Type I and Type II Technology

In this article written by Cleborne Maddux and LaMont Johnson, there was a lot of good information put forth about Type I and II applications for technology. What I thought was most appealing about this article was that after introducing the two types of applications, they stressed the importance of both rather than tout one above the other. I felt that they did a great job of showing the dichotomy between type I and II, while remaining fair to both applications and giving them credit where it was due.
My personal take on this article was akin to that of the authors. I feel the same in terms of utilizing both types of applications as the two have their place in education. As a younger person who grew up in the midst of technology integration in schools, I recognize the importance of this medium in our educational system. I think that using computers and other forms of technology allows us to expand the horizons and the boundaries of what and how we can teach our students. This may sound idealistic and preachy, but even as a person who is not exactly tech-savvy, I long to see more type II classrooms!
To me, I view would define type I technology as mediums that do not actively engage the students and moves forward with one specific result in mind. The students cannot manipulate the technology which reduces it to mearly a time saving medium. Examples of type I technology could be a movie, a powerpoint presentation, or an overhead projector. Each of these technologies simply save time for the teacher and essentially teach us in the same old way and lack innovation. However, type II technology is much more engaging and the students have the opportunity to manipulate the outcomes of these tools. Also, type II technology brings in other aspects of learning like problem solving and creative thinking rather than simply listening to a lesson. Examples of type II technologhy would be computer simulations like Oregon Trail, webquests, and graphing calculators. These technologies bring students deeper inside the lesson and allow them to manipulate their results by the choices they make. This technology really goes along with the idea of meanigful engaged learning.


Maddux, Cleborne D. and Johnson, D. Lamont. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning." Computers in the Schools 02 Jan. 2005: 1-5.