Term Paper on "Life Skills Students Using Technology for Learning"

Term Paper 5 pages (1450 words) Sources: 8 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Technology in the Classroom: The Impact of the Internet Is Significant

In addition to re-ordering the classroom, technology is also significantly changing another major aspect of education, and that is the textbook. Needed for accreditation standards underscores the role of textbooks for the foreseeable future, yet with the growth of computer-based instruction and the growing sophistication of software development tools, the development of courseware that supplants and more fully defines the key concepts of textbooks is now a prevailing trend in the use of technology in education.

The combination of inexpensive graphics video terminals and the plummeting prices of personal computers have led to the development of high performance multimedia laptop and desktop systems that integrate animation complete with audio and video as part of the learning experience. Educational software is a critical foundation that in turn makes it possible for educators to gain greater insights and develop greater skills in using technologies in their classrooms. The development of educational software specific for each grade level and their specific learning objectives, in conjunction with textbooks and classroom instructions, creates a higher level of overall understanding of the core concepts of the curriculum (Xu, Wang, 2006). Apple's many contributions to educational software development and specifically its aligning to the unmet needs of elementary, middle school, high school and special needs students is well-known, as are the company's efforts to create technology consortiums that foster the development of technology integrations standards across educational software developers (Blackwood, 1995). Apple has gone so far as to design entire personal computer systems, laptops and low-end servers for the educational market, all attuned to the economics of this market, meaning the need to keep costs low. The latest Education iMac to be released at the company's 2008 MacWord event is a case in point (Seff, 2006). The product strategies of Apple highlight how critical it is for technologies to be able to integrate together so students and teachers have a reliable electronic platform for collaboration and learning. Developing software and hardware all for the specific needs of the educational market by Apple has become the standard by which software development efforts are evaluated and shows how critical it is for software developers to work closely with the PC companies they are developing educational software for.

The Internet is the dominant platform in use today for the development and use of educational applications, collaborative workspaces, portals and websites. From having been created as a basic communications protocol, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) has gone through much iteration to allow for greater collaboration and communication (Providenti, Zai III, 2007) which has led to it become the world's most powerful communications platform. As a result it is commonplace to find distance learning programs and online programs that are entirely Web-based and delivered over the Internet. The collection of strategies, techniques, and programs to enable excellence in education delivered over the Internet is called Web-based Instruction (WBI). Collectively the study of distance and online learning techniques, platforms, strategies and initiatives is referred to as WBI and is forming the foundation of change management strategies in many learning institutions' growth strategies, writes (Khan, 2003). Dr. Badrul Kahn (2003) has also defined an entire framework of e-learning dynamics that is widely used by higher education institutions to define how technologies will be aligned to teaching processes. His e-learning framework is considered one of the most practical and theoretically sounds in this area.

As a result of the pervasiveness of the Internet's use, there are several dozen application development tools and entire online environments available for creating online learning, tutorial and teaching applications. These development tools and environments have also given instructors the ability to create online courses rapidly, including digital content in the form of video and sound to enrich the students' learning experience. As development tools and applications offer instructors the opportunity to create their own online courseware, and also give experienced developers the flexibility of defining online applications, collaborative workspaces and portals, there is the need for ensuring these interactive environments encourage active, versus passive learning as well (Mitchell, Honore, 2007).

The advent of Web 2.0 technologies (Bernoff, Li. 2008), (Mitrano, 2006), (Wildstrom, 2007) have major implications for the use of technology in teaching, as these technologies together form the foundation of a more collaborative, agile learning environment online. The concept of Web 2.0 is… READ MORE

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