3. In educational settings, discuss how technology enhances the teaching and learning environment. What do the viewpoints of Dewey, Bruner, Elliott, McLuhan, and Eisner provide for our consideration when thinking about technology, performing arts, and the process of teaching and learning.
In his article, “Dewey and Technology” (Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, v42 n3 p222-26 Nov 1998) Bruce Bertran, “calls for a reexamination of foundational ideas in education. Discusses technology and John Dewey's conception of learning. He lists some centers based in the United States concerned with technologies for learning resource. Essentially, Bruce insists that technology cannot be ignore in education. Dewey’s conception of learning includes technology itself.
Some scholars consider Jerome Bruner as perhaps best known for his work in education, most of which he undertook during his years with the Center for Cognitive Studies. Bruner “held the position that the human species had taken charge of its own evolution by technologically shaping the environment. The passing on of this technology and cultural heritage involved the very survival of the species. Hence, education was of supreme importance. As Bruner admitted, he was not fully appreciative of this importance until he was drawn into the educational debate gripping the United States following the launching of Sputnik, the first satellite, in 1957 by the former Soviet Union.” (Source: answers.com)
A question may arise: How do these authors like Elliot, Bruner, Dewey, and Kohn make us understand the use of technology, arts, and teaching and learning process in the classroom?
In the classroom today, exposure to technology and the arts is of essential importance. Gone are the days when technology should be taught strictly in classes such as "machines for business," "typing," or "introduction to computer programming." Gone are the days when arts was taught solely for “filing out time periods.” Rather, our modern existence is permeated with technological devices with which we have to interact constantly, from lap top computers, to data phones, to iPods, to digital media systems. We use these for our own work, and we use them to network with others with whom we have to communicate, cooperate and interact. There is scarcely a subject taught in schools that cannot or should not integrate the latest technologies into the process of instruction, learning, research and evaluation.
Even traditional subjects (English, Math, Science and E.S.L.) can be approached through technological media which are appealing to the younger generation, and also help to equip them with a tech savvy skill set that has application far beyond the classroom. Often one finds that students are more advanced than their teachers in understanding and using the latest technology. This provides a great pedagogical opportunity, where students can be empowered to teach their teachers and peers, while teachers channel these skills into their particular subject area. The networking that is possible with technology, to transcend the classroom walls and the time of a class period, holds the potential of elevating a class into a more authentic and organic learning community. While students most often will be quite adept at using the latest types of technology and some of the more common programs (and programs less common, but related to their interests in things like music downloading, video creation, and social networking) teachers may do well to familiarize themselves and keep up-to-date on the applications that lend themselves uniquely to the discipline they teach.
The synthesis in the classroom (and beyond) of student's aptitudes and familiarity with technology and the teacher's expertise in his/her discipline and with the programs most relevant to it, holds great potential for everyone's mutual advancement of skills, content knowledge, and real-life application of it. Without this kind of integration of technology with curricula of all kinds, schools fail to develop in their students the requisite skills for the modern work place, and fail to give an outlet to the creativity, curiosity and talent that young people today seem to express so very much through technology.
-Ab
