Technology Comes Last

Now you may be thinking, "What's up with that title?" "This is a technology blog, what is she talking about!?" We are always looking to experts to back our decisions in teaching. Harris and Hofer have 5 steps to planning a lesson and I have studied those steps in my technology class. The steps have choosing the technological tool last. I agree with their steps and think it's a good basis to ensure that you are teaching a lesson with a learning purpose in mind for your students. Read on to learn more about it!

Here is a short summary of their 5 steps:

1. Determine the lesson's purpose
2. Make pedagogical decisions - they have 8 continua to help guide you
3. Select activity types
4. Select the appropriate assessment
5. Choose the right technological tool

[Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0iefVzmSlbtXzFWYUd3bGxiWHM/edit]

As you can see in the steps above, the technology piece of the lesson doesn't have a role until the very end. The reason I think this is a beneficial way to teach is because it doesn't allow the technology to take center stage. Let's face it, technology is exciting and fun to use, but we need to remember that our students' learning is our main goal and how we reach that goal is the important piece; not what technological tool we want to use. Once the learning goal is stated and we know what we want our students to learn, then we can begin brainstorming ideas of how to reach that goal. Harris and Hofer have a list of different activity types for varying learning goals. 

Harris and Hofer's idea of thinking of the technology last is a point I have made in previous blog posts. Not only when it comes to technology, but any lesson, we need to pinpoint the learning goal before we decide the activity students will do. This is not how I have planned in the past, but through observation and learning in my classes this semester, I have come to understand that this is the best way to plan in order to ensure the learning goal is met. 

To every argument, there are two sides. Here is a pro/con list to planning the technological tool last:

Overall, I would say this is a good process to adopt, or at least consider, when creating lessons. Remember, this doesn't just apply to technology lessons, but rather your teaching as a whole. It is always good practice to think about your goal and what you want your students to learn before anything else.