Comments on: Technology: To use or not to use? http://elanguage.edublogs.org/2007/05/22/technology-to-use-or-not-to-use/ conference & course notes Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:35:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Mark http://elanguage.edublogs.org/2007/05/22/technology-to-use-or-not-to-use/#comment-4 Mark Fri, 25 May 2007 03:55:03 +0000 http://elanguage.edublogs.org/2007/05/23/technology-to-use-or-not-to-use/#comment-4 Karen, thanks for your comment. You ask whether these are exciting or scary times. Both, I think! Most exciting new developments are scary at the same time because they take us into unfamiliar territory and oblige us to rethink long-established and widely cherished practices. Of course, it's in the process of rethinking our educational practices and, following on from this, redesigning them, that we sometimes run up against the contextual constraints you mention. But if institutions are to change, the momentum has to come from somewhere ... including from educators who are exploring the pedagogical possibilities offered by the new technologies. Karen, thanks for your comment. You ask whether these are exciting or scary times. Both, I think! Most exciting new developments are scary at the same time because they take us into unfamiliar territory and oblige us to rethink long-established and widely cherished practices. Of course, it’s in the process of rethinking our educational practices and, following on from this, redesigning them, that we sometimes run up against the contextual constraints you mention. But if institutions are to change, the momentum has to come from somewhere … including from educators who are exploring the pedagogical possibilities offered by the new technologies.

]]> By: Karen Haines http://elanguage.edublogs.org/2007/05/22/technology-to-use-or-not-to-use/#comment-3 Karen Haines Fri, 25 May 2007 02:54:21 +0000 http://elanguage.edublogs.org/2007/05/23/technology-to-use-or-not-to-use/#comment-3 I liked what you said, Mark, about the fact that e-learning can 'stretch the teaching and learning processes in new directions'. I'm interested in how we react to this as teachers - which Cynthia touched on in her session. Exciting or scary times? And are our students ready to be stretched? Prensky's suggestion that we should be doing 'new things in new ways' - is that in the virtual reality dimension or actual potential? I'd like to think that I'm working on discovering what new things/new ways means for me in my teaching, but the contextual/institutional constraints are frustrating at times. I liked what you said, Mark, about the fact that e-learning can ’stretch the teaching and learning processes in new directions’. I’m interested in how we react to this as teachers - which Cynthia touched on in her session. Exciting or scary times?

And are our students ready to be stretched? Prensky’s suggestion that we should be doing ‘new things in new ways’ - is that in the virtual reality dimension or actual potential? I’d like to think that I’m working on discovering what new things/new ways means for me in my teaching, but the contextual/institutional constraints are frustrating at times.

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