Main Focus of Technology is for Learning

I learned this week that while using technology to educate one has to remember that the main focus is for the students to learn and not get carried away with other variety of things that technology is used for.

“Learning technology is less effective or ineffective when the learning objectives are unclear and the focus of the technology use is diffuse.” (Schacter, J. 1999)

The above quote caught my attention because when I think of this quote I think of each individual student and their learning methods. Different students have different ways of not just grasping but retaining information. Some students might not be grasping what’s being taught with technology, some students might be better hands-on than listening. When using technology the main focus should be for the students to grasp the subject that is being taught and not so focused on figuring out how that particular teaching equipment works. I believe that the main point of using technology with teaching is to make learning easier and not the complications with technology. Every educator should know what works best for their students, with or without the help of technology.

Citation: Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved from http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf.