2. Need and Importance of Websites, Educational
CD’s, Learning Modules
The role of technology in the field of education is four-fold, it is included as a part
of the curriculum, as an instructional delivery system, as a means of aiding
instructions and also as a tool to enhance the entire learning process. Thanks to
technology; education has gone from passive and reactive to interactive and
aggressive. Education is essential in corporate and academic settings. In the
former, education or training is used to help workers do things differently than they
did before. In the latter; education is geared towards creating curiosity in the minds
of students. In either case, the use of technology can help students understand and
retain concepts better.
In emergent education, it is often helpful to use websites as a means of distributing
information from teacher to student and from student to teacher. Below are two
articles and subsequent discussion questions analyzing the benefits and
consequences, as well as other questions, stemming from the ability to create
websites.
Teaching Writing by Creating a Website (Tuesday, January 6, 2009; The Writing
Teacher) brings up some interesting points. Jennifer stones mentions that "creating
a website has a lot of elements to enthuse students about writing: a topic they care
about, in a media they like to use, with the ability to have their work published and
viewed by others. The lessons they learn will carry over into their other writing and
thinking activities," which seems to explore concepts of critical thinking in order to
build novel ideas, such as a website. This concept of exploring many ideas--like
other websites, articles and the whole Web--attribute themselves well into
emergent pedagogy, where this kind of discussion brings about novel ideas. I think
a following discussion period after a trial of research on the Web would provide
even more support for creating novel ideas by using an emergent method.
Educational technology, also termed instructional technology, information and
communication technology (ICT) in education, EdTech, and learning technology,
is "the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving
performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes
and resources. A closely related term, e-learning, refers to the use of modern
3. technology, such as computers, digital technology, networked digital devices and
associated software and courseware with learning scenarios, worksheets and
interactive exercises that facilitate learning. Websites have many functions and can
be used in various fashions; a website can be a personal website, a commercial
website government websites or a nonprofit organization website. Websites can be
the work of an individual, a business or other organization, and are typically
dedicated to a particular topic or purpose. Any website can contain a hyperlink to
any other website, so the distinction between individual sites, as perceived by the
user, can be blurred In the past, learning and education simply meant face-to-face
lectures, reading books or printed handouts, taking notes and completing
assignments generally in the form of answering questions or writing essays. In
short; education, learning and teaching were considered impossible without a
teacher, books and chalkboards. Today, education and training have taken on a
whole new meaning. Computers are an essential part of every classroom and
teachers are using DVDs, CD-ROMs and videos to show students how things work
and operate. Students can interact with the subject matters through the use of such
web based tools and CD-ROMs. Moreover, each student can progress at his/her
own pace. A module is a self-contained unit of learning, teaching and assessment.
The volume of educational activity is expressed in hours of student effort.
This is linked directly to the credit value of the module.
Information about a module is contained in the online descriptor for that module. A
Learning Module is an organized collection of content presented together. A
Learning Module can support a course goal, a course objective, a subject, a
concept, or a theme. The path can be set so that students must view content
sequentially or set to permit students to view the content in any order. You can also
add folders and sub folders to a Learning Module to provide a hierarchical
structure. Folders and sub folders provide an outline view that is displayed in the
Table of Contents for the module. The Table of Contents allows you to present
content in a structured manner. Folders and Sub folders within Learning Modules
have the same properties as other Folders and Sub folders found in Blackboard
courses.
Learning Modules can be viewed sequentially or non-sequentially. If sequential
viewing is enforced, students view the Learning Module in the order in which the
items are listed. Students cannot advance to a page within the unit without having
viewed the previous page. If sequential viewing is not enforced, items in the
Learning Module may be viewed in any order from the Content page.
4. Reference
· Web resources
· http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/4474
· http://importanceofmoderntechnology.com/how-important-is-technology-
in-education-today/
