ETEC e-Portfolio
Myths and Conundrums Paper
ETEC 5203 -Â Foundations of Educational Technology
Summer 2017
Executive Summary
This paper was written during the Summer 2017 semester. It was a part of the requirements for ETEC 5203: Foundations in Educational Technology. As a part of this course, I researched four prominent educational ideas and theories. These included the idea that the use of technology increases comprehension, the idea that educators must cater to different learning styles, the idea that digital natives are always technology savvy and digital immigrants are technology deficient, and the theory of multiple intelligences. At the end of this portion of the course, I reflected on my learning by writing about the true research behind these ideas and theories.
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The purpose of the assignment was to heighten my awareness of the research behind educational trends. It was a reminder to always take the time to research a new trend, idea, or theory before implementation to be sure that research supports its effectiveness.
This assignment was very informative for me. The topics that I was researching were all things that are consistently presented during education courses and at educator staff developments year after year as the golden truths of education. Until this assignment I had not taken the time to research the topics myself, believing that if so many school districts were presenting it that it must be backed by research and data. This was not the case however. I discovered that these topics have no data to support them. So, while they are widely accepted in the education world, the research to hold them up is not there. Since this assignment, I have become more aware of “best practices” and really researching the data behind them myself before implementing them in my classroom.