1. Theories of Technology
1.1. Media Ecology
1.1.1. Principles
1.1.1.1. The media can control the format, type, velocity and the amount of information we can receive each day.
1.1.1.2. The information we receive can affect our behaviors and habits.
1.1.1.3. The media can also make our lives easier or more difficult by telling us what and what not to do in specific areas of our life.
1.1.2. Implications
1.1.2.1. In education it is important to teach students about the media and to be critical thinkers. We should include topics of the media into our classroom discussions to help students develop these critical thinking skills.
1.2. Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
1.2.1. Principles
1.2.1.1. Confirms that the actions we do mold technology instead of the belief that technology molds man.
1.2.2. Implications
1.2.2.1. Some teacher will not be willing to include technology and accept it in their classrooms. This will be hard for students that are technologically apt, and learn better through this form.
2. Philosophy of Teachnology
2.1. Principles
2.1.1. "Teachnology" is originated from: "Philosophy of Teaching"
2.1.2. Philosophy of Teaching are the skills, values, beliefs a student teacher develops from all the theoretical studies from the books.
2.1.3. The term "Teachnology" is the mix of the theoretical teaching skills with the use of technology. It's not limited to in-classroom projects but it's expanded to online courses, audio courses, DVD courses, professional courses.
2.2. Implications
2.2.1. New teachers are needing to adapt more to technology as their students are more technologically advanced. New teachers will need to be exposed in school to different technologies before teaching within a classroom.
3. Theories of Learning
3.1. Cognitive Load
3.1.1. Principles
3.1.1.1. Based on cognitive human abilities, as the mental process we use everyday to memorize, create, understand, identify, analyze information
3.1.1.2. The cognitive load theory analyzes the limits of the memory in the brain, there are 2 types:
3.1.1.2.1. Working Memory
3.1.1.2.2. Long-Term Memory
3.1.2. Implications
3.1.2.1. Teaching how to memorize is a repetitious thing
3.1.2.2. Teachers need to be careful not to overload/underload students' brains in the classroom. An overload (too much stimulus), confuses students and makes them less likely to understand material. Under loading their brains (not enough stimulus) bores students and they will learn nothing.
3.2. Constructivism
3.2.1. Principles
3.2.1.1. The fact that knowledge is built through time
3.2.1.2. Every person is responsible of the amount of knowledge develops, the more we do, the more we learn
3.2.1.3. With every new experience we face, our knowledge is growing more and more
3.2.2. Implications
3.2.2.1. Constructivism works well with students that have previous knowledge on subject area. However, those students that do not have previous knowledge will be less likely to catch up and learn.
3.3. Connectivism
3.3.1. Priciples
3.3.1.1. Is a new era theory, it explains that knowledge is acquired through electronically social interaction, using technological tools as forums, blogs, websites, podcast
3.3.1.2. The learning process is made through connections of nodes or information sources
3.3.2. Implications
3.3.2.1. Students are more and more technologically advanced and make connections all over the world. Teachers also need to keep up to date with technology so as to assist their students in this changing and advancing society.
3.4. Behaviorism
3.4.1. Principles
3.4.1.1. Knowledge can be taught or learning can take place by using a specific stimulation (stimulus and response).
3.4.1.2. Using a plan of teaching, where you measure the previous behavior, after you observe the behavior and compare the result. If the goal is not succeed then the rules change. Examples of behaviorism, include the use of repetition, reward and/or punishment.
3.4.2. Implications
3.4.2.1. Learning is not always dependent on behavior, some students will be "excellent" students in their behavior but their grades may reflect otherwise.
3.4.2.2. The use of punishment and rewards does not work for all students. For example a student that is competitive and is likely to get a high grade will work harder for a reward because they know its achievable. However, a student who is passive, and is average in grades may not work hard for a reward because they already know that they will not be able to beat the competitive student in their grades.
4. TPACK
4.1. Principles
4.1.1. TPACK is the acronymous for "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge"
4.1.2. TPACK is a combination of three important elements of knowledge:
4.1.2.1. Technological Knowledge
4.1.2.1.1. The knowledge of using technology to teach
4.1.2.2. Content Knowledge
4.1.2.2.1. It's the knowledge we have learned in school, it can be all the years from kindergarten to PhD in a specific subject area or in general
4.1.2.3. Pedagogical Knowledge
4.1.2.3.1. Different techniques of how to teach and which ways to effectively present information to pupils.
4.1.3. The key of TPACK is to learn how to implement the three kinds of knowledge at the same time, providing with a lot of tools and information to the student to achieve the best knowledge.
4.1.4. A diagram if often use to represent the TPACK intersection. APA citation: http://tpack.org (2013). Using the TPACK Image. [image online] Available at: http://www.matt-koehler.com/tpack/wp-content/uploads/tpack.jpg [Accessed: July 28, 2013].
4.2. Implications
4.2.1. Teachers will need to be equipped with knowledge of technology, how and when to use it within their lessons. Overall, teachers will need to be balanced in their pedagogical, content and technology knowledge to achieve best possible results.