Classroom Technology Integration

First of all, technology is not one more cumbersome thing we have to squeeze into our school day. Many teachers have this mindset, especially teachers who have been in education for many years and are set in their ways. Technology should be in student hands as much as possible. It should help us be more efficient in our instruction and engage students better. However, just because students are using technology doesn’t mean they are engaged. We need to be aware of how our students are learning as much as always. Technology is an excellent motivator for students. Reading may not be exciting for them, but reading a book on iPad is suddenly very appealing. There are so many teacher created resources using technology that allow us to collaborate with teachers from all over the world and share our ideas.

Teachers need to be up to date on current educational technologies available and working towards integrating them in their classrooms. They need to make an effort to learn new strategies and best practices to accommodate our tech savvy students. It would be doing a disservice to our children who are going to need this technology training to be able to thrive in their society. However, technology resources available are largely dependent on funding, but more schools are dedicating larger amounts of money to establishing new technology. We also need to be realistic as to what teachers can manage to have on their plate. With all of the changes in education that happen every year, we can’t expect teachers to completely change everything about the way they teach. It’s unrealistic. But if teachers are trying a few new technology practices each year, they are moving in the right direction.

I think technology integration is meaningfully incorporating different technologies into the classroom to create greater student understanding of desired learning objectives.