Type I & Type II Uses of Technology in Education

Although Type I and Type II Usage of Technology can and perhaps should be used together, they are very different in their individual applications. Type I uses appear to merely assist teachers in instructing the same components in the same manner, while Type II uses comprise new, cutting edge methods of teaching. Type I uses include users in a reactive manner, where they simply respond to what the program is asking them to do; whereas Type II uses make the user the manager of what takes place with the programs, the computer is reacting to what they are doing. Overall, Type I uses have users reacting to the programs, and Type II uses have people reacting, interacting, and using problem solving skills.

The following are a few examples of each:

Type I

• In typing/computing class in high school (1995) we simply had our teacher walking around the room reading specific sentences that we were to type while not looking at the keyboard.

• My first year (1997) at UMO I had a Computers 101 class, that taught the basics of how to use Microsoft Excel, Word, Access. We learned things like how to click a mouse, how to open a window, how to type a document, etc… It was a tool for the teachers, they read us the basics, but it was easier to use the computers to actually learn the components involved rather than having them read to us on how to click a mouse.
• When we first got a computer in our school (elementary) we used it to learn, complete math problems, & sentence structure. It was a kind of a fill in the blank, flash card program, that our teachers really could have done themselves. However, it was a privilege we got for when we finished our regular class work.
  

Type II

• At UMO in one of my Forest courses we used a GPS MapInfo program to map out tree stands, highlighting different species of trees, bodies of water, geological features, and basic lay of the land. We could use these to calculate the number of board feet one could get out a certain area, & we could see how best to manage a forest with selective cutting.
  
• TK20, an electronic portfolio, is a great interactive way to collect work and showcase to others what you have accomplished.
  
• Taking an online course would be an interactive , problem solving way to use technology for education.
  

Citation:
Maddux, Cleborne D., and D. Lamont Johnson. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning." Computers in the School: 1-5.