Contemporary Issues in Teaching and Learning with Technology

Abstract

To speak of contemporary issues in instructional technology is like counting wave crests in a stormy ocean: they are changing quickly all the time. New technologies and new issues present themselves daily. Educators struggle with both the instructional integration of computing and developing the skills and knowledge necessary to use technology effectively (Lipscomb & Doppen, 2005). Why, after over 30 years of having computers in schools, are educators still having such difficulties? Today’s population is much more accustom to electronics, yet knowledge is weak, concepts are misunderstood, and the difficulties of teaching with technology seem as serious and convoluted today as ever before. The great physicist and thinker, Richard Feynman, offered some critical comments about the challenges of educators. “What happens is that you get all kinds of statements of fact about education, about sociology, even psychology — all kinds of things which are, I’d say, pseudoscience” (Feynman, 1999, p. 242). Today, we understand “more about education [but] the test scores are going down…we just don’t understand it at all. It just isn’t working” (p. 243). Being critical of how the scientific method is applied to education, Feynman’s comments highlight how the study of teaching and learning yields limited or questionable results. Teacher trainers take their best guess on how to prepare teachers to use technology.