Students in a class can collaborate outside class without having to meet in person. The theory behind collaborative learning is that the social construction of knowledge leads to deeper processing and understanding than does learning alone (Appalachian Education Laboratory, 2005).
The bulletin board and the chat room have become the backbone of many Web-based learning environments. Sophisticated Web-based collaborative learning environments incorporate not only real-time, text-based conversation, but also audio- and videoconferencing, and shared work spaces, where multiple users can collaboratively work on the same document or application. These multimedia shared work spaces are facilitated by software such as Microsoft's Netmeeting ( http://www. microsoft.com/netmeeting/), Intel's Proshare ( http://www.intel.com/proshare / conferencing/index.htm), and CU-SeeMe ( http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu / ). Multiuser object-oriented (MOO) text-based virtual reality environments now have a Web-based equivalent, WOOs (Web object oriented), which provide browser-based access to virtual rooms for a variety of collaborative text-based and multimedia learning activities (e.g., http:/ / lingua. utdallas.edu:7000/11).
With so many online communication tools, the challenge is to use the tools to facilitate deep and effortful cognitive processing for all of those involved in the collaboration. The rest of this section describes some examples of online collaborative environments that appear to do this by either structuring the collaborative activity or linking the collaboration to situated learning activities. The Knowledge Forum, the Web version of CSILE ( http://kf.oise. utoronto.ca/webcsile/demo.html), uses a bulletin board system to facilitate the collaborative production and use of dynamic knowledge bases. Students post items that are categorized as five "thinking types": Problem, My Theory, Need for Understanding, Plan, and New Learning. A teacher monitors the forum and coaches students toward discovery of expert knowledge (Appalachian Education Laboratory, 2005).
Chapter Two
Literature Review
In 1998, a federal study reported that only 20% of the nation's teachers felt comfortable using modern information technologies in the classroom. Yet federal agencies, states, and school districts were spending billions of dollars a year to equip schools with computers and Internet connections. With this finding, the preparation of technology-proficient educators emerged as a critical goal in the national campaign to use new technologies to improve learning (Scot, 2005). To build the nation's capacity to meet this challenge, the U.S. Department of Education launched a program titled Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology.
This initiative, which quickly became known as PT3, eventually provided $399 million for 466 grants that were awarded in the years 1999 through 2001. The chapters assembled for Integrated Technologies, Innovative Learning: Insights from the PT3 Program provide rich insights into the range of PT3 projects which were created to ensure that future teachers are well prepared to meet the needs of 21?-century students. Producing technology-proficient educators for 21"-century schools requires a fundamental restructuring of today's teacher preparation and professional development system (Goetz & LeCompte, 2004).
Although many school districts are actively engaged in professional development programs to help the existing teacher workforce take advantage of modern learning technologies, no district in the country can meet the demand for technology-proficient educators without a significant commitment to teacher preparation improvement nationwide (Goetz & LeCompte, 2004). College and university presidents and deans, as well as other education leaders, must commit their institutions to transformational change. Adding a new methods course for technology in education or developing a cadre of education technology specialists is not sufficient (Berlin, 2005). The preparation of technology-proficient educators must go beyond training in basic computer skills and standard productivity or presentation applications (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998).
The PT3 grants program called for comprehensive teacher preparation improvements that would infuse technology throughout the full spectrum of future teachers' learning experiences. Any effort to use the potential of technology to change schools faces the same challenges the Wright brothers encountered during the early years of flight (Dewey, 1998). At the time, steam-driven railroads were the dominant mode of cross-country travel. Imagine if someone had walked up to the Wright brothers after they had made the first successful flight and said, that's pretty impressive, but how is it going to improve the railroads?' Although the evolutionary development of the airplane did nothing to improve steam engines, it dramatically transformed transportation. Today, too many of our teachers and students are still working in factory-era schools with stand-alone teachers in isolated classrooms (Boix-Mansilla & Gardner, 2007).
They are limited by a one-size-fits-all curriculum and textbooks that are often obsolete. This educational model, developed to meet the needs...
Technology Decision Making Effect of technology decision making Technology has been growing over a period of years due to globalization. All individuals, organizations, and even the society as a whole have been affected by the information and communication uprising. This has even changed their lifestyles. The Information is readily available in the computers mostly through internet technology and telecommunications. The Organizations are able to build their information systems in a variety
Technology in Film Fred Ott was the very first movie star that every existed. His brief starring role in the five-second film that showed him sneezing started the use of technology to make films. Since then, technology both in and out of film has changed immeasurably and what technology is used and is said about technology in these same films has evolved quite a lot and the statements sometimes made are
Technology Acceptance Model Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to Assess User Intentions and Satisfaction on Software as a Service (SaaS): The Value of SaaS Software as a Service (SaaS) was researched by Benlian and Hess (2011) in an effort to determine its value to companies. Among the arguments was that SaaS is already declining in popularity even though it is very new. The majority of the arguments that lean in that direction have
While the quality of Internet phone calls is still not as good as that of dial-up long-distance telephone, more and more users are taking advantage of Internet telephony because it offers free phone calls (McReal and Elliott, 2002). Internet telephony is straightforward and simple, requiring only an Internet hookup, headphones or speakers, and a microphone. For online students, Internet telephony offers an opportunity for students to speak to others in their
, 2010). Technology in classrooms has affected education in ways that seem to be immeasurable. There has reached a point where students now expect classes to have technology in it and actually avoid classes that do not. Education is turning out to be more about the newest technology and how it is being used in the classroom, than about the pedagogy itself (McKinney et al., 2008). Students no longer feel the
This is beneficial for businesses, customers and the financial institutions. With these things understood partnerships are an essential aspect of providing positive outcomes for customers while also having the ability to conduct business at higher volumes and more efficiently. Conclusion The purpose of this discussion is to explain the impact of technology on customers. The research found that technology has added a great deal of value to people's lives. In addition
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