Vision for Technology Use
Technology should be treated as a vital and powerful tool to help students learn in a way that fosters student engagement, higher order thinking skills, collaboration skills, and authentic learning. Using technology this way will allow students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with experiences in real-world, 21st century job skills (Edutopia, 2008). As Creighton (2003) explains, the main focus should be the quality of instruction and not the quantity of technology being used: “It’s not really about the boxes and wires. It’s about what we do across those boxes and wires and with the boxes and wires, so that we enhance and enrich the human intelligence that we have (Lemke, 1998)” (p. 4). Additionally, all students in all schools should have equal access and opportunity to use technology for this type of learning regardless of income, gender, or achievement. “If we insist on using technology to improve achievement and opportunities for all students, a brighter horizon is in sight” (Creighton, 2003, p. 17).
Classroom teachers must act as the “boots on the ground” to ensure this high-quality technology-enhanced learning for all students. Teachers will know how to design and execute high-LoTI lessons within each content area. When higher LoTI levels are in place, the students will be able to take responsibility for building their own knowledge rather than depending on the teacher to simply deliver it to them (Creighton, 2003, p. 44). The first step toward this effort is to help teachers understand why this type of technology use is important for our 21st century learners. It is not sufficient to have a small minority of teachers implementing highly engaging and effective technology-enhanced lesson for a small minority of students. Instead, we must “encourage and support wide-based involvement and commitment to technology in our schools” (Creighton, 2003, p. 64).
To help teachers understand the importance of implementing technology-rich lessons in the classrooms as well as how to do so, ongoing professional development is a necessity. This starts with the school principal: “With careful planning of professional development programs, principals can successfully fulfill their significant and powerful role in improving teaching and learning” (Creighton, 2003, p. 49). It is vitally important that this professional development is ongoing instead of a stand-alone training with no opportunity for feedback. This is partially because technology is such a rapidly changing field and teachers need to be kept up-to-date about the latest innovations in classroom implementation. This is also because teachers need an opportunity for follow-up inquiry to deepen their learning after each subsequent training. As Creighton (2003) explains, “It’s unreasonable to expect teachers to implement skills and knowledge acquired in a one- or two-hour workshop without opportunities for practice, feedback, and additional emphasis of those skills and knowledge” (p. 48).
An ideal technology-rich classroom would involve the teacher acting as facilitator while students use hands-on technology for learning experiences specific to the content of that class and to make connections between that content and other curricular areas. Students would use technology to answer real-world questions in a similar way that a professional in the field would use technology to answer those questions. Students would use technology to collaborate with partners, both locally and globally, on products to demonstrate their learning and publish their work to a worldwide audience. Students would use technology to communicate with other students and content-area professionals in different communities, states, and countries. This technology use would be enhanced by the support of the stakeholders in the community and educational leaders in the building, district, state, and nation. The focus would not be on the technology itself, but on the quality of these technology-enhanced, student-centered learning experiences. “True student-centered learning requires more than just an increase in technology implementation. It represents a shift in the educational culture toward a system that supports technology for standards-based learning and real-world problem solving” (ISTE, 2009).
Creighton, T. (2003). The principal as technology leader. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, Inc.
Edutopia Staff. (2008, March 16). Why integrate technology into the curriculum? The reasons are many. Edutopia.org. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction.
ISTE. (2009). Essential conditions: necessary conditions to effectively leverage technology for learning. ISTE.org. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions/student-centered-learning.
Classroom teachers must act as the “boots on the ground” to ensure this high-quality technology-enhanced learning for all students. Teachers will know how to design and execute high-LoTI lessons within each content area. When higher LoTI levels are in place, the students will be able to take responsibility for building their own knowledge rather than depending on the teacher to simply deliver it to them (Creighton, 2003, p. 44). The first step toward this effort is to help teachers understand why this type of technology use is important for our 21st century learners. It is not sufficient to have a small minority of teachers implementing highly engaging and effective technology-enhanced lesson for a small minority of students. Instead, we must “encourage and support wide-based involvement and commitment to technology in our schools” (Creighton, 2003, p. 64).
To help teachers understand the importance of implementing technology-rich lessons in the classrooms as well as how to do so, ongoing professional development is a necessity. This starts with the school principal: “With careful planning of professional development programs, principals can successfully fulfill their significant and powerful role in improving teaching and learning” (Creighton, 2003, p. 49). It is vitally important that this professional development is ongoing instead of a stand-alone training with no opportunity for feedback. This is partially because technology is such a rapidly changing field and teachers need to be kept up-to-date about the latest innovations in classroom implementation. This is also because teachers need an opportunity for follow-up inquiry to deepen their learning after each subsequent training. As Creighton (2003) explains, “It’s unreasonable to expect teachers to implement skills and knowledge acquired in a one- or two-hour workshop without opportunities for practice, feedback, and additional emphasis of those skills and knowledge” (p. 48).
An ideal technology-rich classroom would involve the teacher acting as facilitator while students use hands-on technology for learning experiences specific to the content of that class and to make connections between that content and other curricular areas. Students would use technology to answer real-world questions in a similar way that a professional in the field would use technology to answer those questions. Students would use technology to collaborate with partners, both locally and globally, on products to demonstrate their learning and publish their work to a worldwide audience. Students would use technology to communicate with other students and content-area professionals in different communities, states, and countries. This technology use would be enhanced by the support of the stakeholders in the community and educational leaders in the building, district, state, and nation. The focus would not be on the technology itself, but on the quality of these technology-enhanced, student-centered learning experiences. “True student-centered learning requires more than just an increase in technology implementation. It represents a shift in the educational culture toward a system that supports technology for standards-based learning and real-world problem solving” (ISTE, 2009).
Creighton, T. (2003). The principal as technology leader. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, Inc.
Edutopia Staff. (2008, March 16). Why integrate technology into the curriculum? The reasons are many. Edutopia.org. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction.
ISTE. (2009). Essential conditions: necessary conditions to effectively leverage technology for learning. ISTE.org. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions/student-centered-learning.