Muhammad Betz (mbetz@sosu.edu)
Thu, 10 Jun 1999 15:39:36 -0500
From: "Muhammad Betz" <mbetz@sosu.edu> Subject: The Real Deal Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 15:39:36 -0500
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Hello IEFTS'ers:
One of my graduate courses this summer, called CyberRight, is a web-based
course for inservice teachers. For discussion purposes, I pointed students
to a N.Y. Times article, Non-Traditional Teachers More Likely to Use the Net
Internet By PAMELA MENDELS (Thanks to Arun-Kumar Tripathi for posting this
pointer on our forum!). After a week of Bulletin Board interchanges, an
upper elementary-level teacher from the Denison, Texas public school system
added his insight to the Constructivist-Traditionalist debate. I think it
is worth sharing.
Best Wishes,
Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
There seems to be a consensus among the members of the CyberRight group that
we should seek a balance of the traditional and the constructivist
approaches
to teaching. Those who would choose to make this us versus them are not
those
who will ultimately be the most successful. The purely traditional approach
may
be strong in discipline and knowledge but higher order thinking skills and
the
technological skills for today's world will be shallow. The overly
constructivist approach will have a tendency to overlook the underlying
knowledge and skills necessary to build a solid yet far reaching education.
Teachers should avoid the trap of getting settled into a comfortable routine
that at first may be effective but may grow stale for teacher and student.
Using programs that include a variety of learning styles (such as 4MAT) will
enable students to learn in a way that is most favorable to them but allows
them to become more proficient in other modalities.
Let's move the debate toward how we are going to most effectively utilize
the
great resource that is invading our world and our classrooms. How do we
include
it as an integral part of the education process as opposed to the driving
force.
I look forward to being a part of the move on our campus to ensure that our
students are not only technologically prepared for today's challenges but
have
also received an exemplary and well rounded education.
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