When people talk about learning technology, they think of tablets and laptops being used in the classroom, or learning management systems. But this is the wrong focus; we should not focus on the technology itself. We should focus on using the technology to help you do what you need to do. Learning technologies do not lead to, or substitute for, effective learning outcomes. Learning technologies are just tools that we use to enhance and empower learning wherein the best technology disappears. As Amory (2014) reported, technology is a tool that provides information, supports teaching and learning, and enables transfer of information; however, technology is not where the learning occurs. Learning occurs in the mind of the learner and the focus should be on the learning experience itself.
Published in Chapter:
Learning All the Time and Everywhere: Moving Beyond the Hype of the Mobile Learning Quick Fix
Tilisa Thibodeaux (Lamar University, USA), Dwayne Harapnuik (Lamar University, USA), Cindy Cummings (Lamar University, USA), and Rachelle Wooten (Lamar University, USA)
Copyright: © 2018
|Pages: 21
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3949-0.ch011
Abstract
We are witnessing some of the most significant advancements of technology in most aspects of society, but our educational institutions are still mired in the industrial and information processing models of the nineteenth century. Why? We have used technology as a quick fix and ignored the fact that established organizations are dominated by nineteenth century organizational and management structures and cultures that prevent the effective adoption of twenty-first century technologies. In this chapter, we argue that we can break this cycle of wasteful implementation of educational technology by focusing on learning all the time and everywhere and by shifting our instructional practices away from the command and control teacher-centered perspective to the learner-centered perspective. This shift gives the learner choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities that enables them to use technology to learn how to learn and adapt to the challenges of the future.