Educational Technology empowers the learner. Traditionally learners enrol on a course and are given a timetable of classes which are held in a particular venue at a particular time. If the learner cannot attend, the opportunity is lost. Through technology learning resources are globally available 24/7.

Traditional classes are delivered at a pace determined by the instructor. The instructor also makes assumptions about learners expectations and prior knowledge. It is unlikely the instructor’s assumptions will be valid for every learner.

e-learning technology allows learners to access learning materials when and where they choose. If the learner already knows a topic s/he can skip the lesson, or jump straight to the assessment, just to be sure. If the learner needs to repeat a particular item s/he can do so as often as needed - without fear of embarrassment.

People learn in different ways. Traditional classroom learning is not suited to everyone. For example, some students quit school at the earliest opportunity but later obtained a first class honours degree through distance learning. Technology has the power to deliver learning in a variety of ways. Some people learn best by reading, some by watching audio-visual presentations, some by discussion, some by interacting. Technology can deliver learning in the way that is right for the individual, every learner can enjoy a unique learning experience.

Traditional education can be a passive experience for learners in which instructors transmit information for their absorption. Learners then regurgitate this information in assignments and exams. There is often a period of intense revision in which lots of facts are committed to memory only to be forgotten shortly after leaving the examination room. Technology mediated learning is a much more active involving learner engagement and learning through experience. The result is likely to be better retention and a greater ability to apply acquired knowledge to real life.

The greater adoption of pre-existing learning materials (Reusable Learning Objects) is likely to result in the provision of higher quality resources to learners and savings in time (and hence money) to instructors and institutions.

The use of Computer Based Assessment can benefit both learners (in terms of self-diagnosis and instant feedback) and educators (in terms of saved time and effort).

Virtual Classroom

Technological Gadgets in Learning

Laptops,ipod,mobile phone,iphone, are gadgets that are taking the place of textbooks and libraries.The internet connectivity has brought in a revolution in the minds of even babies.Education has taken a significant overhauling with technological advances being widely used in effective teaching and mentoring.Teachers have had to undergo a seachange in updating their online skills so as to reach their students.

Online social networking sites such as Orkut,Facebook keep students engaged for hours.Or it is games online.So,it is only imperative that we use online tools and gadgets to teach and get them interested in aiming for higher grades.

Distance education is easier these days as laptops and internet connectivity have given the Universities faster means of reaching more students in real time.

Visual learning is extremely effective in learning.And so, we have Powerpoint presentations made by teachers and also students being asked to create one to be graded later.Animated videos are made and shared to explain a concept in math or physics.Languages are learnt using VOIP such as Skype,Google Talk.Google Docs,wikis,blogs are tools being increasingly used on collaborative classroom/online projects.Podcasts of classroom notes are downloaded to listen as students commute.Universities are making these podcasts available to their students.

Online learning is where the tutor and student/students in different parts of the globe come together for a virtual class at an appointed time.In real time,they share an interactive whiteboard,where pictures,animated videos,powerpoint presentations can be shared for effective and engaging teaching.Audio and video is possible along with a chatboard in the sidebar.Wiziq is one such platform which I have been using effectively.Teaching languages or any subject under the sun,is a breeze with this free platform.

Before technology is purchased or teachers participate in their first professional development session, the educational goals for students should be determined. What do students need to learn, and how can technology promote those learning goals? To answer these questions, the school can convene a technology planning team comprising administrators, teachers, other instructional staff, technology coordinators, students, parents, and representatives of the community. This team first develops a clear set of goals, expectations, and criteria for student learning based on national and state standards, the student population, and community concerns.

