The Evolution of Instructional Technology: Overcoming Apprehension About the Use of Technology in the Classroom for Instruction

Contents

Introduction

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Bibliography

Introduction

Part I of the book notes that instructors’ apprehension is directly related to inadequate preparation regarding how to apply technology to the educational process. The author offers a comprehensive outline and solutions to overcome instructors’ apprehension through the implementation of well–conceived professional technology training program that allow instructors to learn at the pace that is challenging but, achievable.

Part II of the book describes major trends in the academic settings and a proposal that can help to bridge the gap between higher education administrators, and wages increases for academic instructors. The apparent trend can be avoided through the implementation of an Academic Salary Review Council (ASRC) to assist in determining the boundary of administrators, and instructor’s wage increases, and benefits based on academic rank and years of teaching experience. In addition, the book recommends a smooth and systematic form of departure from teaching from the textbook to the instructional use of technology to guide and deliver instruction. Technology includes electronic devices that can be programmed to store, retrieve, and output information with limited human intervention.

The book is intended for instructors, administrators, and students at schools, colleges, and universities and as a pinnacle for educational reform. The majority of school, college, and university instructors come from different educational backgrounds (such as the humanities, the natural sciences or social sciences). Many of them are not familiar with the use of technology in the classroom for instruction. The influx of technology in schools, colleges, and universities without training for the instructors is a critical education problem demanding immediate solutions. Education technology is governed by effective instruction and learning; therefore, instructors must be prepared for the crucial problem on how to use technology in the classroom for instruction.

Instructors are long-lasting transmitters of knowledge, unwavering authors of personal and professional lifelong careers, and enduring partners of instruction and learning. The integration of technology into the instructional process will create an effective and promising learning environment for both students and instructors.

Beyond any reasonable doubt, the educational system is at the brink of technology change, and the book is designed to revitalize the endeavors of the local, state, federal, and higher education administrators to implement a mandatory technology training program to assist instructors in acquiring the skills that will play an active role in current and future instruction and learning processes. Instructors are expected to develop skills in the use of instructional technology, maintain a dynamic equilibrium between instruction and learning, and be able to assume the role of functional education technology leaders.

The underlying factor behind the use of technology for instruction in the classroom is to convey to instructors that they are ultimately responsible for all levels and scope of the instructional use of technology to meet the need of the society, workforce, and understanding of enrolled learners. If school, college, and university instructors are deficient, the current and future learners will be deficient, the entire educational system will be deficient, and the future of the society will be morally and economically weak. The instructional use of technology in the education and learning process is about to outpace the use of textbooks. The immediacy of being able to create a standard document, save, retrieve, edit, spell-check, code and analyze data, and generate a printout has made technology a more powerful delivery tool than the textbook. The aim of this book is to provide guidelines for schools, colleges, and universities to restructure their course offerings, devise new and better techniques to augment the use of the textbook, and expand the instructor’s knowledge base to be able to fully apply technology to the instructional process.

The scope of the audience to which this book appeals dictates the instructional effectiveness as a suitable landing ground for educational reform. The author acknowledges the links between education, technology, the culture of instructors, and classroom instruction. In essence, recognizing the correlation among the educational system and the world of codified technology skills will assist in providing a deeper understanding and