Critical Issue: Promoting Technology Use in Schools
ISSUE: Although there has been a strong push to get educational technology into the hands of teachers and students, many obstacles to implementation still exist. Equipment may not be placed in easily accessible locations. Hardware and software often pose problems for teachers in the classroom, and just-in-time technical support may be unavailable. Teachers may lack the time and the motivation to learn technology skills. Professional development activities may not provide ongoing, hands-on training for teachers or practical strategies for implementing technology into lesson plans. Initial technology funding may not be sustained and thus not capable of providing upgrades, maintenance, and ongoing professional development. Fortunately, these obstacles can be addressed and overcome. This Critical Issue provides practical information for promoting technology use in schools.
OVERVIEW: The push to provide technology in schools has been successful in recent years. According to Goldman, Cole, and Syer (2000), most schools have computer labs and many have computers in every classroom. More than 90 percent of all schools are connected to the Internet, and more than 33 percent of teachers have Internet access in their classrooms. Yet teachers readily admit that they are not making as much use of technology as they could. According to an Education Week survey, nearly 30 percent of teachers said their students use computers only one hour per week; nearly 40 percent said their students do not use computers in the classroom at all (Trotter, 2001). Although technology is more prevalent in the schools, several factors affect whether and how it is used. Those factors include placement of computers for equitable access, technical support, effective goals for technology use, new roles for teachers, time for ongoing professional development, appropriate coaching of teachers at different skill levels, teacher incentives for use, availability of educational software, and sustained funding for technology.
Placing Computers for Equitable Access
Access to technology is an important issue for teachers and students. Although schools may have computers available, one factor that determines their use is where those computers are located. If computers are connected to the Internet but are not in a convenient location, the availabi...
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...riodically visit classrooms to determine teachers' technology needs and to observe and encourage their integration strategies.
· Provide opportunities for teachers to observe effective technology use in other classes or schools.
· Recognize teacher successes with technology. Share these stories with the school and the community. Encourage teachers to share their successes with colleagues at conferences.
· Participate in professional development programs, study groups, and other technology activities with teachers and other staff members.
REFERENCES
Bailey, G., & Pownell, D. (2002, November). Technology staff development and support programs: Applying Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Learning and Leading With Technology, 26(3), 47-51.
Burgos, M. (2001) A successful model for school improvement
Glenn, A. D. (2003). Technology and the continuing education of classroom teachers. Peabody Journal of Education, 7(1), 122-128.
Goldman, S., Cole, K., & Syer, C. (2000). The technology/content dilemma
Trotter, A. (2001, September 23). Preparing teachers for the digital age. Education Week
Working as an Instructional Technology Specialist for the past seven years has provided many opportunities to observe teachers and students in a classroom setting. During this time teachers have been in the process of phasing in a new standards-based curriculum with an emphasis on student mastery of these standards. New technology tools have also been incorporated in many classrooms including studen...
Technology is everywhere; in the home, office, restaurant and the classroom. As teachers, we need to begin to embrace this technology and apply it to our students’ lives. But this begins with the teacher’s attitude and according to Johnson,
From personal experience technology has improved the way I learn and has made it easier to students to collaborate with each other in order to improve our learning. To conclude, technology should be used in school’s curriculum and instruction because of improved communication, innovations to come and convenience to both the students and the teachers.
“ . . . Hank Becker’s research shows that the preferred teaching strategies and styles of teachers usually determine or shape their patterns of technology usage. Those he calls “traditional” teachers are far less apt to allow students to use new technologies than “constructivist” teachers even when they have 5 or more networked computers in their classrooms.” (McKenzie, 2001,).
Technology is growing every day. We use technology for everything we do, sometimes without even thinking about it. In our world, these advancements are used for communicating, entertainment, and education as well as others. Since technology is so ingrained into our lives, how much we use and depend on it is often not thought about. Our education system is on the front end of using new technology in classrooms. More and more class room and teachers are weaving it into their lesson plans and making it more available for students to use in the classroom. Technology is changing the way students are educated in America and across the world. In this paper I will discuss several ways that this can be seen and improved.
