Let me run you through my hypothetical morning. I wake up to the sound of my cellular phone's alarm clock blaring next to my head, and at the same time I hear my coffee maker grinding fresh beans for my morning cup. I quickly shower, dress, and have breakfast. With the necessities out of the way, I fire up my laptop to print off today's homework assignment. While I'm waiting for my computer to boot up, I'm checking my email, the weather, and my schedule for the day on my phone. I make a few adjustments to my schedule. My computer finishes booting up and I'm met with my updated schedule. I print my homework then head off to school. In this imaginary sequence of events, we see many examples of technology being used in daily life. What's interesting is that this situation isn't so much different from what an actual student might experience in the morning. Technology is literally everywhere today. Since the advent of Smartphones we carry our lives in our pockets. So to ignore technology in the classroom would be downright negligent. The effective integration of technology into the classroom is more important now than ever before.
So What constitutes effective integration? One important aspect is that the technology should be appropriate. The use of technology in the classroom must not seem out of place, or forced. What I mean is that it would be inappropriate to use technology just for the sake of using technology. In the example day above technology allowed me to get out of bed on time, have coffee, and get ready for my day. In short, technology facilitates life. In the classroom, technology should facilitate learning. As with all other classroom learning, the goal should not be to learn all there is to know about a specific piece of technology, since technology is changing all the time. The goal in the classroom should be to integrate technology in such a way that the use of technology fits seamlessly into the lesson plan. The focus should be on developing the skills needed to be able to learn to use any new technology that might be encountered.
Technology should also be entertaining and accessible. The idea that technology should be accessible follows logically from the point that technology should be appropriate. If the technology isn't easily accessible by all students, then there is no way it can be easily integrated into the classroom environment. The point about technology being entertaining reaffirms the belief in engaging the 21st century learning in a memorable experience. If the technology is not entertaining, use of the technology will quickly become monotonous and uninspiring.
Possibly the most important concept we should be teaching students about technology, is the effective use of such technology. If we're honest, we know that technology isn't all good. There are viruses, spyware, addware, spam, and popups to name a few examples. If you give a student a stove and some food ingredients, chances are the student will eventually create something edible, but that is not what a teacher is for. The same applies to technologies, the teacher must be there to provide instruction for proper use, as well as providing information on some of the dangers associated with technology.
http://prezi.com/0l5lm0wxt4ew/what-is-effective-technology-integration-for-21st-century-learners/
I think that it is important to consider that when implementing technology in classroom situations, all of the technology we wish to use may not be readily available. We need to consider the socio-economic status of the school we work in, and the students we teach. Unfortunately, there may not be adequate school funding to use everything we learn about technology integration. In addition, not all students will have access to the same technology outside of class time. We need to be careful about how much technology we really can use, and how it will affect our students. I agree that it has potential to be for great good, but we cannot ignore that technology may not be equally available to everyone.
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