Agricultural Education, School and Society

Lesson 11:	Technology
Introduction:	During an introductory seminar in my graduate program, Dr. Ralph Bender expressed some doubts about using "this new fangled technology" after having some problems with a piece of equipment. The piece of equipment in question was an overhead projector. Many schools and teachers have moved considerably beyond "overhead projector" technology. However, the use and role of technology in teaching is still a topic of discussion. There are a variety of opinions as to how much (or how little) technology should be used in teaching. In this lesson we will examine a variety of issues related to educational technology. As an agriculture teacher, you will be expected to use educational technology.
Learning Objectives:	Upon completion of this unit the learner should be able to: Understand the role of technology in Agricultural Education. Identify resources for keeping current with technological changes in the Agricultural industry. Describe some of the technologies useful to an Agricultural Education teacher.
Instructional Activities:	Take the interactive pretest on educational technology. Read Pages 454-462 "Technology as a tool for effective teaching" in Sadker and Sadker. Does technology help students learn? What is the role of technology in the classroom? Read this article and see if you agree. Education Week offers the 10th edition of their annual report on technology. See what they found from the 'Digital Decade', explore other articles, and see how North Carolina ranks in Technology and Education in the State Technology Grades. Spend some time at this site poking into the nooks and crannies. The National Technology Education Plan titled "e-Learning: Putting a World-Class Education At The Fingertips of All Children" contains 5 goals for the future of technology in education. As an educator, you should be familiar with these goals and this document. Have you ever heard of a virtual high school? You might want to take a quick tour of several virtual high schools? How long will it be before we have a virtual agricultural school or a regular high school offering virtual agricultural courses? Michigan Virtual High School Kentucky Virtual High School Florida Virtual School Illinois Virtual High School If you really want to be on the cutting edge of technology you might subscribe to: From Now On (The Educational Technology Journal) (it is free. There are some neat cartoons and other good information on this web site) Syllabus (this is also free) - Even though this site is designed for higher education, it doesn't take long for technology first used at the university level, to move into the high school. The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education also teaches a graduate course on information technologies. Go to the AEE 526 web site and peruse the list of lessons that are on line. Explore a few of the lessons. Several lessons have a pretest if you want to see how much you know about some of the technologies.
Lagniappe:	Since many of us are country folks, it might be helpful to learn about Technology for Country Folks.
Assignment:	If you are currently teaching, please send an e-mail to your classmates describing the types of "educational technology" you have in your classroom. If you are not teaching, go to http://www.borg.com/~rjgtoons/edu.html and find an education/technology cartoon that you think might illustrate problems teachers might have in using technology in teaching. Either save the cartoon to your computer as an image and then insert it in an e-mail to your classmates or send them the URL for the cartoon. Explain why you selected the cartoon.

Take the interactive pretest on educational technology.

Read Pages 454-462 "Technology as a tool for effective teaching" in Sadker and Sadker.

Does technology help students learn? What is the role of technology in the classroom? Read this article and see if you agree.

Education Week offers the 10th edition of their annual report on technology. See what they found from the 'Digital Decade', explore other articles, and see how North Carolina ranks in Technology and Education in the State Technology Grades. Spend some time at this site poking into the nooks and crannies.

The National Technology Education Plan titled "e-Learning: Putting a World-Class Education At The Fingertips of All Children" contains 5 goals for the future of technology in education. As an educator, you should be familiar with these goals and this document.

Have you ever heard of a virtual high school? You might want to take a quick tour of several virtual high schools? How long will it be before we have a virtual agricultural school or a regular high school offering virtual agricultural courses?

If you really want to be on the cutting edge of technology you might subscribe to:

From Now On (The Educational Technology Journal) (it is free. There are some neat cartoons and other good information on this web site)
Syllabus (this is also free) - Even though this site is designed for higher education, it doesn't take long for technology first used at the university level, to move into the high school.

The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education also teaches a graduate course on information technologies. Go to the AEE 526 web site and peruse the list of lessons that are on line. Explore a few of the lessons. Several lessons have a pretest if you want to see how much you know about some of the technologies.