Learning technologies and scaffolding in high school physics instruction

Technology in Education

For purposes of completing this study of the use of technology in higher education, a local high school was visited, where the technology coordinator provided a demonstration of the learning systems used there. In addition, one senior-level course in Physics was attended where the advance imaging and learning technologies where shown. What was unique about this visit was how easily these technologies can be made to align with the student's specific learning needs and requirements. This technique is called scaffolding, and is attained through the use of personalized applications and portals of the teaching systems in use (Najjar, 2008). This analysis reviews the hardware, software and support considerations, as well as discussing the technology competency skills required by educators.

Analysis of Learning Technologies in Higher Education

In teaching advanced mathematics and science courses, the high school has found that enabling greater collaboration and repetition of concepts is leading to higher test scores as well. The use of technologies to enable greater collaboration and communication as part of the leading process continues to show significant performance and accountability gains (diFilipo, 2011). The Physics classroom had a 800 Series Smart Technologies board installed, along with synchronization of student's iPads that were on a protected Wi-Fi connection just for this system and class. This ensures that students stay only on the course content on their iPads and don't get and check Facebook or surf the Internet while in class. There was a secured Virtual Private Network (VPN) enabled through a Cisco Systems SRP547W Platform Wireless router. The teacher was using an Apple MacBook Pro. The 800 Series Smart technologies white board interfaces directly to the MacBook Pro-using standard software provided with the projection device. In addition to the MacBook Pro-running Apple OS X, 800 Series Smart technologies whiteboard and W-Fi network enabled by the SRP547W Platform Wireless router, there were also flat panel screens towards the back of the lab as well. A relatively simple sound system with two-foot tall speakers was mounted at the front of the class. This entire hardware and software configuration could be launched within a minute and could be quickly used to show how abstract, highly complex concepts could be reduced to step-by-step instructions and graphical examples. The emerging best practices of creating effective learning systems and platforms is predicated on an immersive multimedia experience for students to gain greater insights than would be possible through didactic approaches to teaching alone (Adonis, 2006).

Conclusion

The use of technologies in education is progressively rapidly as the long-held assumptions of education are increasingly questioned as to their effectiveness. Didactic, often memorization-driven learning is giving way to more interactive approaches. The classroom visited underscored these factors and showed how powerful they are when used by an instructor who thoroughly understands the key concepts and frameworks being presented.