Next, it determines the types of technology that will best support efforts to meet those goals. The viewpoints of parents and community members are helpful in presenting a broader perspective of skills that students need to succeed after school. In fact, in determining the school's technology goals benefits the entire educational process

Rather than using technology for technology's sake, the planning team ensures that particular educational objectives are achieved more efficiently, in more depth, or with more flexibility through technology. It is stated, "The obligation is for educators, practitioners, and educational policymakers to think about what they are after. Only with clear goals can educators be intelligent about how much they want to spend for what purpose and under what conditions." If there is a clear understanding of the purpose of and type of technology used, evaluating the impact is easier and more valuable. According to the experts, school districts that successfully integrate technology show a clear and meaningful connection between technology and larger educational goals.

Next, the planning team develops a vision of how technology can improve teaching and learning. Without a vision, lasting school improvement is almost impossible. Team members come to consensus in answering the question How Will You Use Technology to Support Your Vision of Learning? Essential to this vision is an emphasis on meaningful, engaged learning with technology, in which students are actively involved in the learning process. Educational technology is less effective when the learning objectives are unclear and the focus of the technology use is diffuse

The school's vision of learning through technology also emphasizes the importance of all students having equitable access and use of technology—females, special-needs students, minority students, disadvantaged students, students at risk of educational failure, rural and inner-city students. All students need opportunities to use technology in meaningful, authentic tasks that develop higher-order thinking skills.

Many people warn of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Will children lose their ability to relate to other human beings? Will they become dependent on technology to learn? Will they find inappropriate materials? The same was probably said with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately, but all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used-- interactively and with guidance-- they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills.

Inappropriately used in the classroom, technology can be used to perpetuate old models of teaching and learning. Students can be "plugged into computers" to do drill and practice that is not so different from workbooks. Teachers can use multimedia technology to give more colorful, stimulating lectures. Both of these have their place, but such use does not begin to tap the power of these new tools.
In this area, you will find descriptions of how computers can be used to stimulate and develop writing skills, collaborate with peers in foreign countries, do authentic kinds of research that is valuable to the adult world, and do complex kinds of problem solving that would otherwise be impossible.

Classroom Applications:
Implications of New Media for K-12 Education
Virtual Reality researcher testimony to Congress on the implications of introducing new technologies in the classroom. Link to an outline of important themes and policy issues surrounding the use of information technology to support innovative models of teaching and learning.
Nanoscale Science and Technology: Connections with K-12 Education
UW professor and researcher considers the implications of nanoscale science and technology for K-12 education.
The Web of Knowledge: Vision, Design, and Practice A description of James Burke's Knowledge Web project and its application in the classroom.
Intercultural Education and Virtual Reality
K-Web project manager, give us an update on this project developed by James Burke.
Advancement of Science Knowledge In Language Learning ( ASKILL ) Two educational researchers discuss a project that focuses on enhancing English language acquisition at the middle school level by English Language Learners through the study of science.
Learning with the Internet

A researcher shares how to effectively use technology as a positive student learning experience.
Changing the Face of Education in Missouri
A statewide education program that focuses on the use of technology in the classroom.
Generation Y: Student Inclusion = Technology Infusion
A curriculum model that combines project based learning for students with professional development for teachers.

Technology and MI How technology can be used to implement the Multiple Intelligences theory in the classroom.
Linking Students with Their World: A Good Day in French Class
One practical and successful application of special technology in the classroom.
Technology in Environmental Education
How technology not only enhances learning but also helps students to explore and understand the world around them.
Listen Up!: Using Audio Files in the Curriculum
How to add audio files to online course content.

A New Generation Meets the Ancient Mariner
Literature can come alive for students as a sensory experience by using new technologies. The text remains intact, but these technological enhancements can provide a context which connects the work to music, art, history and more.
Harnessing the Best of Technology for an Exceptional Information Literacy Library Program
A library program that combines student research, technology and learning to think critically.

Working Together: Students with Disabilities and Computer Technology
Special needs students can particularly benefit from the use of new technology.

What's ONADIME?
Onadime Composer is a software tool kit for making multi-media, multi-sensory real time interactive computer programs for teaching, learning and entertainment.

