Technology Integration

Technology. It has transformed an otherwise quiet, rainy day weekend in March into an opportunity for professional development and growth. Online I access my distance learning course from a university that I have never attended in person to participate in a weekly discussion with colleagues, some of whom are several provinces away. My thinking is challenged and new knowledge formed as we converse. This knowledge leads me to decide to change part of a Language Arts unit I had prepared. I easily locate relevant resources to support the lesson online and add these websites to my delicious account. After changing the lesson plan itself on Microsoft Word, I go onto Skype and use a microphone to speak with a teaching partner about lesson ideas and student assessment practices. As we are speaking, I update two wikis I created for school and check my RSS feeds to see what is new. I read a couple blog posts and then access the university library and peruse a few articles. What I teach and how I teach are positively influenced by technology. Imagine what technology integration can do for student learning in a classroom or library!

“Technology integration is using computers effectively and efficiently in the general content areas such as math, science, reading and social studies to allow students to learn how to apply computer skills and technology in meaningful ways. As a result, the curriculum drives the use of technology, not vice versa.” (Wikipedia, 2009) Technology is used as a valuable tool to teach curriculum and is interwoven throughout the process of student learning. Teachers are able to use technology in a variety of ways when teaching content and are often provided with suggestions through documents outlining provincial learning outcomes or state standards. For instance, the British Columbia Ministry of Education’s Integrated Resource Packages contain suggestions for how to instruct and assess using technology for each subject and provide a list of learning resources (software) that can be used. Technology integration in the educational setting provides opportunity for improvement in teaching and student learning. Teachers are able to use technology to engage students in meaningful lessons that prepare them for a future of life-long learning. Students are able to use technology to take greater responsibility for their own learning and extend their classroom and library learning experiences. “Used in the context of intelligent decisions about other aspects of education, technology enables learning to be limited by only one thing -- imagination.” (Hawkins, 1997)

How does technology integration look in the classroom and library?

“Technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent.” (Shaffner, 2009) The use of technology in the classroom needs to be a part of the everyday learning experience. Students use technology along with other traditional learning tools as they develop an understanding of the topic being studied. Technology integration is seen when students conduct research projects and access both books and computers to acquire information. The information itself may be recorded on paper or on the computer using a choice of programs. Students then decide how to present their understanding using either technology or a traditional method. In the article “Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Learning Environments”, technology integration is described within a Science unit on bones, fossils and dinosaurs in a preschool/kindergarten class. Technology was used along with other traditional tools to enrich learning. Other examples of technology integration in the classroom are described in “How to Integrate Technology: Finding the right tools to implement in the classroom.” They include making movies to explain scientific principles and creating slideshows about books students have read.

How does it improve teaching and student learning?

“Being literate no longer only involves being able to read and write. The literate of the twenty-first century must be able to download, upload, rip, burn, chat, save, blog, Skype, IM, and share.” (Mullen & Wedwick, 2008) This new definition of literacy applies to both teachers and students. If we are to teach information literacy to students then we also need to be information literate. The use of technology furthers teacher and student understanding and allows for diversified learning experiences. It also allows teachers and students greater access to resources and provides opportunities for learning that may not be met by traditional methods of teaching and learning alone. Rebecca Mullen and Linda Wedwick outline in “Avoiding the Digital Abyss” (2008) how using YouTube, digital stories, and blogs can facilitate and enrich experiences in the classroom. Video sites such as YouTube provide a plethora of videos that would otherwise not be available due to storage and financial concerns. The sites are easily searched and can accommodate the teachable moment. Digital stories offer students a new medium to display their knowledge and creativity. Students learn to “write” in this format by writing a script and drawing a storyboard. Blogs are another new style of writing and allow students to share their thoughts and have other students and the teacher comment. Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and VoiceThreads enable teachers and students to interact on the internet. Instead of just learning from the internet, teachers and students are learning together.

How do we implement technology integration school and district wide?

The first steps to implementing technology integration involve having the technology available and allowing teachers time to learn and become comfortable with technology. I have found that in my teaching practice, technology use has not been as prevalent in my classroom as I would like because of the difficulty with accessing technology. In other classrooms, teachers describe their own lack of comfort as being the major hindrance to implementing technology integration. In “All Aboard!” David and Margaret Carpenter state the importance of having teachers be in charge instead of having technology integration be forced upon them. They stressed the need to include the library media specialist and the instructional technologist “[b]ecause these two specialists serve all grade levels, their perspective on the next-step skills needs was invaluable to the classroom teachers, whose focus was naturally more grade specific.” (Carpenter, 2008) In my district we have begun to address technology integration through the formation of a network of administrators, the assistant superintendent, information technology support staff, and teachers (including those specializing in teacher-librarianship and ICT). Using a wiki, we have initiated the creation of a technology resource that outlines various programs that are available and how they can be utilized to support the curriculum. School wide we are exploring how to support and scaffold the implementation of technology integration through the use of teacher-mentor relationships and peer learning opportunities. There are various sites already available to support teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum. Two good sites are Marnie McMillan’s “Supporting Student Learning with Technology” and Lee’s Summit School District’s “Technology and Instruction Interwoven.”

“Effective integration of ICT occurs when it is built into day-to-day classroom practice to meet curriculum objectives and engage students in inquiry-based learning, collaboration, self-directed learning, complex thinking, and communication outside the classroom through the use of technology.” (BC Ministry of Education)

References:

British Columbia Ministry of Education. “Information Technology Resource Document (K-7)” http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/resdocs/itk7.pdf

British Columbia Ministry of Education. “Resources to Support ICT integration” http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/technology/6-9.htm

Carpenter, David & Margaret. (2008) “All Aboard! How a New Curriculum-Development Review Process Brought Teachers, Administrators, and Learning Specialists to the Table and Resulted in Some Innovative Uses of Technology.” Learning & Leading with Technology. pgs. 18 - 21

Hawkins, Jan. (1997) “The World at Your Fingertips: Education Technology Opens Doors.” http://www.edutopia.org/world-your-fingertips

Lee’s Summit, MO R-7 School District: Technology Integration. “Technology and Instruction Interwoven.” http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/

McMillan, Marnie. “Supporting Student Learning with Technology.” Regina Public Schools. http://web.rbe.sk.ca/support/

Mullen, Rebecca and Wedwick, Linda. (2008). “Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs.” The Clearing House. Vol. 82, No.2, pgs. 66-69

Schaffner, Marian. (2009) “Technology Integration.” Edutopia: The George Lucas Educational Foundation. http://www.edutopia.org/teaching-module-technology-integration

Wang, X. C., Jaruscewicz, C., Rosen, D., Berson, I. and Bailey, M. (2008) “Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Learning Environments.” National Association for Education of Young Children. Vol. 63. No. 5, pgs. 48 - 50. ProQuest Educational Journals.