Technology. Lots of people are using it, lots of people are
scared of it. But what exactly is it? It’s a tool for people to use to assist them
with understanding and or learning.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a gadget, but it can be a sort of tool to use
for assistance or a resource. Many students use assistive technology tools, and
again, some examples of these can be pencil gripers, timers, or even a
squeezable ball to help students with their disability.
Media, on
the other hand can be a form of technology, but let’s define what it means. It’s
relaying information between a source and a receiver (Smaldino, 2019, p.4) We
do this so people can learn what is going happening. There are what we call
media formats, and these are the actual physical forms of media most people use
on a daily basis, such as videos, books, pictures, CD’s, webinar, or even a
newsletter. Remember, it’s just relaying information to from one person to the
next. Most of society rely on different types of media formats to be updated on
the news and what’s happening in our daily society.
What’s
great about technology and media is that we can implement these tools into our
daily classroom to help students understand new subject content! As you can see
there are many different media formats we can use, the problem is, how do we
use it? Many teachers struggle to figure out how to implement these different
media tools their students and at times, typically avoid the “online/technical”
media route. But if we teachers could gain professional development on the
ideas, usage on the different tools, this would not only help our students with
learning the content, but it would be engaging and help with the different
styles of our students learning!
Using an
array of media tools engages students learning, helps with the multiple styles
of learning, and helps those who struggle and or have a disability to learn the
content. It’s important that as we teach, we use different media formats and
materials to enhance, promote students learning.
Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., Mims, C., & Russell, J.
D. (2019). Instructional technology and
media for Learning. New York: Pearson Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment