My definition of
technology integration at the beginning of this class was meaningfully incorporating different
technologies into the classroom to create greater student understanding of
desired learning objectives. I am adding that knowing
how to work with technology is such a vital skill. However, we don’t have time
to teach our students technology for the sake of technology, so we need to
seamlessly weave it into our curriculum. Technology cannot be an afterthought
in our lessons. We need to have it in mind every step of the way.
I think that my
definition itself has not changed, but my understanding of how to implement it
has. I feel as though I started with an
understanding of technology integration that was an ideal, off in the distance,
kind of idea. Now I feel much more prepared to actually make it happen!
Before EDTC 600 I
did not even know there were so many different technology standards out there.
My knowledge of those has grown exponentially through the months. I now know
that these technology standards are not trying to place one more responsibility
on me. They are trying to make my life easier and make my students learn better
with more resources and tools at their disposal.
Also, my knowledge
of technology in general has grown. It is impossible for anyone to know about
every available classroom technology resource. There are new ones being
developed every day. I love being able to keep learning and researching and
finding out the latest tools in instructional technology. Throughout this class
I have also found many wonderful resources so that I can stay a life long
learner. I came across several places that offer free webinars and free teacher
resources online. I will definitely be returning to those bookmarked pages in
the future.
When I am planning
lessons now, it is now easier for me to look at them through a technology lens.
I have stumbled upon so many wonderful technology integration ideas in the past
eight weeks. There are technologies that I never would have thought to use. Or
more often the case: technologies I never would have thought to use a certain
way. Technology itself is so versatile and dynamic. For example, before I would
have been content doing a KWL on a piece of chart paper before I start a new
unit. Now, I could create a word cloud with my students’ background knowledge,
I could have them create a graphic organizer on Webspiration with their
background knowledge, or I could have them take a survey using clickers.
I enjoyed having
this class to push me to reevaluate some of my own already existing lessons to
see where I could spiff them up with a little technology here and there. That
was so much more meaningful than having to create new lessons that I will never
teach. The other teachers on my grade level team are starting to get
overwhelmed with all the new technology ideas I am bringing to them. But as
long as I am there to lead the way they are definitely following along and our
third graders are greatly benefiting from our technology integration. This has
helped my team and me collaborate even more than we did previously.
Collaboration is so integral to good teaching. I am just thankful to be
learning all of this valuable information in my masters program and I am also
thankful to have great teammates to share all my newfound knowledge with.
I have loved
getting to interview so many different teachers for the field experiences in
this class. My motto is that there is no stealing in the teaching profession,
only borrowing. Two heads are always better than one. Collaborating with other
teachers and hearing their opinions and experiences with technology has been
truly enlightening. I have learned SO much about school budgets and virtual
purchasing. That is one topic I had not known much about previously. And
charter schools have such different budgets than public schools. It is an
interesting comparison.
Through the field
experiences I came to understand that most teachers, regardless of what
generation they fall into, want to learn more about technology in the
classroom. Where we all fall short is having the time or training to progress
as far as we would like. The question is what do we do about it. This is where I
found the big generational gap. The Generation Y teachers often pursue the technology
more on their own time than older generations of teachers. So it isn’t a lack
of desire to learn technology: it is a lack of time and motivation. There were
many other stigmas about generational technology issues that I have found to be
false. For example, all older teachers don’t want anything to do with
technology. Some of them do, but placing ultimate values on anything, like
saying ALL Baby Boomers hate technology, is a tricky business. I was really
encouraged by everyone’s enthusiasm towards technology integration in the
classroom.
