Six case studies on usage of technology in relation to the philosophical, social and ethical factors in modern education system

The following are the case studies discussed in this paper.

1. The misuse of e-Mail technology has created ethical problems. Some critics think that technology tends to remove students from the moral implications of technology. Issues at stake include respect for privacy, the proper use in settings such as schools, different work places, using an appropriate level of formality, and having a sense of responsibility toward recipients. Analyze proper ways for educating secondary students to use e-mail technology responsibly.

2. Educators feel that technology helps solve social and political inequities in society. Many studies focus on the digital divide between African-American students and European-American students. In the US, the era of worldwide systematic impoverishment and social exclusion creates dual cities where there is an urban system socially and spatially polarized (between rich and poor). With this in mind, analyze the movement to integrate technology in education to promote equity between all students.

3. Discuss the multiple impacts of introducing technology into secondary education. Evaluate academic merits of introducing technology into the secondary education curriculum.

4. The teaching profession has historically been interactive. Which teaching methods have been proved most effective at providing critical thinking? Contrast conventional teaching methods to modern computerized teaching models. Is there evidence to suggest that teachers are going to lose their jobs as a result of modern computerized teaching models?

5. Internet access has the potential to increase students’ achievement in today’s schools. Summarize literature that establishes a connection between student achievement and Internet access. Predict the effect Internet access has on student achievement in K-12 classrooms.

6. Teachers frequently avoid the use of the Internet in their classrooms for different reasons. They are sometimes afraid of technology, and they may fear that their students will view inappropriate sites. Researchers have generally employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies investigating the Internet usage. Compare and contrast the potential benefits of using qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate this problem.

[...] For example, Thomas Edison said believe that it is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.” When he made this comment, it was in regards to motion pictures, but it fits in perfectly with technology (Weber 1994). Technology of the blackboard was new at some point and today multimedia computers and telecommunications are spoken of as if they were the masterpiece solutions to correct problems in public schools. [...]

[...] Once this aspect of the business was established, it took longer before the big e-mail providers, including MCI, Sprint, and AT&T, came to understand that between Fortune 2000 corporations sending e-mail by local area networks (LANs) and hackers who were trading information on bulletin board services there lay a huge and important market in small and home-based businesses. It was for these small businesses that e-mail would become a crucial component providing needed flexibility and access to information for clients. [...]

[...] The authors note further that their group has, over the past decade, worked to create research and development agenda to support reform in science education with particular emphasis on the use of powerful learning technologies" (Blumenfeld & Fishman p. 167). They further write, We have worked with teachers to develop project-based science curriculum and pedagogy and learner-centered technologies to support inquiry. These innovations, part of a family of constructivist teaching and learning approaches, are about keeping with recommendations by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Research Council. [...]