Would you use a bike or a Ferrari?

My instructor, Dr. Eugene Kowch, made a very interesting analogy today in regards to technology tools. He asked the class whether we would take a bike or drive a Ferrari to get some groceries at the store. The obvious answer is the bike as no one really needs a fancy car to pick up groceries (unless their bike was broken of course). The same analogy should apply when considering what technology tools to use in class. We should be asking ourselves if this tool will enhance the student’s learning or whether this is just a fancier way of doing a task that could be done more easily the way we do it now. Do we need to buy an iPad to watch movies when we have a perfectly functioning dvd player? Probably not. Could we use an iPad and install instructional gaming to support learning outcomes? Absolutely! So before buying or using that shiny new piece of technology we should always be asking ourselves if it will make a difference in our student’s learning.


What do you think?


WordPress.com Logo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Google+ photo


Connecting to %s