 More traditional uses of technology in the
classroom focus on using computer-assisted instruction to support drill-and-prctice
or using word processor or calculators to increase productivity. However,
through my own research and that of my colleagues, I have come to see technology
as offering something much more important: Technology serves as tools for
facilitating learner inquiry within rich environments that situate the
content to be learned.
In learning environments where knowledge is
not a thing (a product) delivered to students (as is consistent with the
ecological model), knowing is a situated activity (a process) supported
by the use of technological tools. In other words, these tools establish
opportunities for rich interactions with the potential to support learners
in building understandings. These understandings are contextualized with
the particular environment in which they are being constructed and cannot
be pre-structured and handed (delivered) to the leaner (wholecloth). This
notion is captured in the term
grounded construction.
Founded in this situated perspective, my research
and that of my colleagues have pointed toward five uses to which
educators can apply technology so as to support learners in developing
grounded constructions. These five uses are not features inherent to the
technology, as if technology were a self-contained entity; rather, they
refer to uses or roles that technology can afford within particular contexts.
They can best be conceived of as situated potentials that are actualized
(and given shape) within the larger context of learner inquiry -- a process
that requires the guidance of an effective facilitator.
These are the 5 uses/roles of technology:
| Information Resource |
provide information to support learner inquiry
(e.g., hypermedia, WWW, interactive CD ROMs) |
| Content Contextualization |
situate the material to be learned within a rich context
(e.g., anchored instruction, experiential
simulations) |
| Communication Tool |
facilitate collaboraaative and distributed learning |
| Construction Kit |
provide concrete tools for building phenomena/understandings
(e.g., LOGO, HTML and VRML editors, HyperStudio) |
| Visualization/Manipulation Tool |
present phenomena for scrutiny and manipulation
e.g., visualization tools, model-based simulations) |
For further discussion about technology as situated
potentials, refer to the following article:
-
 Sasha A. Barab, Kenneth E. Hay, and Thomas M.
Duffy. (March 1998). Grounded constructions and how technology can help.
TECHTRENDS, 15-23.
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