–What are the main points the author makes about the myth behind “no significance difference.”

–What is meaningful learning from your perspective? Give some examples and non-examples from your overarching statements.

–How do you see the role of technology in your view of meaningful learning?

The author points out that the question about whether technology makes a difference does not specify what it should make a difference in. He then goes on to list several areas where he thinks technology can make a difference, to a small or large degree. For example, he says that technology can make a difference in motivation. He says that students are sometimes motivated by talking with experts and that they can connect with these people using technology. He also says that technology can make learning a more social experience, like through IMs and message boards. He said that students are motivated sometimes by self-expression, and that they can do this through artistic technology programs. He says that technology can help learning be a more active process. For example, students can create their own databases. It can also help learning be a more cooperative process. Finally, it can help students use their knowledge in real-world situations. For example, technology can be used to simulate a real-world situation, like if an engineering class were to use build a virtual bridge on a computer program.

Meaningful learning, from my perspective, is when you remember what you learn, and, not only that, but that what you learn sticks with you throughout your life and actually applies to your life. Meaningful learning is when you learn something that you use all the time, or something that you can see happening in your everyday life. Meaningful learning is learning that changes the way you see the world and other people, or maybe learning that changes your interactions with the world and other people. For example, here is something that I have learned that I see in my everyday life: Erik Erikson's life stages. After I first learned this in my Adolescent Development class, I was amazed to realize that these stages really are acted out in every day life, and that I can see people going through them, sometimes. This new knowledge changed the way I think about people and their lives. A non-example would be when you learn something and you cannot see it happening. And, when you don't see it happening, or when you don't use it, you more than likely forget it, so it also doesn't meet that criteria of meaningful learning. For example, in high school, I took calculus. I never used calculus outside class. I don't see calculus happening all around me. As a result, calculus didn't really change much about my life, and I don't remember much of calculus.

I think technology could definitely help people achieve my idea of meaningful learning. For example, as the article said, technology can be used to simulate real-world scenarios, so this could help students see something that they might not normally see in their everyday life. For example, if a student in an astronomy class is learning about building rocket ships, he might not be able to build a rocket ship in real life. But he could simulate building one, and this would undoubtedly help him remember how they are built and why different pieces are important. I think technology could also help change people's views of the world and how they interact with the world and other people. Students could use technology to interact with people all over the world, and this could open their eyes to how different people live. For example, a class could use Skype to chat with a class in China. This might help these students see how Chinese students are like them, and how they are different.