IMPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

CARLA FAYE G. CAUGUIRAN,MAED

The field of education is ever changing. Teaching today is vastly differ from what we use to know. The focus on teaching to the 21st century learners is no longer on memorization but rather using multimedia to create new insights and make learning functional on the part of the learners. Gone are the days where the teacher is the only source of information.

The traditional way of teaching has set the road to new innovations and advance ways to explore how we learn, teach and acquire knowledge.

The use of multimedia has found to be one of effective ways to engage learners to learn the different concepts and disciplines easily. Through the use of PowerPoint presentations in classroom teaching, eBook or Electronic Textbooks, and tablets containing the coverage of the lessons are some of the form of multimedia used to give learners quick, fast, and easy access with their daily lessons and activities.

Furthermore, Technology is bound to rule our present and our future. This is an escapable fact that we need to face. It has ruled over different facets of our life and influenced the way we live. Computers and Internet technology in particular have undoubtedly revolutionized the field of education. It plays an important role in this field. The student teacher interaction has drastically changed since the introduction of technology-based class structure. The teacher is no longer the centre of the classroom but rather a middleman between information and student. Instead of being passive listeners, the students now become active in gaining, rearranging and displaying information.

Both education and learning are life time processes, they have no limit of when to start and stop. Learning helps in gaining new experiences in our everyday life, thus changing our way of thinking, living and judging human behavior. Through education students are getting various types of information. Information technology has the ability of speeding up information delivery so this ability can be used in improving the teaching-learning environment. Both teachers and students are using various technologies to achieve specific academic goals. Information technologies have reduced the cost of education. For example, the increased use of internet broadband makes it easy for students to access academic information on time. Also, teachers use this broadband internet to create and deliver information using videos and graphic illustrations. It enables teachers and students to communicate with each other through electronic email. Information technology speeds the transfer and distribution of information. Through online examinations students are getting degrees which make them fit for better employment. Today educational institutions publish their results online, so students need not have to wait for long to know about their performance. IT also facilitates group discussion. Information technology has changed the way pupils learn through introduction of audio-visual techniques in education.

With this, the Department of Education made an important step to strengthen the use of multimedia in teaching. DepEd, as published in Inquirer.Net on March 14,2012 have partnered with Vibal Publishing house and Microsoft company to take the initiative to enter digital era among classrooms to facilitate learning better and make learning convenient for the students.

This step taken by the department of Education was a huge manifestation that technology has an immense role in the teaching and learning process today. Especially, with the integration of globalization, it requires students to cope with global trends to be fit in the work force not only in the country but also in the global work force.

As teachers of 21st century students, we should take the challenge of innovations in teaching of different subject areas through the use of multimedia in teaching to make learning functional and fun.

In management, if teaching and learning can be easier with the presence of technology, similarly, management of schools is believed also to be easier with technology. For decades, rapid changes have been taking place in all facets of human life, including office technologies, as a result of technological advancement (Davenport, 2013). Margaret and Pac (2009) state that for an office to run smoothly, facts and accurate information are necessary for quick decisionmaking, and modern office technologies can help managers be focused and in contact with their co-workers. It can, therefore, be said that having advanced office technologies can increase a manager’s work performance, because such technologies make work flexible. According to Ndlovu (2009), businesses need to be managed effectively so that they have highly productive employees executing goals aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives. Office technologies play a part in helping businesses meet these strategic objectives. Modern technologies need to be managed effectively, because during their use, a business’s most important information can easily be lost.

In managing schools, technology provides new ways to manage the school system well. It provides easier access to students’ information, students’ performance. this is essential in making correct and appropriate decisions involving some important matters.

Furthermore, technology is essential to school heads to capacitate their teachers to provide better instruction to students.

All the aforementioned claims are advantages of technology in teaching-learning process and in management. However, these will not be translated into desirable results if not utilized properly and accordingly.

-oOoThe author is Teacher III at Tinajero National High School -Annex