Type 1 vs Type 2

There are two major differences between Type 1 and Type 2 uses of technology. Type 1 refers to using technology as a tool to help you teach, but it doesn't provide any new ways of learning/teaching, nor does it require the user (mainly the teacher) to be proactive in its use. As for Type 2, the use of technology opens doors to new/imporved ways of teaching a subject, and usually requires the user to be proactive, as they often controls what happens on the screen.

Some examples of Type 1 include electronic flash cards, which you can do without the use of technology anyway, online crossword puzzles, which are the same as the flash cards, and online testing, whose only advantage is rapid return of your results.

Type 2 examples include smartboards, which allows teachers to interact with the board without use of the computer, wikis, which are created by the teacher and the students as a source of information, and power points, which are created and then presented by the teacher as a more interesting way of presenting notes on a subject.

Citation: Johnson, D. LaMont and Cleborne D. Maddux. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and better Ways of Teaching and Learning". Computers in Schools Vol. 22 No. 1/2 2005 pp. 1-5. Copyright 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc.