech – 2009
- Learning 2.0 Conference opening panel – 2007
- Fourier Systems Nova5000 – 2006