The Role and Functions of Educational

Technology in the 21st Century Education

The Role and Functions of Educational

Technology in the 21st Century Education

The term 21st century has become the central part of educational thinking and planning for the future.

Administrators and Teachers are actively searching for ways to prepare students to succeed in a competitive world and in the future- in which plenty of opportunities for highly skilled individuals and limited options for everybody else.

• The role of education is to prepare students to become active, successful and contributing members of society.

In order to prepare students to play their role in the 21st century society we are part of, the following can be considered when deciding how education will look in our schools and classrooms:

Instruction should be student-centered• Education is no longer about listening to the teacher

talk and absorbing the information.

• Students will ‘learned to learn’ on their own.

• Teacher as the facilitator of the students.

• Students are engage in many different types of hands-on activities, as well as demonstrate learning in many different ways.

• Learning is about discovery , not the memorization of facts.

Education should be collaborative:• Students must learn how to collaborate

with others.•

They should be encouraged to work together to discover information ,piece it together, and construct meaning .

• Students should learn how to recognize the different strengths and talents each person can bring to a project and change roles depending on these attributes.

Learning should have context:• The teacher can make a point of helping students to understand how the skills they are building can be applied in their lives.

• Students will be much more motivatedto learn something that they can see the value in.

• Lessons have little purpose if they do not have any impact in a student’s life outside of the school.

The Role of Technology in 21st Century

• Technology allows for 24/7

access to information• Constant social interaction, and

• Easily created and shared digital

content.

• THERE IS A CALL FOR ACTION TO INTEGRATE TECHNNOLOGY AS A FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCK INTO EDUCATION IN THREE BROAD AREAS:

Use technology comprehensively to develop proficiency in 21st century

skills.

• Knowledge of core content is necessary, but no longer sufficient, for success in a competitive world.

• Used comprehensively, technology helps students develop 21st century skills.

Use technology comprehensively to support innovative teaching and learning.

To keep pace with a changing world, schools need to offer more:• rigorous• relevant • engaging opportunities for students to

learn-and to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways.

Used comprehensively, technology supports new research-based approaches and promising practices in teaching and learning.

3.Use technology comprehensively to create robust education support system

To be effective in schools and classroom, teachers and administrators need training tools and proficiency in 21st century skills themselves.Used comprehensively, technology transforms standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction, professional development, learning environments, and administration.

IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Improvement of Teaching

Analysis of the Teaching-Learning ProcessImprovement of LearningE

nhancing Goals of Education

Training to Teachers

Development of CurriculumDevelopment of Teaching-Learning MaterialsTeaching-Learning Strategies

Development of Audio-Visual Aids Help in Overall ImprovementIdentification of Needs of the Community

1.Improvement of teaching • Educational Technology analyses

the process of teaching thoroughly.

• It tries to find out the different variables of teaching, their interlinks, effects upon each other relationships, theories of teaching phases of teaching principles of teaching, maxims of teaching etc.

2.ANALYSIS OF THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

Educational Technology aims at analyzing the process of teaching-learning thoroughly.

It tries to find out the different variables of teaching their interlinks effects upon each other relationship etc.

It is also concerned with various phases of teaching.

3.IMPROVEMENT OF LEARNING

Educational Technology analyses the process of learning and the related theories.It facilitates more and more of learning in less time. It takes the help of various empirically established generalizations from:

• Psychology• Sociology• Physical sciences• Engineering and etc.

4.ENHANCING GOALS OF EDUCATION

The objectives of education are being reviewed and revised with the passage of time.Educational Technology helps in finding out the right objectives.Everything in this universe undergoing tremendous changes and with a very fast speed.

5.TRAINING TO TEACHERS

The changed type of environment with new curriculum and new materials is to be handled by the teachers.

Right type of training to the teachers is the need of the hour.

o Keeping in view the objectives of education, which have been finalized by education technology thereafter, comes the question of developing right type of curriculum.

o Curriculum is the total teaching-learning environment, which has to be modified and remodeled in the light of latest thoughts.

o Educational technology can do this job of developing a suitable curriculum appropriately.

6.DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULUM

7.DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING-LEARNING MATERIALS

Teaching-learning materials are also as important as anything else in the teaching-learning process. They have to be in accordance with the environment of the learners. In this age of science and technology, the materials of teaching cannot be unscientific. Everything in the society including values of life need be reflected in the materials

8. TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES

• A strategy plays an important role in the hands of a teacher in every teaching-learning situation. The strategy has to be the right one, which should be according to the materials and is able to bring about effective teaching learning.

9.DEVELOPMENT OF AUDIO-VISUALS AIDS

Audio-Visual aids have always played an important role in the teaching-learning process. They need to be used according to the times.The software aids, the hardware aids, the computer and other such appliances, equipment and etc.Computer Assisted Instructions will help the learner as well as the teacher to achieve the goals of education more conveniently.

10.HELP IN OVERALL IMPROVEMENTS

• Educational Technology helps in locating the problems in the different areas of education.

• It also helps in remedying the draw-backs. Evaluation of teaching-learning process is also made better because through feedback, things are improved thoroughly and there is better control over the process of education.

11.IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY

• Educational technology identifies the needs of the community. It helps in providing equal education opportunities to backward people, disadvantaged students and deprived sections of the society.

• Educational technology aims at identifying the needs of the community from time to time.

By: Iris Grace S. Arcamo