Technology and Instruction -- Lessons Learned
(or When Using Technology, Take Your First Assumption And Throw It Out Because It Will Probably Be Incorrect)
Donna Tannehill
Rio Salado College

Lesson #1
Don't assume that just because some technology is familiar to you and all the people that you know it will be familiar to your students as well.

Every time you turn around you see web addresses, America Online advertisements, and commercials about surfing the web. So, everyone knows about the Internet, right? Right? That is the assumption I carried with me to an Arithmetic Review class last semester. I was teaming with the teacher that night to introduce a problem-based learning project we had developed. The project required the students to use Netscape to look up information on cars, insurance prices, and car payments.

"All right, class, we have some Web addresses that you can use to look things up on Netscape. Who in here has been on the Web?"

Not a single student raised his/her hand.

"Who has heard of the expression 'surfing the Web'?"

One or two hands went up. Needless to say, I was very surprised. The fact that they were not familiar with the Web did not keep them from picking up Web navigation very quickly, but if I had gone into the class with the assumption that they did not know anything about the Web, I would have done things a lot differently.

Lesson #2
When introducing new technology to your class, or a new aspect of technology that they have been using, multiply the time you think it will take by three -- at least.

I will not relate a particular experience here because there are too many to pick from. Suffice it to say, explaining new technology or a new feature to an entire class will always take much longer than you think that it will. If you budget extra time into your schedule, then you will not be hurried or stressed and can answer a lot of questions and make sure that all of your students are on track.

Lesson #3
Technology does not necessarily make things easier for students.

This semester, I am teaching College Mathematics via the Internet. I had each of my students submit an on-line introduction. When asked why they had chosen to take this class, one student wrote that he was taking the class via Internet because he thought that it would be easier. Students in general, and this student in particular, find that classes taught on the Internet are not always easier than those taught in real-time. I require my College Math students to read, do homework (submitted by mail), and take in-person tests just as I would for a traditional class. The students that do well are self-disciplined, responsible, and hard-working. There are many resources for them to get help on-line, by phone, or in person, but they must choose to take advantage of these.

Lesson #4
Technology does not necessarily save time.

Many semesters ago, I had the opinion that distance learning, Internet, and other alternative delivery mode classes were easier to teach because they took less time. With no lectures to prepare or classes to meet regularly, those teachers must have had all the time in the world! The opinion I had was based, as all opinions are, on the knowledge and experience I had at that time. Once I had taught using alternative forms of delivery, my opinion changed.

While teaching an Internet class may save me the time of actually appearing at a designated location on a certain day for a certain number of hours each week, it does not save me the preparation and feedback time. The day-to-day preparation time is less because I do not make formal presentations, but I still keep up with the material and the problems. Also, there was a lot of lead time to familiarize myself with the course and what the students would see on the Web. Feedback time is much greater than for a traditional class. Each of my students communicates with me several times during the week by sending messages via e-mail, calling me on the phone, or submitting homework which I grade promptly and return. Each of these tasks takes time, and that time is multiplied as the numbers of students in the class increased.

The more I teach, the more I learn, and the more I teach using technology, the faster those lessons come. I feel fortunate to be an instructor in this time of educational change and openness to the uses of technology for delivery and instruction.