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
Michaela Pacesova: EDTECH Learning Log 