The Internet:
Questions for Potential Online Instructors
Online educator addresses some pedagogical, sociological, and psychological issues educators need to examine before they begin to create an online course.
Lessons on Teaching Writing from Website Design
University of Washington Professor showcases ways that students can transfer skills used to build a website to the writing process.
Clickers, Be Aware!
Through their experiences teaching a senior-level methods class and supervising student teachers, two teacher educators found that teacher candidates are increasingly looking to the Internet for help with lesson planning. However, many lack discretion in selecting effective lesson plans from the proliferation of websites. This article points out the importance of raising candidates' awareness of pitfalls and informing them of ways to identify reliable websites and effective lesson plans.

Instant Messaging: Friend or Foe of Student Writing?
Graduate student in Educational Technology discusses the impact of "internet speak" on student writing.

The Learning Space: A Unique Online Community of Teachers
A grassroots organization uniting teachers on the internet.
Releasing the Isolated Warrior
What teachers need in order to make use of new technologies in the classroom.
e-Quality
When the internet was born, educational leaders had high hopes that access to information would make education better for everyone, everywhere in the world. Now, in the year 2000, we see that these hopes have been dashed. Too few have access to the technologies. Schools do not have the equipment necessary to make use of the information superhighway, many do not even have access to telephones, much less the internet. Dr. Masullo and Dr. Ruiz propose a new way to renew the promise of equity access to education.

People Are the Only Thing that Matter According to our Department of Education, in the US only 14% of poor and minority classrooms are wired. Thus, even for developed countries, diminished resources, lack of educators, and safety in the schools are higher priority issues than figuring out how to make the Internet and the Web new vehicles for improved learning.
The Future of Learning in a New Free World and how to Build a World Wide Learning Web
The author of the New Learning Revolution notes that millions of teachers and billions of students continue to work mainly in isolation, yet in today's world of instant communication, collaboration is essential in order to make the most effective changes.
Americans All: Searching for Sponsors for a History and Civics Data Base System
It is program that will serve as the national operating entity to gather, organize, distribute and maintain electronic databases that will support how individual states teach and test history and civics at various grade levels. These inclusive databases will comprise the complete political, social and cultural history of the nation, organized by state and grade level.
The Guilds: A New Curriculum for Education and Internet Reform
Could the internet become the forum for a lifelong learning program for all?

Virtual and Augmented Reality:
Virtual Reality In Education
A science teacher shares ideas on virtual reality and how it could potentially enhance a multiple intelligences teaching strategy.
Learning Through Virtual Reality
How virtual reality can help students learn and what kinds of virtual reality models are available now to be used in the classroom.
Augmented Reality in Education
A pioneer in the field of AR explains its practical uses.
Augmented Reality and Education: Current Projects and the Potential for Classroom Learning
More on the future of augmented reality.

Multimedia:
Multimedia Technology and Children's Development
Implications of the technology revolution.

Technology As the Catalyst
The author suggests that multimedia technology (a marriage of technology and the arts) can be utilized in ways that enhance the unique characteristics of each learner.
Learning by Design: Integrating Technology into the Curriculum Through Student Multimedia Design Projects
In order for technology to be effective in today's education system, it needs to be intelligently integrated into a rich, meaning-centered curriculum.
Multimedia Encourages New Learning Styles
Modern technological tools let us work with information in ways that honor the unique learning modalities of each student.

Possible Actions
Encourage students to use the web as a research tool on a topic of great personal interest. Give parameters for the expected product, but let the student emerge as chief designer.
Review your favorite on-line educational game or activity. List the intelligences a student would have to tap to do well. Create a multiple intelligence rubric for the piece.
Create an extended learning program which focuses on on-line learning activities that could be used to "reteach" skills which students missed in class.
Identify software/on-line learning activities which can be used to accommodate a learner with unique learning capacities.

Choose one state standard relevant to your teaching and have each student create a problem which requires the performance of that standard. Use the web to find the resources to solve the problem.