Week II: Education Technology

During the second week of class, we were exposed to the concept of "educational technology". Today's students are living in a world with a never-before-seen connection. They are no longer in a private world but rather a world where their parents can reach them by a text immediately, their friend's Facebook stati remind them of their upcoming paper and they can email their teacher for explanations of assignments they do not understand. Children receive so much stimulation from television and computers that it is important to incorporate all of this technology to make a more efficient and effective learning environment. Educational technology is the practice of this integration between books and desks with SmartBoards, computers, websites, microphones, blogs, etc. For some teachers or school systems, the easy to understand concept is hard to put into practice. Not all school distracts are financially able to bring 'basic' technology such as a computer to their schools, let alone each classroom. Aside from economic reasons, the lack of training that teachers receive for these technologies also pose a problem. These are just two examples of explanations for the difference in the technological landscape of the world's education system.

I do not think that educational technology only applies to school settings. Parents have the ability to incorporate many aspects of a child's experiences into "teachable moments". There are many negative things that have come from the boom in technology that we have seen such as online bullying, a lack of privacy, sexually explicit websites, and dependency on video games. I feel that parents, or those that are responsible for the proper upbringing of a child, have a responsibility to expose these issues and shed light on them. It is important that we provide our children the knowledge of how to overcome obstacles that they may encounter and open up dialogue about the child's perspective on negative things in their environment. These discussions show the child the reality of our technology in the 21st century and allow them to learn and make informed decisions for themselves.

As a future audiologist, educational technology means that I have the ability to use technology to provide my clients with as much resources as possible to benefit from our interaction. I can provide them with websites that discuss hearing loss and show them demonstrations using computers or screens on how to use their hearing aids. The concept of educational technology is not something that ties together with audiology automatically but it is a practice that I choose to use to enhance my client's experiences. I want them to know that I am able to use all of my resources to provide them with the best service possible and allow them to have everything that will help them increase their quality of life.

While researching this topic, I came across a video on YouTube. It is a video of a girl who lives in Spain with her parents. She receives piano lessons via Skype from an instructor in Chicago. I chose this video because it shows that distance means nothing when it comes to receiving an education these days. It displays how technology can be used in unconventional teaching practices so a child's learning is not spared.

This video was found on YouTube and posted by soultravelers3 on June 08, 2008.