Teachnology
Posted on: February 15, 2011
Thanks to a retweet from @tucksoon, I read this blog entry on Pedagogy vs Technology.
Like the author of that entry, I do not think that there is a contest between the two. But, depending on the context, there is value in placing the pedagogical horse before the technology cart.
If my audience comprises of student teachers or teachers who are new to technology integration, I go with that approach. I urge them not to fall into the cool tool trap and using technology for its own sake.
Instead, I ask them to think about what they want their students to learn and how they might learn it. To do this, they will have to think about learning objectives, evaluation and content first. Then I ask them to think about how technology might support or enable this learning.
With experience, these teachers internalize this process and avoid the cool tool trap. They then learn how to think about pedagogy and technology at the same time. They learn teachnology.
With teachnology, you think about the technical, social and educational affordances of a tool alongside your pedagogical needs. The horse and cart are one. This is a logical and necessary progression. After all, the horse and cart model is dated.
While I would love to present this integrated approach, it rarely works in practice. Most teachers-as-learners already have the cool tool mindset. They need to unlearn that first, learn to prioritize pedagogy in the process of technology integration and then learn teachnology.
February 24, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Hi there. I very much like your idea of teachnology with its approach to thinking about pedagogy and technology at the same time. I also welcome the way you introduce the social aspects alongside technical and educational ones; this is very much a key aspect of modern technology and pedagogy and is important now that technology is better able to address it.
I do feel, though, that there is a case to be made for putting the technology first, not in terms of importance but in terms of change or improvement. As the tech world changes far more rapidly than the pedagogic one, it is quite likely that you will come across new tech tools before you come across new pedagogic approaches. So is there anything wrong in looking at a shiny new tech tool and asking yourself, ‘how can I use this in my teaching?’. What lies behind this question is the desire and intention to enhance your current teaching or to extend your teaching to reach new pupils. Sometimes it is simply witnessing a new piece of technology that sparks new ways of thinking.
February 24, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Hi Doug! Thanks for taking the trouble to visit, read and comment. You’ve helped me push my own thinking and belief about “teachnology”.
I think what you are saying in putting technology first is how technology might push pedagogy. I’d agree with you, but somewhat cautiously.
If the teacher is question is very reflective, experienced and somewhat tech-savvy, I think that approach would suit him or her well. But one that is less so might fall into the cool tool trap. I see this happening more often that I’d like.
When I ask the latter group of teachers why they or their students are using a particular technology, I will always get the “it engages them” answer. I think there must be a deeper reason than that.
The students might be engaged with the technology, content, social process of learning, etc. Sometimes the engagement stops at the appeal (or the problems) with the technology. They really need to move towards engagement with the content and learning process. A teacher who walks into the cool tool trap is unlikely to think beyond initial engagement to the long term motivation to learn.
Hope this makes sense.