Integration of Technology in Today’s Classrooms – Necessity or Luxury?

The following link will take you to my research synthesis paper about the use of technology in education. The paper describes why it is important to use technology in the classroom and how it helps students to succeed in the real world.

Research Paper

Tech Use Plan Presentation

The following presentation covers the tech use plan. It was created to help understand the whole process of tech use planning. To view the presentation, click on the link below. I appreciate any feedback.

Technology Use Planning Overview

Technology use plan is a road map to using technology in the classroom and implementing it to the curriculum. The National technology plan explains it in the following statement: “Although we have adopted technology in many aspects of education today, a comprehensive infrastructure for learning is necessary to move us beyond the traditional model of educators and students in classrooms to a learning model that brings together teaching teams and students in classrooms, labs, libraries, museums, workplaces, and homes – anywhere in the world where people have access devices and an adequate Internet connection.” (2010)

Today the technology grows so fast, that what is new today, is going to be old tomorrow. Today you learn how to use an application; tomorrow there will be a new version with so many different features that you can start learning again. On one hand, it is great that technology goes forward, but on the other hand it is really hard to keep up. For that reason, it is important not to plan for many years ahead when incorporating technology in the planning. I agree with Dr. See (1992) that effective technology use plans should be short term. Moreover, even if the use plan is just for a year, it needs to be revised often to make sure that the resources are used wisely and that the planned technology is still relevant.

Dr. See points out a few wonderful ideas about technology use planning, but I have to say that I am a little confused after reading his article “Developing Effective Technology Plans”. The author states a few good points, but I think that the examples he provides do not actually make the statements stronger in many cases. For instance, when he talks about buying technology to teach technology. I agree that sometimes it is waste of money to buy every new technology out there. But I do not think that comparing a pencil and computer literacy proves his point. In my opinion, learning how to use a pencil is not comparable with computer literacy. Pencil is just a pencil. There were written thousand of pages about computer literacy. Even if you want your students to use basic computer applications, they should know what the computer is, where the power button is, how to troubleshoot in case something goes wrong, etc. If you want to use a pencil, you do not have to learn anything about the pencil, but about the letter and how to hold the pencil. If you want to use a computer, you have to learn the basics. At least.

The author says: “It is time to stop teaching word processing as a separate curriculum and teach it as a part of the creative writing process that can be used in every subject area.” From my experience teaching ADULT students Microsoft Office Word, I have to disagree with this statement. What is easy for some people, might not be that easy for others. Can you imagine that you have a student who have never even looked at the computer screen? You sit him in front of one and start explaining how to use this program to create booklets and fliers. You get a frozen look on his face, I am sure. I understand that it is important to incorporate technology to curriculum and use it to improve the curriculum, but I also believe that every student should get at least basic computer training. Not all the students have the luck to be computer savvy. For many of them it is like learning a new language. Can you imagine living in a foreign country, not knowing the language, and having to learn how to give a presentation in that language? Probably impossible, right? I believe that the same goes with computers. We cannot expect that every student will sit in front of the screen and learn how to use it and actually use it creatively at the same time. Exactly as it is stated in the National Educational Technology Plan: “The model asks that we focus what and how we teach to match what people need to know.” (2010)

On the other side, I agree that it is important to incorporate the knowledge into other subject areas. It is important for students to know how to use what they learned. It would be useless if they knew everything about Microsoft Word, knew all the keyword shortcuts, but did not know how to create a flier. But as I said before, I would first start with basic computer training before actually incorporating it into other subjects.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with technology use planning, but I learned  a lot by doing the research and reading about it. It is an important task and the schools should not take it easy. It should be well thought and well designed to meet the expectations. I think that not every one is relevant in doing such an important job. I would suggest doing a great deal of research before putting the plan together, and also revise it often since the technology changes rapidly.

References

Office of Educational Technology U.S. Department of Education. (2010). Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. National Educational Technology Plan 2010 Executive Summary. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://www.nctp.com/html/tp_recipe.cfm

See, J. (1992) Developing Effective Technology Plans. Retrieved  March 20, 2011 from http://www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfm

Digital Divide versus Digital Inequality

Before I started researching this topic, I had no idea what it means. After reading many articles about digital divide, I really got an idea what it is all about. I found it really important and interesting topic in today’s world. First, I will compare digital divide to digital inequality, and than I will offer a few ideas how to overcome digital inequality in our schools today.

