Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Integrating Technology and Creating Change


The chapter examines dynamics of educational change and envisions innovative uses of computers and information tools in teaching. There are also strategies for using whatever technology teachers have in classrooms to promote new directions in teaching and learning. (83 Maloy)

Focus Question:

"How can teachers integrate technology into their work as educators?"

Students in today's society are the ones that are the most up to date with technology, you can find the young ones figuring out how to play with an iPhone before the parent does.
Educators have this to their advantage, since children are so well connected with technology that is coming out today, educators have the freedom to utilize the internet for posts, instructions, directions,discussions, journals, homework, quizzes,etc.
Classroom instructions can be given through the use of technology. By moving aside the "old school" instructions with chalk on the board, PowerPoint presentations are one of the best ways to go when trying to keep the students focused. Most students, specially the younger ones, have a hard time staying on task, and finishing what they are reading, and if they do finish it, sometimes they don't know what they have read. Technology comes in very handy if you have student's that are mainly visual learners. Having pictures and videos near or next to the text of the instructions or directions can clear any obstacles of questions the child may have.
A quick text or an e-mail to the classroom, if the student's have cell phone's they can receive the message of an exam that will be coming up, another way that a quick text can be very helpful is remainders for class, if needed.


As the text states "Teachers can incorporate computers and other information technologies into three major parts of their professional work: 1) Classroom instructions, 2) outside-theclassroom activities, and 3) inside-and outside-the-classroom learning activities for students.


Tech Took 4.1
Online Technology Integration Resources

Edutopia: Information and Inspiration for innovative teaching in k-12 Schools, a website from the George Lucas Educational Foundation, features a fine collection of technology integration resources. You can find information under the Priority topics menu.

Reading the article by Marc Prensky pointed out some very good points, that I myself find wondering sometimes. The fact that technology is "hardly new" as he stated in his article, finds that most educators get the new technologies in, but when is it that they let go of the old things, the old ways to learn? One of the questions in the beginning of the article said " The biggest question about technology and schools in the 21st century is not so much "What can it do?" but, rather, "When will it get to do it?" We all know life will be much different by 2100. Will school? How close will we be to Edutopia?"

We know what technology can do for the most that, from common knowledge we know that can do almost anything we set out our computers, phones, television, the capabilities of our technology today is almost limitless. The question today is, when will educators get the chance to do this ? Schools today still block the access for socialmedia, the walls at school usually don't allow your cell phone to receive signal, and if you are caught using a cell phone, or ipod, iPad, you will most likely get it confiscated.  Why is that schools can't meet at a level where we can find a common and balanced ground where we would be able to use these machines and these great connections that we have in the palms of our hands, to better our knowledge and help individuals in school, and better yet, to be able to better the world we live in today. 

If we made the transition from handwritten assignments to typed assignments and realized the the outcome was not only neater, but much better, why is it that we all can't have the same mindset on how technology is out there to benefit us in schools, as well as many other parts of our daily lives.

"Many schools still ban new digital technologies, such as cell phones and Wikipedia. Even when schools do try to move forward, they often face antitechnology pressure from parents demanding that schools go back to basics. Many teachers, under pressure from all sides, are often so afraid to experiment and to trust their kids with technology that they demand extensive training before they will try anything new. All these factors impede even the many schools trying to change."
Marc Prensky

It seems as if schools and educators that are suck on the old ways, of how things were taught in the 1970's and 1970's, don't want to move from that, because they feel as if that is their comfort zone, so why should they leave something they are comfortable with, and has worked in the past to something new and different, where they may feel uncomfortable?
The answer is simple, doing the same thing over and over again will only get you the same result, stepping out of that comfort zone and being able to see what is behind the walls, individuals are able to learn something different, as professors and as well as students.


Conclusion

While going through the chapter and reading that really interesting article on Edutopia from Marc Prenski, opens my eyes a little bit wider than I usually see the world with. I know that technology would be a great investment and a very efficient one for schools to take into consideration with a little more concrete thought. The stages of integration on page 90 from the textbook talks about how as an educator one needs to take these certain steps,a process as moving from "dabbling" to "doing old things in old ways" to " doing old things in new ways" to "doing new things in new ways".
I like the last two, mainly the last one because it shows courage to really learn something "new" in a completely different way, rather than modifying the old material to make it new, where could lead to a state of confusion.

"The Five Stages of technology use in classrooms :
Entry: A teacher needs to gain specific skills in how to use computers and technologies befpre she or he is able to think about how to applu new knowledge to classrom situations.
Adoption: A teacher knows enough to use technology in the classroo, but only at a basic level and only occsionally. ( I mentioned earlier about stepping out of the comfort zone, this would be it, to adopt the technology to teach)
Adaption: Teachers fully integrate " new technologies into traditional classroom practices."
Appropriation: A teacher is using technolgy as both an inside-the-classroom and outside- the - classrom tool.
Invention: Teachers start to "experiment with many instructional patterns and ways of relating to students" A teacher is exploring new ways to creatively use technology in and out of the class as well as adding emerging technologies to a personal repertoire of professional skills and practices."

(90, Maloy)

In retrospect on my high school years, I wasn't very well connected as I am with my college professors. Thinking about that makes me wonder what exactly was so different about the communication factor. In college I can e-mail my professors, I can ask them for help and assistance and even plan out days before class to really understand a specific concept. In high school, I never thought about e-mailing any of my teachers, and I wonder if they would even reply if I did, that definitely makes a big different in the way a student has communication with his professors, because I know that as a young woman today I am doing much better academically thanks to the strong ground of communication I have with my professors, thanks to the internet.