Type I and Type II Technology

As technology gains usage in classrooms, two separate types of technology applications have emerged. Type I applications are those that could have been done without technology, but which technology makes easier or quicker. Type II applications, on the other hand, are those which would be so difficult without technology as to be impractical.

Examples of Type I Technology Application:

• Students use their personal computers to take notes.
• Students play an online flash game which asks them to find countries on Google Earth.
• Students look on the Internet for quotes from a famous person as part of a report on that figure.
  

Examples of Type II Technology Application:

• Students are asked to conduct interviews with classmates about a particular subject, and then edit those recorded responses together into a short podcast.
• Students use video taken from the Internet to research a topic that can't be conveyed fully through words, such as the history of film.
• Students are allowed access to a specially-prepared set of wiki pages which they can access on mobile devices. The students, guided by these wiki pages, would go out into the area surrounding the school and do field research, adding to the wiki pages as they add to their own knowledge.