The First Steps of Technology Integration

         According to the article Give Your Lessons a Tech Makeover, technology use in the classroom is paradoxical in that, although technological advances are expanding rapidly, and most teachers express an interest in the use of technology within classrooms, actual use of technology in the classroom remains elusive.  So why are classrooms lacking in technology usage? Candace Schafer-Southard and Mark Hofer report that the pressure of standardized testing, lack of access to technology, and a lack of knowledge as of how to use technology, all contribute to the absence of technology in the classroom.  Moreover, another obstacle preventing technology use is the difficulty in tying lesson plans, standards, curriculum, and instruction to different tech tools. The ability to correlate tech tools in daily lesson plans is termed TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge).  Some TPACK experts suggest that teachers should collaboratively find ways to integrate technology and to look upon past lesson plans and critically assess where technology could be used.  While this task may seem daunting to those who are not adept in technology use, experts urge all teachers to receive support and instruction from their instructional technology resource teacher. When planning, or re-imaging a lesson plan, teachers should be careful to note that technology should enrich a lesson plan, not overpower the objective. For example, one high school history teacher had her students research different monarchs and choose songs and images that were appropriate for each monarch and then create a documentary. Students also had to submit  an explanation as to why they chose each song and picture. The use of technology enriched the lesson plan and allowed students to creatively interact with curriculum. Upon using technology in the classroom it is important that teachers actually do the lesson themselves before allowing their students to participate in the lesson. This preparation allows teachers to become adept at the specific technology tool, estimate an appropriate lesson length, and create links and short cuts to help students succeed.

     
        One of the obstacles I foresee in incorporating technology in the classroom, is that not all school sites have access to a instructional technology resource teacher. With school funding constantly on the backburner, many school districts have one or no tech support teachers. This lack of support, would limit a technologically unskilled teacher from successfully incorporating tech tools into their classrooms. To combat this issue, I suggest that teachers watch instructional videos on the web and attend technology and education seminars. Although these steps require extra work, they  may just be the tools teacher’s need to integrate technology into their classrooms and provide a more creative environment. Another way to get students more active in participating and contributing to technology use in the classroom is to provide incentives for students to learn different technology uses and then teach their classmates and teachers what they discovered.  When students feel empowered to change their classrooms, and become more involved in creating an engaging environment, they take ownership of their education.

     

          Reimaging and reworking curriculum to include technology meets NETS-S standard 1D which states that teachers work collaboratively with students and teachers to create an engaging high-tech environment . This article also address standard 2 of NETS-S that “teachers design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creating”. Moreover, if teachers do the lesson themselves prior to teaching their students, they will be meeting NETS-S standard 3 of “demonstrating fluency in technology systems” and “modeling and facilitating the use of current and emerging digital tools”.

Education and Technology Workshops

Schafer-Southard, C., & Hofer, M. (2014, February). Give Your Lesson a Tech Makeover. Learning & Leading Through Technology, 16-18. Retrieved 2014