Chapter One

     In general, Chapter one tells us how influential technology is in the lives of the children and adolescents, six key issues for technology-using teachers, and a brief introduction of using new technologies to create a highly interactive, inquiry-based learning environment in K-12 classrooms.

     It says that technology plays an enormously influential role in the lives of the children and adolescents who will be your students. The data in this part indicates that computer has become a major component of students’ media experience. Since the use of computers and other information technologies becomes more common, it seems hardly to notice their technology power or the changes they bring to the way we conduct our daily lives. Actually, computer and new technologies are everywhere in our life. In that case, our knowledge-based society demands that teachers and students should possess new and expanded technology “life skill”.

     For technology-using teachers they should think about six important questions, and each question addresses important issues with regard to educational technology in K-12 schools:

1)     What is your readiness to integrate technology into teaching and learning in schools?

2)     What are your reasons for wanting to use technology in your teaching?

3)     What are your views of the barriers that block teachers from using technology in their classes?

4)     What are your plans for the types of technologies you will use in your classroom?

5)     What are your goals for the kinds of teaching methods you plan to use in your classroom?

6)     What is your knowledge of the technologies your students are using both inside and outside of school?

The six questions are very important for both technology-using teachers and nontechnology-using teachers. When considering that, teachers can make it clear that why choosing to use technology, does it match your teaching philosophy, and is it truly helpful, etc. To think about these question can help teachers to make a full preparation before using technology into classes. Technology-using teachers should also ask themselves these questions periodically while teaching in order to evaluate how it works in practice and if your ideas has changed over time.

At the end of this chapter, it emphasizes that in today’s high-technology information society, students must become creative, innovative, flexible thinkers. To create a highly interactive, inquiry-based learning environment in classrooms can help students to gain skills as our highly technological, information-based society requires.

Questions:

1)     What is the role that technology acts in teaching? How to arrange a proper teaching process when using technology? Should technology be a main component of teaching, or just a useful tool?

2)     Is it necessary for technology-using teachers to receive extra training, since the teaching skills must be more or less different from ordinary teaching methods. I mean not only the technological skills but also something like teaching styles.

3)     When it is put into practice, is technology really helpful to students or just make classes more attractive?