The chicken or the egg? The age-old conundrum continues to confound us. There are arguments for both the animal and the 3-dimensional object from which it came. There is a similar argument that exists when working to incorporate technology. Which comes first: The objective or the app? Our online world is flush with myriad applications. A technology user has multiple app-based options for essentially anything he or she wants to do. But is that the first step when working to integrate technology?
In my opinion, the answer is no. When planning to expose students to technology hardware and software, we must not use the flash of the iPad, laptop, or engaging application as our means to an end. We must plan as we have always planned: By focusing on the objectives and our curriculum frameworks. Once we have identified what our objective is, only then can we search for an app that meets our objectives. We cannot force the app to meet our goals; we must be clear with out objectives and then determine the app that works best.
By going about this the opposite way--choosing an app before we have establish objectives--we run a variety of risks. If we do not make our objectives clear before we integrate technology, our lessons will devolve in the same way they would without technology. This will snowball into students becoming confused and overwhelmed by the technology, thus not inspiring confidence in use. Because so many students today are naturally gifted when it comes to the use of technology, we must set them up with objective-based lessons for success. Their future success in the 21st century, globally-connected economy depends on it. By modeling the need for an objective first, we are showing our students the best way to go about their work as they move through school and into careers.
We return to the question: Chicken or egg? Process or product? In order to have a successful product and process, the goals (Read: Objectives) must be clearly delineated and the application must be matched to the goals.
This is really insightful, Sam. You're right about the importance of planning how we've always planned and then seeing if there's a device or app that has the affordances to make the lesson better.
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