Technology and Teaching: Learning in a High-Tech Environment Revisited

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of computer educational technologies for teaching economic principles courses and considers the effect on student learning. Dakota State University has recently completed the integration of a trio of teaching technology initiatives into the general education curriculum, which include the economic principles courses offered by the university. These three teaching technologies are (a) the WebCT course management system, (b) a campus-wide wireless network added on top of our existing wired backbone network, and (c) a laptop initiative requiring the use of a digital pen-enabled laptop computer and digital ink-enabled software by firstand second-year students. In addition, P. Romer’s Aplia course support system was also used in the author’s courses. This paper describes these technologies and their integration into the classroom. In addition to an overview of issues encountered during implementation, this study also offers a discussion of preliminary evidence as to the effectiveness of various technologies based on end-of-semester surveys. This survey data is then used to motivate the the construction of a model to provide insights into how future empirical work can better capture the impact of technological innovations in teaching on student learning, engagement, and attitude. Therefore, the paper’s other contribution to the literature is the development a theoretical model of student learning behavior. The model posits that students behave as cost-minimizers when it comes to learning, seeking enough learning to achieve their expected or desired grade in a course and then pursuing the least-cost strategy of teaching tool usage to obtain that level of learning. Therefore innovations in teaching technology change the opportunity cost, the relative price, of those teaching tools and induce changes in student behavior with respect to time on task using various tools and the optimal level of learning.