Barbara Means: Technology and Education Reform
SED 618 Multimedia and Instruction
Dr. Kenneth Berry
1. In what ways are Means’ and Mayer’s philosophies alike?
o Means and Mayer share philosophies
o Mayer – use of multimedia
 Channels – way receive/process info
o Means – use of technology
2. What are some of the points of the Reform movement in Education?
The main idea of the Reform movement in Education is that technology will support
superior forms of learning in the classroom. Among the points used in the argument are
that rather than the teacher directing the path of educational study; the students are able to
explore the various aspects of a topic. Second is that the instruction or teaching becomes
more interactive with the teacher helping the students to discover the right answers
instead of extreme rigidity with the teacher saying that these are the answers and there are
no other options about it. Third it revolves around the students working in groups to help
each other with the material instead of individually, which can leave some students
behind.
3. Describe how using technology helps the Reform movement. Give at least one specific
example that was used in the text.
The use of technology helps the Reform movement in that it started as a method of
tutoring and supporting the teacher. Now it has evolved into a tool that is useful in
allowing students to explore on their own. An example of this is the Palenque Digital
Video Interactive project at the Bank Street College of Education. This allows the
students an opportunity to take the simulation of a journey in a Mayan site or museum
data base. In this method the student experiences a personalized approach to the material
where they are able to make notes and take pictures of material that interests them.
4. How is this going to be incorporated into the classroom? Discuss what Means describes
as “Points of Light.”
In many cases, technology is brought into the classroom and the teachers are expected to
be able to incorporate it with little to no problems and be ready to teach the students with
this equipment. Means argues that the proper method that should be used in bringing in
the technology but allowing the entire faculty to come together and creating methods of
integrating the technology into the classroom. In terms of the “Points of Light”
reference, Means is talking about individual teachers investing their own time and money
into purchasing software and working with it to create new curriculum because they feel
that it is necessary. In other words a bottoms-up approach to integration.