Abstract

MODERN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND THE ON-LINE CLASSROOM IN EDUCATION

Mrs. Sonia

Volume: 3 Issue: 4 2013

Abstract:

In this paper I discuss the way modern communication technologies reshape the process of distance education. I also look at the challenges that the new era brings for the educators. These changes involve more than the simple addition of new technologies to the traditional ways of teaching and learning. Furthermore, the new electronic tools promote a paradigmatic shift in the organization of the educational process. The computer network in this model serves as a mediator rather than as an information processor. This creates a favorable environment for an active learning process, with opportunities for the students to solve some authentic problems. Nevertheless, emerging technologies may look different depending upon who builds them. Educators must clearly articulate and promulgate their goals. Their new visions of distance learning must drive the decisions about the uses of technology, not vice-versa. Throughout the history of human communication, advances in technology have powered paradigmatic shifts in education. Technology changes both what we can do and what we decide is best to do; big shifts in culture cannot occur until the tools are available. Although before the invention of the printing press, people could read and write, it was the press that enabled widespread literacy, and an almost total accessibility to the written word. This spread of literacy changed both class structure and the educational system, with consequences that still shape our attitudes today.

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