Integration of Technology
Just using technology insn't enough anymore
Webinar: Blending Technology and Curriculum
- Technology usage focuses on the tool or technology in use, is content driven and deals mainly with computer literacy. Technology integration is conceptually driven, essential to the learning activity and involves higher order thinking. Whenever technology is integrated, technology is essential to the learning activity.
- When using and integrating technology into the classroom and learning activities, students do need to first know how to use the technology before they can integrate into learning. Rather than spending quality time teaching how to use each piece or tool, teachers can do a specific lesson or project on any content, but limit the technology resources, forcing students to familiarize themselves with specific tools along the way (i.e. doing a presentation on cats, but every student must use glogster).
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Rubrics are essential to transparent, clear cut learning. Allowing students to know up front what the expectation are will allow better, more focused research and learning. When integrating technology, projects can be done in groups and rubrics can be designed to evaluate both the content area, use of technology and cooperation or “workability” in a group. Allowing students to assess each other’s workability will ensure (honest) fair assessment.
- Application of technology in other subject areas (specials or connections classes like PE, Art, etc.) can be done much easier by blending idea from the classroom with the specials class. For example, students can use their video and editing skills to capture bounce angles of balls thrown against the wall in PE. The data they learn can apply to possible science work. These kind of cross-curricular connections can really put basic technologies to work.
Picture:
Bermocchi & his wireless "iconograph" (LOC)
Uploaded by The Library of Congress on August 15, 2008
No known copyright restrictions
Webinar Experience
The Brain Pop webinar, ”Blending Technology and Curriculum,” with Lisa Parisi, a professional learning webinar, was hosted by Andrew Gardner. The webinar audio was supported with various slides and pictures on screen and had an interactive toolbar where attendees could type questions and comments throughout the webinar. The audio quality was very good and the actual content was well organized. Both speakers stayed on track and spoke clearly. The only real downside to the presentation was when Lisa Parisi went to a screenshot of her computer to show some of her student’s work. When she scrolled through her website, the content was lagging and was very hard to see or read. The total length of the webinar was right at 60 mins, which is a stretch to stay focused, especially without any bold visuals. This particular webinar was prerecorded, which meant I could not actively participate in the discussion box, but the advantage was that I could pause and rewind at any point, allowing me to participate at my own pace.
Are you integrating technology in your classroom?
Related Content:
1. Technology Integration for the New 21st Century Learner - article
In order to meet the needs of the 21st century learner, educators must continue to put technology in the hand of the students and they must be trusted with more progressive technology use. Often joked about, it’s not a far stretch to assume that many students know more about technology than the teachers. No longer is simply showing students how to use technology enough, more progressive tools must be infused to continue to engage our students.
2. Integrating Technology Into the Classroom - video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cxyH1qgKZQ
This video slideshow produced by an educator in England, hits home the point that the way technology is introduced and integrated in the classroom hasn’t change since the conception of technology many years ago. In order for us to meet the needs of our learners and keep up with the ever-changing technologies, schools must adapt the way they introduce and use technologies.
3. 3 Phases of Educational Technology - video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ir4-EFVhzI
The 3 phases of educational technology progress into the third phase, which is the infusion of content standards into 21st century skills (collaboration, communication and creativity). As with Ms. Parisi’s classroom, to truly integrate technology, students can’t simply be consumers of information, they must be producers of information. This means students must have the skills to communicate, collaborate and creatively create content-based assignments and projects with new and useful technology.
4. How to Build Support for Education Technology - blog
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/building-support-education-technology-anne-obrien
Technology integration often meets resistance, especially at the highest level, where decisions are made on funding, based on outdated studies and research. Despite the ConnectEd initive, to have 99% of students connected to high-speed internet in 5 years, many stakeholders still have the wrong mentality. Yes, it’s important for students to know how to use technology, but teachers must be comfortable with the technology, open to change and willing to constantly learn new tools. The argument that school should focus on being effective and challenging, rather than forward-thinking, will not allow schools to prepare students for the 21st century work environment.
Picture:
Cornwall School House Nº 4 (1892)
Uploaded by origamidon on March 2, 2009
How has technology in the classroom changed?
Laptop and Tablets?
Google?
Card Catalogs at the Library of Congress
Uploaded by Eric Spiegel on February 23, 2012
Taken in East End, Washington