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The Golden Apple: A Quest toward Achievement

The Golden Apple: A Quest toward Achievement

Lesia Lennex (Morehead State University, USA) and Kimberely Fletcher Nettleton (Morehead State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-897-5.ch008
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Abstract

The success of any educational technology lies in how students interact with it in an educational setting. In the iLRN model (Lennex & Nettleton, 2009), the teacher provides instruction but through activity theory the students transform the learning to suit their own designs. The quality of teacher directions determines the extent to which students depend on the teacher for further feedback and technical assistance. If a teacher is perceived as not understanding even a small part of the technology, Lennex (2008) discovered that P-12 students are unlikely to ask for clarification of assignments or for any further assistance. Exploration and peer coaching replaced the teacher. Technologically literate teachers who interacted with their students and encouraged the scaffolding of knowledge discovered that final student projects demonstrated higher levels of critical thinking and creativity when compared to teacher-controlled projects.
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Technology Misconceptions

The focus on education should not be on the technology but the teaching that is used with it. The mythology surrounding educational technology must be eradicated. The first myth that undermines the use of technology is that students are omniscient when it comes to understanding technology. Many teachers believe that by virtue of having grown up in a technologically rich society, today's students have an innate understanding of technology. This is unfortunate because there is a digital divide between students. Access to technology is not equal throughout the United States or the world. There are areas of the country where Internet access is not available or only available through limited access. Nearly three-fourths of the American population uses the Internet on a regular basis according to the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009 (Dutta &Mia, 2009). Yet only 50% of students have access to computers in homes or schools (Reynolds & Lennex, 2009). Complicating the issue further is the gender gap in the use of technology. The average amount of time girls spend using technology is significantly less than the amount of time boys use it. This gap widens as girls enter middle and high school (Canadian Teacher’s Federation, 2003; Sanford &Madill, 2006). Even though teachers are aware that disparities exist, students are taught as if, by virtue of their age, they are proficient in technology.

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