Computers for What? Examining the Roles of Technology in Teaching and Learning

In a graduate course that I teach every fall, the students and I read and discuss articles on emerging and often controversial ideas about teaching, learning, and instructional design. To the extent possible, I want students to experience the implications of the ideas they are studying, and so I incorporate instructional strategies into the course that are based on these ideas. This means the course changes every year to re ̄ect recent trends in the literature as well as advances in technology. Six or seven years ago, for instance, I introduced the use of email as a mode of communication among members of cooperative learning groups. Although most of the class owned computers then, few used email with any regularity and fewer still had modems attached to their computers. They resisted mightily and complained bitterly, but by the end of the semester, an amazing transformation had begun. I will never forget the pride with which one class member, a ®fth grade teacher, announced one night in class that she had purchased a modem, installed it herself, and sent her ®rst message from home. Today, I teach the course in an on-line as well as face-to-face learning environment. The students and I take for granted a whole host of technology tools, and our discussions occur in cyberspace as well as in the classroom. I tell you this story because I believe in the power of technology to facilitate, even transform teaching and learning, and it's only fair that you should know that about me at the outset. I believe further that only by using technology in a transformative way will students themselves come to realize the potential of technology and begin to develop ever more powerful uses and applications.