The Technology Classroom
“ More and more we're being asked to live with technology that is technically reliable, because it is created to fit our knowledge of the physical world, but that is so complex or so counterintuitive that it's actually unusable by most human beings. ”-Kim Vicente, The Human Factor:
Revolutionizing The Way People Live with Technology, p.17
Bart Strong and David Kidney, in "Collaboratively Evaluating and Deploying Smart Technology in Classrooms," describe the steps undertaken by McMaster University in Ontario, Canada as it embarked upon a large-scale effort to renovate and equip its classrooms with the latest teaching technologies.
A discussion of the article and a summary of its main points.
Duration: 02:33
What happened in McMaster University in the early 2000s is happening, with various degrees of success, across the country. Language instructors and students are avid consumers of technology--the use of technology is now expected as a routine in the language classroom and in tasks assigned to students outside of the classroom. The keys to success in keeping our technology classrooms current, usable, and efficient are:
- a strong buy-in from faculty and students;
- commitment of the administration to invest in technology and encourage collaboration among units and ongoing evaluation by all technology users;
- and a dedicated technology unit that provides training, maintenance, and technical support at all levels.
Optimizing the Use of Class Time
Lage, Platt, and Treglia in their article, "Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment" (2000), advocate a strategy that would maximize active learning in the classroom. The "inversion" in the core of this strategy means that "events that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa" (32). One of the implications of this concept, discussed in academic circles in recent years, is the "abolishment" of technology from the classroom to allow for maximum student-student and student-instructor interaction. The use of technology is still an essential part of the learning environment, but it should take place outside of the classroom, as classroom time is too precious. An offshoot of this concept is the "teach naked" idea, advocated by José A. Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts (SMU), who challenged his faculty to teach without technology.
Is the "inverted classroom" approach appropriate for language instruction? Should we "teach naked," especially if we want to dedicate maximum time to the production skills?
Does your institution have an information technology services unit? A separate instructional technology services unit? A language resource center that focuses on technology in the language classroom?