Internet Technology..
CALL(Computer Assisted Language Learning)..
Which I have been heard important for whole my career of teaching English in Korea..
Every teacher in Korea and probably in most countries gets a lot of stress thinking they have to use internet technology to be updated and to catch up with new stream of education, but still quite a little of them are confident enough about using the internet technology as a non digital native.
I personally also felt pressure about using technology in my own teaching class in Korea. The Administry of Education of Korea puts much stress on using new methods and the new technologies in the classroom. As a result, it seems like the teachers who are good at using technology are capable and good teachers, meanwhile, making teachers who are not confident in using new technology feel uncapable and even guilty. In the open class to other teachers and supervisors which most teachers should have every few years in Korea, supervisors and most observing teachers focus on the presenting teacher's technology skills rather than his or her class control ability or methodologies.
It seems like that they are missing what is really important in teaching and learning in the classrooms. The important thing is not the technology itself but the effective teaching and learning. Technology in the classroom exists for more effective teaching. They don't need to be obsessed with using technology itself.
Teachers need to know and get more comfortable about using technologies first, and they should be able to choose useful technologies for their class. However, what technology they use and how or how much they use it can differ depending on the situations ; their favorite teaching style, teacher's charater, student's learning sytle and preference, and the educational conditions such as equipments of the classrooms. You can recommend good technolgies they might be able to use in their classes but you don't have to force them to use it.
These are my point of view about technology so far before starting the study of this course- internet technology. I'm expected to learn new topics and interests in internet technology in education while studying this course, and hope to develop my point of view about it.
Suhyun, you make a very good point. Technology is not a method, or a technique, it's a medium or a tool for teaching and learning, just like a book, a speaking activity, a pencil, a lecture, or a dictionary. Some technology may afford certain learning potentials, but it does not guarantee them. Technology-mediation can be very effective, but a bad technology-mediated activity is still bad.
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