Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Designing, Implementing, and Reflecting on Instruction with Technology

A chapter that can be summed up in: Plan, Present, Motivate, Assess, Revise, and Repeat. The topic of most interest to me was the discussion about design and implementation of cognitive, affective and psychomotor objectives. These techniques of conveying preparing information stood as the most important and the most applicable technology teachers may have.
The cognitive objectives, which is revision of bloom’s taxonomy utilizes a simplistic workflow incorporating the key aspects of scaffolding to develop the ideas to gain an understanding of the subject matter. The progressive steps intended to lead to cognitive thought and creation is a necessary component of the minds of our children. By allowing students to gain the knowledge of how to approach problem solving and production they will start to learn how to think and not just respond.
The Affective Objectives are the implications and application of the ideals presented. The idea that higher learning is the objective, but if all else fails they will learn how to use the technology struck me as a strange ideal. A quote form the book seems to sum up the majority of the ideals of this book that I don’t agree with but understand, “The lowest effective level they may simply pay attention to the use of the technology as a tool.” (Page 265). This ideal makes me question the role intended for students in our society. As educators we should ask our selves what do we intend to create as a society through the way we teach?
Psychomotor Objectives, is the implementation of tasks to develop motor skills and hand eye coordination into the classroom. This idea is a strong truth. It should not be limited to the idea of learning to how to type and use a mouse. We have not evolved past the point of moving our bodies. Students will need to get up and move. Even though students spend almost eight hours a day in a chair during school the majority of the world moves around when they work. Be it farming, ranching, plumbing, electrical work, construction, mechanics, soldiers, nurses, doctors, and even cops. We need people that can move and have motor skills. People that only know how to sit at a desk will be useless for the majority of the jobs of the world. What kind of disservice will we do our children and our society if we have our student sit at their desks all day and never address the psychomotor objectives?
I agree with this chapter that it is highly necessary to make a plan for our students based on the needs of what they will need to be successful in life. Teacher will motivate the students, monitor their progress, assess their achievements, and revise their plans to accommodate with the short falls and achievement s of their initial plan.