This second week has been a bit confusing for me. With work really getting into the thick of things, I am finding it difficult to sort out the black and white of what has been assigned. I have begun the readings for the first unit.
The following are the responses to the Davies Article Questions:

What is the difference between an archetype a paradigm and a model?

From what I gather, an archetype is a very general sense of a theory, like a prototype or the bare bones of the idea. A paradigm is a bit meatier, in the sense that it has enough information backing it up (detail) so as to make it more concrete. A model is very specific and detailed with a quantitative dimension. A model has been put to the test.

What are key characteristics of Davies' three educational technologies?

The key characteristics are hardware (or aids for teaching), software (aids for learning) and a combination of the two (more of a team approach).

What are the key characteristics of the audiovisual, the engineering and the problem-solving archetypes of educational technology?

Audio visual-you put in your money and you are given something to chew on. Makes work pretty and enjoyable and aids in overall communication. Teaching aid.

Engineering-behavioristic technology..one car is raced against another to see who wins. Aid for learning.

Problem-solving-constructivist…there’s one right answer..but you have to figure it out on your own through guided trial and error. Aid for learning.

What archetype, paradigm and model of educational technology do you think most of your teaching would fall into?

I think Audio-visual has a place in the second and third. I would like to think that most of my teaching is problem-solving, but I know that I do use some engineering in my lessons now and again. I don’t think one single answer is the way to go.

Davies wrote his article in 1978, over 20 years ago. Is it still relevant to the thinking of using technology in teaching and learning, today? Why or why not?

I think that it is general enough in its nature that we can easily apply it to what goes on today. I really like the section that denotes the worthwhileness of an educational experience. This is especially true today as we tend to get caught up in what we are using to teach and sometimes forget what we are trying to communicate as a message.

I liked the section that compares judgment and decision. In my position I am seeing a lot of decisions being made…a choice between a range of alternatives..not of which are all that great in the end. We often make decisions just as the document states, prior to testing the tool/software/program completely. The end results are occasionally favorable, and we should continue to be open to new ideas, but I’m afraid that time is wasted that could be better focused elsewhere.

Davies, I.K. (1978). Eucational Technology: Archetypes, Paradigms and Models. In J.H. Hartley & I.K. Davies (Eds.), Contributions to an Educational Technology, Volume 2. (pp. 9-24). New York: Kogan Page.