What would education be like without technology?

Hi Dragana,

On one hand, it is not impossible to teach without all the appliances, but for a short time. Let's remember that about 30 years ago there was almost nothing to help the teacher make the lesson more interesting. Yet, I loved my English lessons. It was the teacher who made it attractive.
On the other hand, we have to take into consideration the difference between us and nowadays students. They accept using technology for granted and the teacher should be really good in order to get students involved in the process of learning.
Finally, using technology makes teaching easier and better, but we should be prepared to have only the board and the marker and not be depend on it.

Hi all,

Maybe I am going to surprise you, but I still don't work with technology, simply because it's not available in the area where I teach. I still use chalk board and the textbook. So I known what education is like wihout technology. It's really dull, boring, tiring and time consuming. I do have a computer but can't use it in the clssroom for soetimes there is no electricity and of course no datashow let alone internet connection.
This is the case of 3rd world rural areas education.

Hello Youssef

Yes - this really worries me ... the tec divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. It seems to be getting wider and wider. It's not just in education though - I mean not everyone has a mobile and I have older relatives who have never used a computer, so I am still writing letters - and I have to say I still love receiving handwritten letters but they are becoming a novelty! Even tho' I have access to tec, I don't use it personally or in the class as much as others. Every time I learn something, a couple of new improved tools/gadgets have come out so I'm constantly behind!
I know some organisations try to send old computers to areas such as yours, but I don't know if that helps (electricity assumed) - and there are all sorts of legalities involved ... What do you think?
I just hope that you have keen interested students who appreciate the efforts you make - and any innovations you can include, rather than taking it all for granted.
As an aside - in the LT PCE there was a discussion about technology and even items such as pens and buttons can be seen as technology!
Best wishes
Heather

hello everyone,
I think that we should not forget about the past while trying to catch up with the presnt.While talking about the way we teach in some remote areas and in the past before the appearance of this technologies, we have to put in mind that this new technologies themselves will be old tomorrow and that new things will come to life to bury the tools we use today.who knows....
In my opinion, using all kind of technologies still needs the presence of the teacher, his heart, his smile, his motivation and his human side....we are not aiming at producing a new generation of computers-like students, we need humans who are full of humanity and life .....
sure, using the fork and the spoon while eating is better than using the fingers...lol for some....for others it is still the opposite, they still long to the oldies and the old using of fingers...the objective is one: to cater for one's stomach needs....
in the classroom, all techniques and ways and tools will be appreciated as long as they satisfy the students's thirst for knowledge and theu schientific hunger...
thanks for openng this subject for discussion...
rachid khouya
Mo rocco

Thanks for sharing your opinions with me.I sometimes feel that using so much technology moves the focus from what we teach to how we teach.
However, I doubt that students would enjoy a lesson which is not up-to-date. First of all, the topic has to be appealing to them, methodology has to be appropriate and if all this is spiced up with a modern way of presenting that includes things which they use every day, whether that is a mobile phone or a computer, You Tube or Second Life, Twitter or Facebook, then, I think, we will be able to cater to modern students' interests.
So maybe, as Rachid so nicely put it,using all kinds of technologies still needs the presence of the teacher, his heart, his smile, his motivation and his human side...
Best wishes,
Dragana

As long as technology is used to facilitate learning then we should praise it. But I don't like the idea that technology can replace me as a teacher. Now to come back to your main concern, I think a good lesson doesn't mean necessarily that I have to implement technology. So often I introduce card games to my class & the lesson turned to be fun & highly motivating. I must admit that my feelings are a bit mixed here. I'm a fan of technology but I do believe that technology doesn't determine the success of the lesson. I think matching up my teaching beliefs with students' preferences/needs is the key to a successful lesson. Technology is a tool like any other tools.

Thank you for sharing your views about using technology in teaching .For me , ICT is full of excitement and motivation to my students and me .True that the teacher is at the heart of the whole operation in both the trational and the technological classrooms but the role of the teacher shifts from the single source of learning to a facilitator of learning . The use of ICT makes it much easier to reach the objectives of the lesson and helps students continue learning by themselves when they are out of the classroom and this is an important advantage of using technology . Moreover , it economizes the efforts of the teacher .In teaching vocabulary for instance , preparing a powerpoint presentation with the targeted items would do much better than explaining what a certain item is . In teaching listening for example , playing a podcast from a native speaker is much helpful than reading a passage to your students .I think that using ICT in teaching saves both energy and time and conveys meaning much better than the blackboard and chalk .
All the best
Mbarek

Hi Dragana,

Isn't powerpoint the same as using any piece of technology? By that I mean we should use it for a purpose - if the animation is being added for no real purpose then don't do. As you say, content is key not how it looks or what it does :-)

Shaun