Understanding Student Understanding (Part 1)

What are your thoughts about the Norman (2002) article?  I think Norman’s concept of defining good design encourages us to realize that we should balance the product’s functionality and its aesthetic appeal when designing a product.  As educators, this approach can be applied to choosing what technology tools we should integrate in our courses to facilitate  teaching practices and student understanding.  These chosen tools should be relevant and intuitive and should not impede learning due to its complexity or  “inflated beauty” that covers up the course content.

We should embrace the fact that learning is always changing and schools need to accommodate the results of the 21st century innovative changes.  I’m optimistic about these new opportunities of unlimited access to technology tools to harness teaching and learning.  I still wonder though, whether balancing functionality and beauty are the only attributes that we should consider when choosing tools for learning?

More generally, what do you think about technology's potential for creating powerful learning experiences?  I think technology has definitely a great potential for creating powerful learning experiences ONLY if we realize that technology is a medium to enhance learning and not a substitute for teaching.  It should be used to cultivate students’ intelligence and talents and to stimulate their desire and energy to learn.

One criticism of this view, for example, is that "bells and whistles" distract from core content, wasting money on technological fads rather than investing in human resources. What is your opinion?  This criticism can be true.  We see it happen more often due to the evolving culture of learning.    I was in a training where a teacher took half of her lecture hour trying to get her presentation displayed on the new interactive whiteboard.  As soon as it worked, she presented a migraine-generating, 30-second outline of what was to be discussed that included only text animations and no real content.  She only wanted to use the smartboard for show and not for delivering information.

BUT if we invest in people who apply the TPACK model as they integrate technology in teaching then the balance and relationship of the three primary forms of knowledge: content, pedagogy, technology will be addressed properly.