After discussing lesson planning in class on Thursday, my biggest takeaway was how establishing a clear goal is fundamental for effective teaching. Classroom activities have to be planned so as to build toward a goal in a unified way. This purpose needs to be reiterated throughout the lesson – much as hints at one’s thesis must be reintroduced throughout a paper – in order to develop understanding. That’s the key: understanding. The contents of the lesson are inconsequential in that by themselves they don’t approach a distinct goal, but by the interplay between them, a teacher can instill understanding Teaching is not about the information presented, but rather how that information becomes deeper understanding.

The same “telos”-oriented approach is valuable when teaching technology. For our teaching projects we are not just going to be teaching the students how to use a specific type of technology, but rather why they’re using it, and what they can hope to achieve. Without a clear illustration of a goal, students are left with decontextualized skills that could serve some practical function, but ultimately do not contribute to greater understanding about their technology use. They need to understand the driving forces behind the gadgets they use, as well as what are the best and most efficient ways to utilize them.

It’s not just kids who can benefit from understanding the greater meaning and rationale behind technology use. We as college students – and adults as well – would do well to ask ourselves what we are trying to accomplish when we use technology. We shouldn’t approach technology as an entity that is inherently good and therefore worth using. We should approach it with a clear idea of what we want to get out of using it, and then learn the requisite skills to exploit it. We need to be more than passive consumers of products; we should be intelligent, informed technological citizens with a clear understanding of the purpose and intentions behind our technology use.