Learning Through Technology

Learning is stressful enough for both students and educators, but throw technology into the mix, the classroom can become more of a war zone than a learning zone. The tension between the teacher and the technology, the students and the technology, and the teacher and students can fill a room with a thick blanket of distrust and disinterest. Discovering how technology can help boost learning within the classroom is important.

Amber Williams (2007) discusses how using technology within schools can be engaging, when used effectively. "To be effective, teachers should use sound educational practices and focus their energies on how to effectively use technology as a tool when teaching students how to learn. Using the computer as a tool or device to help students gather data from which they can analyze information and present their findings on graphs, PowerPoint presentations, or written format are examples of how educators should use the computer to prepare students for the future" (Williams, 62). Prior to today's technological environment, computers were generally seen as space killers, and only used to play games when the students had finished their work. It was a treat, not a tool. Many students spent the remaining time of the school day playing games, like Oregon Trail, which educators claimed were educational, but were really just to distract students who were growing restless at the end of the day.

Ironically, Williams' article is simplistic considering its topic. She discusses the introduction of technology in a very easy, even tone, making it quite easy for any reader to understand the topic at hand. While it is an article about utilizing technology in the classroom, Williams makes sure that her article can reach multiple audience members at different technological levels. With the topic being technology and knowing how difficult technology can be for both students and teachers, the article attempts to help readers understand the complexities of technology.

While Williams may have been simplistic in tone and in ease of reading, Kimberley Ketterer's article is milder comparatively. Ketterer addresses how to learn technology in her article, Ketterer (2007) theorizes that there are three types of learners: those who need to be coached, those who need to be nudged, and those who need to be nurtured. A high percentage of educators today would most likely fall into the nudge category, needing to be gently coerced into using technology. "They are uncertain about technology's role in the learning and teaching environment and only attend technology integration workshops when attendance is mandated...Once their anxieties of the unknown are dispelled; they gradually, but cautiously, permit technology to begin entering their classroom" (Ketterer, 21). Those who need to be nudged are often the ones who are least likely to integrate technology, because they are fearful of what it would take to integrate, nor do they interest to integrate technology, particularly for educators who are seasoned veterans, nearing retirement.

Ketterer's article focuses on the learning aspects of technology, and not entirely on technology. The article is an easy and quick read, compared to Williams, not really having much to do with the aspect of technology, but more on the learning behind technology. The two articles are relatively easy to read and most readers would not have a problem interpreting the information. Neither of the articles is academically written, that is, written for a peer review in academics. This is where these articles differ from the third article.

As Sharlett Gillard and Denice Bailey (2007) discuss, schools are discovering that traditional teaching is not be reaching students as it once had. To keep up with students and their vastly developing technological advances, schools have to rethink teaching methods. "Students, faculty, and the general public realize that technology can make a significant positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning, the level of student motivation and engagement, and the intensity of career preparation" (Gillard and Bailey, 1). However, they state the three types of learning styles are visual, auditory and kinesthetic, in stark contrast to Ketterer's theory on learning. While the two theories are different, they are mutual exclusive; both can be employed within the classroom with great success.

Gillard and Bailey's article is a well written, highly effective academic article, utilizing a tone and manner seen in the research circles of education. Compared to the first two articles, Gillard and Bailey's article would fall on deaf ears to a vast majority of the population, and is focused on a slim percentage of the population. It is written for educators and researchers, and can be difficult for the average reader to sort through.

Based mainly on research, the article takes an in-depth look at learning through technology on a grander scale than the first two articles. It focuses on the statistics and evidence behind the research, whereas Ketterer's and Williams' articles are respectively focused on a small aspect of learning and technology, hoping to reach a wider audience.

The language of the articles ranges as well. Ketterer has a nice, fun tone to her writing, which helps the article flow. Williams is pretty much the same, but on a slighter higher level, as her subject is a little more in-depth than Ketterer's. Yet, Gillard and Bailey's article is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the others. The article is a purely academic, research piece which hopes to argue the topic of learning through technology.

While the three articles focus on learning through technology, the differences between them are vast; however, each manages to get their point across to the target audience effectively. The articles demonstrate just how one topic can be approached in different light, different tones, but still be able to reach an audience.

Either way, technology will be included in the classroom, particularly as the digital age continues to grow and evolve. Technology will find a way into education. It already has a firm grip, and as new teachers cycle into the systems, technology will find a wider audience. Students will continue to learn, just with a digital feel and dependent upon the articles they read.

Gillard, Sharlett and Denice Bailey. (2007). Technology in the Classroom: Overcoming Obstacles, Reaping Rewards. The International Journal of Learning, 14, 87-93.

Ketterer, Kimberley. (2007). Coach, Nurture, or Nudge: How do you Learn Technology best? Learning & Leading with Technology, 21.

Williams, Amber. (2007). Computer Usage in the Classroom. Techniques, 62.