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Monday, August 4, 2014

More Ed Tech Needed, But Not in the Classroom

While technology plays a big role in the classroom experience, the last thing an instructor needs is more of it, according to Jordan Shapiro, educational technology writer and professor at Temple University.

Shapiro, who teaches humanities and is the digital learning coordinator in his department, has flipped his classroom and provides his students every type of content he can find that can be accessed from any type of digital device. However, he still reserves classroom time for working with students on a more personal basis.

“My job is to know where the treasures are, that all paths lead to jewels of critical thinking,” he wrote in a column for Forbes. “This happens through nuanced conversation, through discussion, through debate and interaction.”

Shapiro said that education technology is a tool to get content to students and allow instructors to teach.


“Online, I certainly can’t teach students to verbally articulate complex arguments,” he wrote. “Nor can I teach them through conversational debate. But I can teach them to think critically about online tests and to express themselves articulately in writing.”