POWER AND MOTIVATION USING TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS

Reflection on article: Children's power for learning in the age of technology
20 August 2014

From this article, I learnt that there are various benefits of technology in terms of motivation and power. My parents would often joke about the manuals found in the packaging of technological tools, because we have no need for it at all! My brother finds it very difficult to read due to his dyslexia. Even so, he can read books non-stop on Pokemon and Minecraft. I had always wondered, books are books, but what motivates him to seek information on his own about a topic that sparks his interest? I believe that this is one of the benefits about the use of technology. 

According to the article, there are three factors of motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Personally, I learn the most when I am allowed to seek information on a topic that I am interested in. In some way, I get motivated as I learn more and more about the topic. As for my brother, he feels motivated to read about Pokemon and Minecraft as he desires to do well and gain mastery in those two games. In Singapore, schools often operate using a factory model. Teachers act like factory technicians to ensure that the products (students) leave the factory (school) in it's best quality, ready to face the world. However, in this new technology era, schools are beginning to acknowledge that children has power in their own learning. 

Technology is a tool that can provide children with a platform to have power and an active role in their own learning. Even so, teachers often undervalue this potential as a learning tool and constantly attempt to control it. Schools are not a place where children memorize information and repeat them to the teacher when needed. I felt that it is important for teachers to understand that power is not a zero-sum. By giving increased power to the children does not mean that the teacher has less power. This is extremely important as teachers are often wary in sharing their power, worried that they might become over-powered by the children. 

Another learning point about technology from this article is that there are eight separate types of power: Legitimate, reward, coercive referent, expert, information, ecological and power over oneself. If children are given each of these eight power, there are four outcomes of power: commitment, liberation, compliance and resistance. After reading this article, it showed me a new perspective on how technology can impact a child's perspective towards learning and technology. I personally believe that technology is an excellent tool to move learning to new level.