MODERN EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY WITH CREATIVITY EDUCATION

MODERN EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY WITH

CREATIVITY EDUCATION

R.KARTHICK

ASST., PROF., IN EDUCATION (ENGLISH)

SIVANTHI COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

UDANGUDI.

ABSTRACT

At present, the multi-media technology, network technology and satellite transmission

technology, as the representative of the information technology is developing very quickly.

Modern educational technology based on information technology play a significant role in

promoting the modernization of education. Modern education technology will have a

significant impact on ideas, forms, process, methods, teaching and management of education.

Application of modern education technology in continuing education will be a driving force to

continuing education innovation. Using modern education theory and modern information

technology in design, development, utilization, evaluation and management of the teaching

process and then teaching resources will help to achieve the efficient development of

continuing education.

INTRODUCTION

 Modern educational technology changed people’s traditional continuing education

idea Firstly, modern educational technology made open educational concept become a reality.

Through Radio and Television University, distance education, internet training, and other open

education, a large number of eager learners can easily get learning opportunities and learn more

to change their career. On the second hand, modern educational technology changed the single teachers and student’s relationship in the past, into relationships of teachers and students, students and teaching resources, students and students. The change of education elements became a positive contributing factor to the development of education itself. Thirdly, modern educational technology made personalized learning one of the characteristics of modern continuing education. With widely utilization of modern educational technology, personalized learning gain conditions for rapid development. Educational mode customized for each learner met the needs of personalized learning, and improved the quality of education greatly. Fourthly, modern educational technology expanded the connotation of life-long education. Continuous learning and anytime, anywhere learning became landmark signs of an efficient learning community. Fifthly, modern educational technology improved the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching drastically. Widely application of modern educational technology increased the number of participants dramatically and promoted the reform of education system of China. At the same

time, the teaching efficiency got fundamental changes. The social and economic benefits of continuing education have been greatly developed.

Modern society has special requirements of life-long learning. Employees need further

education without  leaving their post, technical staff working in special hours need learning in

special time, farmers in remote regions need suitable cultivation technology. Because of different

conditions, there are different needs for the form of continuing education. Modern educational technology changed the single teaching form to a variety of teaching methods. Kinds of real-time or non-real-time distance learning methods solve the difficulties such as learning without leaving post. Various forms of mobile storage of courses, delivered to the same hands of learners, help to match the scattered learning needs of learners.

            Modern technologies have become a ubiquitous component of our daily lives. As Warschauer and Grimes (2007) point out, millions of people now use modern technology to interact, collaborate, network, and entertain through blogs, wikis, social networking tools, and multiplayer games; many of these individuals enjoy the thrill of instant self-publishing and feel stimulated by their dynamic interactions online. During the past decade, the shift from Web 1.0 to 2.0 has been remarkable. People do not merely read and retrieve information, but also create and share information.

The aim of this study was to explore ELT (English Language Teaching) student teachers’ perspectives on the use of modern technologies in language learning contexts. In order to do so, 139 student teachers from a state university in Turkey were given training on web technologies along with their practical usages. Three months after this training, a questionnaire adapted from previous instruments was administered to participating student teachers. Moreover, the follow up interviews were carried out with only 20 student teachers in five groups, the aim of which was to take a deeper insight about the items in the questionnaire. Both the questionnaire and the interview results revealed that student teachers seemed to have positive feelings about the use of web technologies despite some challenges such as lack of technological devices encountered.

            Globalization has always been the subject of profound debate and concern in a number of circles. In his influential book, Friedman (2005) analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century and defines ten flatteners that he recognizes as leveling the global playing field. One of the most important flatteners, he claims, is “the steroids” which include wireless, voice over Internet, and file sharing. Furthermore, personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol can be classified, according to Friedman (2005) as the new technologies that cause the world to be flattened each day. Tsui and Tollefson (2007) maintain that “globalization is effected by two inseparable mediation tools: technology and English to respond to the rapid changes brought about by globalization" (p.1). In other words, technology and English are two pioneering aspects of the current age that bring about societal and political changes. New technologies and services are among recent developments that foster participation in formal and informal networks, giving individuals and groups access to global communities. Application of these technologies is, obviously, manipulating different dimensions of people’s lives, such as the way they think, communicate, learn and teach. In a sharp contrast with Web 1.0 applications including browsing and searching on the net and reading an operation, Web 2.0 technologies allow users to construct, that is, to write to the web. This shift from a tool of passive reference to

one of collaboration to active exciting opportunities for individuals in a variety of ways has been commented in various levels thus far. In order to accommodate this shift, many adults struggle with the use of new technologies in their own lives. Because once the world has been flattened and the new forms of collaboration made available to more and more people, the winners will be those who learn the habits, processes and skills of digital age most quickly. As far as education is concerned, Web 2.0 technologies seem to have profound potentials in education due to their open nature, ease of use and support for effective collaboration and communication. It is a fact that today’s students, as Prensky (2001) calls “digital natives”, employ technology differently and learn differently from their parents and teachers. Digital natives are technology savy, and confident in the positive value of technology. They believe in the importance of technology as “an essential and preferred component of every aspect of their lives. In order to teach these digital natives properly, it is mandatory that teachers themselves be aware and proficient users of technology. In recent years, teacher technology preparation has been given more importance as “the single most important step toward integrating technology into education”. A lot of studies carried out on teachers’ perceptions about the use of technology indicate that most teachers are somewhat aware of the importance of using technology in their classrooms to address 21st century students, but this awareness is not reflected in practice. There is a lot of evidence that the majority of teachers do not use technology when they teach with the exceptions of using PowerPoint presentations and email exchanges.

CONCLUSION:

 Thus, teacher education programmers’ are obliged to provide pre-service teachers with recent innovations that occupy key roles in education. This way it is expected that teacher trainees are likely to utilize technologies in their own future classrooms to cater for the increasing needs of 21st century kids. Otherwise, there would be unfilled gaps between teachers and learners.

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