Design of a procedure that facilitates the integration and combination of several technologies into the teaching-learning process

Abstract

One of the reasons why many teachers are not integrating technology in their classrooms is the lack of prior experiences in using it as a productivity tool and for teaching. The teachers will not integrate technology into their practice just because they have to. Even more, if they are currently trying to use it, they may abandon an innovation (with computers and/or related technology) just because they are unable to use it consistently and effectively. In this work, the author presents the relationship between the teaching-learning process and the technology with the intention of eliminates this problem. The methodology used by the author to develop this work is the action research. The problem detected by him is the one defined above and then he formulates the following hypothesis: "If the teachers understand how the teaching-learning process is developed and how technology can be used to collaborate in this process, they will integrate it more efficiently". To deal with the problem stated, the author proposes a procedure that helps the teacher to integrate a given set of technology applications into the teaching-learning process. The procedure is used to develop a prototype that uses only the technology applications related with Internet. The procedure and the prototype was presented to a group of experts involved in the implantation of several teaching media, and they expressed the following:

a. The procedure facilitates the work of the pedagogical advisor and the teacher on the selection of the technology tools and, helps to link successfully a pedagogical design with the use of different technology media. b. The prototype integrates several technologies through a single interface that is user friendly. Its modularity allows to incorporate several "plug-in" Internet technologies. Finally, the author found the following general conclusions: a. Information Technologies alios access to a rich interactive learning experience wich can, in some cases, exceed the interactivity in a traditional classroom. b. The procedure presented by the author provides assistance to the pedagogical advisors and the teacher to move the interactivity into the classroom toward a more student-centered approach. c. It seems that improvements in university teaching are likely to come from multiple media. d. With the procedure proposed, the teacher retain a key role.