Following are quoted definitions of digital divide and digital inequality according to DiMaggio and Hargittai:

Digital divide – quality between “haves” and “have-nots” differentiated by dichotomous measures of access to or use of the new technologies (DiMaggio, P., & Hargittai, E., 2001).

Digital inequality – not just differences in access, but also to inequality among persons with formal access to the Internet (DiMaggio, P., & Hargittai, E., 2001).

According to the report “Computer and Internet use by Students in 2003” statistics about usage of internet among people in the United States, it is clear, that we should not only care about the digital divide, but also about the digital inequality. The numbers show that almost every American has access to the Internet somewhere – at school, at work, at home, or at public libraries. The problem we face today is that many people are not familiar with the Internet, they do not know how to use it effectively. Moreover, everyone uses different equipment which means unequal experience for the users. DiMaggio and Hargittai offer five dimensions of digital inequality in their report – in equipment, autonomy of use, skill, social support, and the purposes for which the technology is employed (DiMaggio, P., & Hargittai, E., 2001).

Of course it is not an easy task to overcome digital inequality. It will be a problem of the future. But there are certain ways which may help today. From the five dimensions stated above, I would like to address the inequality of skill. It is important for the users to have good computer and Internet skills to be able to achieve tasks efficiently and effectively. One way to make sure that our kids acquired these skills is to first educate our teachers. “Internet use in schools is limited by weakness in training and support staffing, which has made it difficult for teachers to integrate the Internet effectively with other curricular materials” (Bolt & Crawford 2000). Schools should offer mandatory computer and Internet training for all teachers. Also, curriculum for those studying teaching should include mandatory educational technology classes. Once the teachers are able to bring the technology to the classrooms and share the knowledge with students, half of the task is done.

References

Bolt D, Crawford R. 2000. Digital Divide: Computers and Our Children’s Future. NY: TV Books.

Computer and Internet Use by Students in 2003. (2006). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006065

DiMaggio, P., & Hargittai, E. (2001). From the ‘digital divide’ to ‘digital inequality:’ Studying Internet use as penetration increases. Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Working Paper Series number, 15. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~arts…gittai.pdf

Elements of Educational Technology

Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008, p. 1).

I remember my professor saying that Harvard is not different from any other university because all the students have access to the same resources.  It might not be totally true, since the professors teaching at Harvard probably do not teach at a small university in Washington DC.  But it makes me think about the possibilities students and teachers have today.  With so many resources around, education becomes more accessible to more people around the world.  According to the article, educational resources include “people, tools, technologies, and materials designed to help learners” (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008, p. 12).  All of these are important parts of the educational technology definition.

Internet is one huge resource which can be used in education in many ways.  However, it is important not only for students, but also for teachers to use Internet wisely.  It happened to me while helping as a teacher’s assistant in Microsoft Office class that the students were eager to use Internet.  Unfortunately, they were too eager and browsed sites during the lectures.  Later on, they had no idea what the teacher was talking about.  Internet can be a big help for students, but it can also be a distraction.  On the other hand, many schools have strict rules on which sites can be accessed.  This might become a problem if a teacher posts a tutorial on YouTube and students are not able to preview it.  Internet resources should be accessible to students, but sometimes it is not that case.

One kind of resource recently caught my eye — the WebQuest.  I have never heard the word before I started the EdTech program.  I had to do a quick research to learn a little bit more about the resource and I immediately found out that it might be a great resource for students.  I like the interactivity in WebQuest.  Students are not only reading the information, they are required to follow the links, look for the sources, solve problems, and think critically (http://webquest.org/).  From my own experience, it is the most helpful way to learn.  I follow the motto “If you tell me, I will listen. If you show me, I will see. If you let me experience, I will learn.”

Resources outside the school are also powerful in student’s life.  Field trips to the real world have always a lot to offer.  While I was a president of a computer club at the undergraduate college I went too, I scheduled a few field trips for the students.  It was a great experience to see how the World Bank’s IT department works.  But students’ favorite field trip was to see the “supercomputer” at Bowie State University.  I have to say that I have never seen such monster before.  I think it was much more interesting to see the supercomputer in real life than just read about it and see it in the textbook.

As one can see, there are so many resources in education today, that it is sometimes hard to choose the right one for students.  It is important to keep in mind that every students is different and learn differently.  Therefore, several kinds of resources should be used to keep all the students engaged.  Fortunately, teachers have a lot to choose from.

Reference:
Januszewski, A. , & Molenda, M. (2008). Educational technology: A definition and commentary [Rev. ed. 2]. (Adobe Digital Editions version).