Technology in the classroom can be a good thing for many students. For example, it gives students easy access to information, but it isn’t always the best thing. Technology helps raise the illiteracy rate higher as it is used in school. In 2009, about 97 percent of classrooms had at least one computer in the classroom everyday, although approximately 54 percent could bring their own computers to their class. There was internet access available for almost 93 percent of the computers in the classrooms. Otherwise, 96 percent of the computers were brought in to the students. The average ratio of students to computers was 5.3 to 1. Since 2006 the spending rate for each school in the United States has increased about 1,250 dollars. It’s rate in 2011 was almost 10,250 dollars per pupil. Although technology can help many students and teachers, due to the fact that the use of it gets abused by some students therefore it isn’t the greatest to have at our fingertips.
teachers in saving a lot of time and effort. The flexibility of using technology provides rich options
Schools are still expected to provide books, pencils, and paper; however, they are now also expected to budget in computers, scientific calculators, and DVD players. Computers cost up to one thousand dollars a piece; scientific and graphing calculators cost around one hundred dollars a piece; in addition wiring the schools to accept this new technology can cost thousands. The cost to implement technology into our schools is enormous, tens of thousands per school, and millions per school system. In the 21st century, people are becoming more and more dependent on technology. We rely on computers and cell phones more than books and meeting people face-to-face. The internet is becoming a main source of information and communication. Schools, as the primary educational source, must then teach children at a young age how to use technology as an efficient and effective tool.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that
Within technology comes the gateway to almost everything that is out in the internet, it opens a whole new world to the students and the teachers that use them. The outcome of the uses, if they happen to be good or bad, come from the restrictions and the management of usage of said technology inside a classroom. Educators see firsthand how the used in their daily lives influence how a student learns. Thanks to technology not only has students and teachers changed the ways they learn and teach, learning itself has changed as well. It is not only crucial to have the technological tools needed in a classroom, but also an educator that can mend and mold the technology to their rightful use. The use of technology in a classroom not only expands the tools and gadgets, not to mention adds much needed knowledge that will help students later on in life, but also brings a whole new and better way to teach and learn.
Almost everyone attends a school at one time in their life whether the classroom includes technology or not. Research shows that technology isn’t used as often as one might think. The article, “High Access and Low use of technology in High School Classrooms” illustrates the use of technology by stating that only one in ten of elementary and middle school teachers are daily users of computers (Cuban, Kirkpatrick, Peck). Most schools now have classrooms that use technology throughout the entire class time and even at home to do homework. Although some people might agree with the use of technology in class, it is more harmful to the students than useful. It can cause many distractions, it can be difficult to use and can take away from learning time.
Technology is becoming more and more dominant in our society.Everyday upgrades are being made and new innovations are being discovered. Technology is all around us whether we want it to be or not: it is the vehicles we drive, it can be found in our homes, and can even be found in the grocery store.Every place we look there is some type of technology.I believe technology has had a major impact on our school systems and is still impacting it today.There are those who do not agree, though, that technology has impacted our schools.Eric Gormly writes, “In fact, many theorists point out the overall impact of technology on education has been quite small, manifesting little discernible change in the classroom.” [1]Yes, there are some schools that are not as advanced as others, but many of them do have a significant amount of technology in them.I find it fascinating that so much technology has been incorporated into our classrooms, but I believe that, even with all of the positive aspects that are associated with technology, there are some negative and even dangerous aspects that should be taken into account.I will be sharing some of the equipment that has been used in the schools, how both the students and the teachers use the equipment, and also the positive and negative effects that technology has had on our schools.
Wright, Vivian H. and Elizabeth K. Wilson. "Teacher’s Use of Technology: Lessons Learned from the Teacher Education Program to the Classroom." 20.2 (2011): 48-58. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
The education world has been greatly influenced by rapidly changing technology and the increasing availability of information. Schools have advanced by leaps and bounds when it comes to incorporating technology into the learning environment, however, many more advances need to be made. In all areas of the country, educators are trying to help students keep up with technology, but there are more changes that are essential for preparing the next generation for the future.
Andy Carvin states “ internet access in schools isn’t worth a hill of beans if teachers aren’t prepared to take full advantage of technology” (2000). Schools spend a lot of money on computer hardware and software as well as other technologies without realizing that many of their employees are unprepared to include them in their teaching and use them to their advantages. Educators often use technology as a classroom management tool rather than an educational one, allowing computer time as a reward for good behavior (Clark & Gorski, 2001). The problem with this is that students learn to use the computer for games and such because it is their reward instead of using it on their own time for educational purposes. This is teaching them the wrong idea. Margaret Honey, director of the Center for Children and Technology in NYC said it best, “The bottom line is, you don’t just put technology into schools or into homes and expect miracles to happen. The technology is only as good as the program that surrounds it” (Meyer, 2002, p.2).