Indeed I think technology should be used in teaching due to the numerous advantages it offers. Podcasts, online platforms such Moodle and Blackboard are good examples of online platforms that support the education process. But most importantly, I think the use of technology in education is not just a tools for more efficiency, but also a necessity. Students themselves use technology more and more outside educational establishments, therefore, seeing technology being applied to their education can be viewed as an extension of their realities, and might as a result entice them to enjoying education more.

The presence of new technologies in all areas of our society makes it inevitable their use in educational environments and therefore requires deep thought looking its best educational potentialities and adaptation to daily educational activity.

ICTs are highly motivating for students and provide more active learning. The use of ICT in learning project-based and group work provides access to resources and experts leading to a learning encounter much more active and creative learning for students and teachers.

We use the moodle e-learning platform and educational hyperenvironment

One must understand new technologies in its broadest sense. I use in my classes anaglyphs and holograms developed in my own research as a teaching aids.

Different ways of using ICT:

• New technologies to complement the traditional model.

• An interactive classroom.

• Virtual learning environments.

Paul:

Any new technology is welcome, provided it complements the teaching process. Thus it is important for the teacher first evaluate its efficacy to improve the teaching/learning process. So adopt only those technologies that help with the process rather than hinder.

The online resources is a great way to share the information with your students. The main advantage is that it is available all the time whenever the student is interested to access. Also it helps the teacher to constantly improve and update it by either modifying or adding new sources, depending on the availability of new information. As we see that web is exploding at an enormous rate, keeping up with its progress is really challenging for the student, and any help that comes from the teacher to help in that direction will be appreciated by the students.

Technology can complement, extend and enhance the ability of teachers to teach and student to learn. It can also become a distraction. Like any tool it depends on the skills of the craftsman who wields it. We have some very good practice in our community, but technology is often misused and over used. I am still surprised (as a big user of technology) how satisfying and personal teaching can become with a small group (

Indeed I think technology should be used in teaching due to the numerous advantages it offers. Podcasts, online platforms such Moodle and Blackboard are good examples of online platforms that support the education process. But most importantly, I think the use of technology in education is not just a tools for more efficiency, but also a necessity. Students themselves use technology more and more outside educational establishments, therefore, seeing technology being applied to their education can be viewed as an extension of their realities, and might as a result entice them to enjoying education more.

As I help my learners to discover for themselves, we should not use technology just because it is available. We should use technology to help us differentiate instruction for our learners. If a particular technology can help our learners to inquire, gather, process, or apply information, then we should consider using it (or even better, having our learners use it).

Check this out:

http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00030/full

At the TEI of the Ionian islands we use an online learning platform called eclass. Eclass is also used by many universities in Greece. Each university has its own eclass, which is divided into separate sections for the different schools. Students can find their school from a list, and then choose the subject they are interested in. Each subject has its own space in eclass. This is where we upload our lectures, videos, internet links, announcements etc. Students can log in with their user names and passwords to upload their reports, see what their professors have uploaded, participate in fora asking and answering questions, etc. This is great help for our students as they can access eclass from any computer at any time. It's also eco-friendly, as we save paper since everything in online, easily accessible and downloadable.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for posing such an interesting question. While I am now situated in a tertiary education context, I have spent the majority of my working life in secondary schools and my most recent research, while focussed on secondary school teachers can be equally applied to tertiary contexts.

While I use a wide range of digital technologies in my teaching and encourage my students to take advantage of some of the affordances offered by educational technology, my research shows that there are many teachers / lecturers who don't share the same enthusiasm.

My research has shown that one important reason for this is the disruption digital technologies bring to the workplace identities of teachers and lecturers. Digital technologies provide students to interact with anyone, any where at any time and seek alternate opinions to those offered by their teachers.

While this can be liberating for many students, it can be challenging to teachers' perceptions of what their role is in the classroom. I believe that we should continue to encourage our colleagues to use educational technology while being mindful of the challenges this may bring.

Hope this helps,

Mike.

Obviously, new technologies may be used, but the standard of teaching depends on whether the teacher knows the basics of the topic. If the teacher does not have enough knowledge, then use of technology would not help!

Among the huge amount of papers about the use of ICT in mathematics education I selected the following reference:

Hoyles, Celia, Lagrange, Jean-Baptiste (Eds.) 2010 Mathematics Education and Technology-Rethinking the Terrain, Springer: Series: New ICMI Study Series, Vol. 13

I also add one of the chapters ...

the attach that I forgot

I tend to use new technologies preferably in big lectures (>300 students) in order to try to individualise the lecture content, e. g. by using platform clickers or sms votings (for given tasks or exercises, pop-up quizzes, etc.). Students use their cellphones or laptops and the result can be analysed immediately (and anonymously) on the main smartboard in the lecture theater. This enables every single student to interact while still in a "mass lecture" (and feel involved), and it is a helpful tool for me, too, in order to identify potential issues (level of understanding, capture of lecture content, etc.). In smaller Groups (

New technologies of information and communication, in certain situations allow the development of innovative educational projects that support the exploration of new teaching strategies that encourage student learning . But we must remember that new technologies are not simple resources to be incorporated into teaching practices , but are tools that can be incorporated into various proposals and for different activities, which determine the interactions in the classroom.

Strengths of incorporation of technology in the classroom :

• Social interaction between students and teachers .

• To become a new tool, usually the student is interested in participating.

• Promotes freedom of expression of citizens.

• Allows mobilize large amounts of information.

• Acquires, processes and transmits information quickly.

• Interact with others outside the classroom , through internet .

• Access to knowledge sources .

• Sort information.

• Working with simulators.

• Contribute to the development of a participatory and collaborative learning.

• Formation of learning communities.

I think "new technology" is very relative. In my experience it can improve communication, e.g. having an elearning platform, where Q&A sections exist, where uploaded excersises can be commented on, etc. At the same time we are using simulation tools for easy visualization and training of the students. And video tutorials for having an explanation on hand, when the students need them.

However generally, I think less, is often more. New technology does not erase the need for profound knowledge of the teacher or good preparation of the lecture. and it is always best to explain things as simple as possible (of course without omitting relevant facts and thus make things wrong).

Thank you Volker, I agree with you completely. I think new technologies are wonderful and can greatly assist learning and present information in a manner that was not previously available. However, power points, etc., may be used very poorly and they are barriers then to engaging with the class. As you say, good teaching is needed.

IT infrastructure services is vital in learning service success through positively influencing perceived usefulness, user satisfaction, customer value, and organizational value. for more study the work carried out by Alsabawy et al. (2013) is recommended.

Alsabswy A. Y., Cater-Steel, A., Soar, J. 2013. IT infrastructure services as a requirement for e-learning system success. Computers & Education 69, 431-451.

I think professors should go by what they feel the most comfortable doing. I know that seems like a cop-out answer, but I don't mean it to be. The reason is, if the professor is uncomfortable with technology, then their lecture will be worse off than better off. For example, I prefer to use power points, but I do not go beyond simple functions, because I dislike the "pizzazz" of it all and I think that takes away from the content of the class.

I also prefer discussion based classes. Using technology often seems like an invisible wall that students can hide behind.

Vandana, I agree with you totally, the technology must not be the ends in itself but only a better way of transmitting a message to achieve learning.

Thanks for the reference Hossein.

I like the concept of invisibility Reem.

I think we should, indeed, but not as an end in itself, as sometimes we can infer from the treatment of the application of these techonologies in education in mass media. They must be a tool, and I think they can not act as a substitute of books, handwriting and the paper and the black/whiteboard as cognitive means of embodying knowledge.