Educational Technology Philosophy

             As a minister, and former college administrator, I see education as the key to solving many of life’s problems. Education has become of little to no importance. Federal, state and local governments have made such drastic cuts to educational budgets that it seems no one cares about it. Years ago, a song declared that the children are our future. Without education, we should all be asking what is happening to our future.

The purpose of education is to enlighten and equip the learner to be able to utilize valuable and needed information in order to make an informed decision. Without education people are utilizing their feelings, and sometimes inaccurate or outdated information, to make decisions that are transforming their way of life. Education, in my estimation, is truly the key to transforming society and eliminating the ignorance, prejudice and racism that currently resides in the world.

            I believe the role of the teacher is to equip the learner with the skills to go out and use the knowledge they have obtained and to expand on that learning. A teacher’s role is not to just give facts and answer all the students’ questions, but to show the learner how to go out and gain the knowledge. Teachers are facilitators and guides to knowledge; teachers must stop just being only dispensers of knowledge. A great teacher will encourage their students to go out and learn as much as they can. In doing so, the learner will gain a love for learning. If a teacher is able to do this, then they will help the learning move further into their role. A learner’s role is to gain an appreciation for learning. When they gain this appreciation for learning then they are able to absorb a wealth of knowledge that will then become a part of them, and not just something that they regurgitate for a test or quiz. The learner must be willing to go out and search for truth, and not expect truth to be absorbed by osmoses. He must also ask questions and use his knowledge to seek out answers.

            My approach to education is to implement various ways of learning that will enable the students to capture the knowledge and skills required. From using collaborative learning to hands-on learning, PowerPoint presentation, YouTube videos, and Skype or Oovoo, I try to engage the student into gaining a love for learning and see that it can be fun. My main focus is to train my learners to become teachers and to be accountable for their own learning. One way I have done this is at my congregation with my “How to Study the Bible” course. I teach them how to accurately study. I teach them how to maneuver through the text and how to seek out answers to their own questions. By the end of the course the students not only have the knowledge on how to accurately study Gods word, but can then apply the same techniques to showing others. Their final project is to actually implement what they have learned. My expectations are for them to just not be able to know the materials, but teach it to someone else. If a student cannot share what they have learned then I question if they have truly learned anything.