Mollie Sandler

Mutlu Sen
EDIT 2000
August 26, 2015
Meaningful Learning with Technology
Overall, I agree with the main arguments of the article
Meaningful Learning with Technology. I agree that the best and most
effective way for students to learn meaningfully is when kinesthetic
learning is used. Kinesthetic learning is when students learn by
carrying out physical and hands-on activities rather than just listening
to a lecture or watching demonstrations. One of the main arguments in
this article is that, In order for meaningful learning to occur, the task

that students pursue should engage active, constructive,

intentional, authentic, and cooperative activities (p.2). Active
learning is described as a natural and adaptive human process.
Humans have learned and evolved because they were able to
observe and mimic active participants. For example, no one lectured
me on how to play tennis. I started swinging my racket again and
again, and through actively manipulating the objects and tools of
this sport, I was able to observe the effect and know how to play
tennis. Constructive activity is when learners reflect on their activity
and observations in order to learn the lessons of the activity. So for
tennis, I am able to reflect on why I kept serving into the net,

therefore I corrected my serve so it landed where I wanted the ball

to go. Another characteristic of meaningful learning is that there
must be an end goal. Everything humans do is done to fulfill some
sort of goal. For me when it comes to tennis, my goal is to win a
match. Hours of practice and learning from my errors are done so I
could become a better player and win more matches. Authenticity is
another key characteristic because lessons taught in school, like a
simple lesson taught in chemistry, should be applied to the real
world. Instead of looking at a question in a chemistry book as just
another homework assignment, look at it as a general principles
that can be applied in life. Lastly, cooperation and collaboration is
the last characteristic, which I think is very fascinating. This
discusses how humans naturally work together in communities and
share each others skills and knowledge in order to accomplish tasks
and solve problems. I agree with this article in that we believe that
relying solely on independent methods of instruction cheats learners
out of more natural and productive modes of thinking (p.5). Instead
of educators limiting work to individuals, they should be assigning
group work so different ideas can be bounced back and forth in
order to have the most diverse and knowledgeable outcome.
This article definitely changed my opinion about learning with
technology. For one, I always thought technology was just a

distraction for students, but I now see it as a reliable method for

engaging learners and facilitating thinking. Some ways in which
technology fosters learning include technology used as a tool to
support knowledge construction. Examples of this are representing
students ideas, understandings, and beliefs. Technology is also
used as an information system to retrieve needed information and
to compare perspectives. Technology aids in the collaboration of
students by being used as a social medium. Due to technology,
students can collaborate, discuss, argue, and build agreements
among members of the community. For representing and
stimulating real-world problems, situation, beliefs, and perspectives,
technology can be used as an authentic context to support learning.
Lastly, technology can be utilized as an intellectual partner by
helping students illustrate and articulate what they know. It also
supports learning by reflecting on what students have learned and
how they came to know it. Due to all the informative arguments on
how technology fosters learning, my perceived notion that
technology is just a distraction for students has been proved
incorrect. I am looking forward to using technology in order to
enhance my learning.