Integrating Technology & Learning

Overview

The process of integrating technology and learning is often ignored - perhaps due to it's associated complexities or social resistance. Instructors know teaching...technology has incredibly "cool" tools to assist in connecting students with each other and with content. However, these two worlds don't seem to meet easily.

I attended a presentation recently on integrating technology and teaching - the presenters perspective was that IT doesn't know teaching and teaching doesn't know IT - and neither wants to change! This perspective may be extreme...but it does highlight the difference of these two worlds.

Why the resistance to technology in a classroom? How can it be overcome? The future of elearning is obviously linked to the adoption at a user level...so exploring this topic is very valuable.

Resources

Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations
"The primary purpose of the study was to address “why don’t teachers innovate when they are given computers?” and “why don’t teachers integrate computers in their teaching in more meaningful ways?”" (Aug, 2002)

4Teachers
"The online space for teachers integrating technology into the curriculum"

A Beginner's Guide to Integrating Technology
"Whether you are a student teacher, first-year teacher, or veteran teacher new to technology, this article provides ideas you can use to assess where you are and to plan for the future. Included: Six steps for integrating technology painlessly plus Web sites and tips to motivate reluctant or fearful educators."

Building Different Bridges
"To thrive in a changing world, school children must learn how to learn, how to think, and how to understand how technology works and what it can and cannot do. Classroom teachers hold the key to student success with technology, and represent an important factor in determining the quality of education. However, teachers cannot and should not be required to shoulder sole responsibility for effective technology integration in schools. The transformation of classroom technology from hardware, software and network connections into thinking tools for teaching and learning requires effective and enabling leadership by visionary and knowledgeable school administrators and boards, and effective, ongoing professional development and support for teachers."

Low Threshold Applications & Activities
Great resource for integrating technology at a comfortable pace - excellent ideas.

Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technolgy in Education
"The journal features research findings, practical articles on technology integration, book and software reviews, and commentary on topics of interest to educators (PK-16). The online format allows for the inclusion of multimedia elements such as images, sound files, and video clips."

Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Variety of resources - lesson plans, articles, documents...

Towards an Educational Theory of Technology
"This article offers a critical consideration of current initiatives, and concomitant discourses, exhorting educators to adopt and integrate digital tools on a large scale. Despite immense obstacles standing in the way of full-scale implementation, educational perspectives critical of the e-learning imperative are, for the most part, marginalized and/or ignored, as economic interests are prioritized over more specifically educational ones, and a new breed of entrepreneurial academics give intellectual legitimacy to commercial and corporate ideologies."
Thought-provoking article.

Assisting Educators on the Use of Technology
"Increasingly, educators are adopting business methods and processes. They have increased their overall efficiency, use business process management software to automate routine business procedures, and integrate new technologies into teaching and learning. Educational institutions must now be involved in activities that result in significant financial and academic improvements, as well as increase user satisfaction. The number of activities designed to assist educators in keeping up with new technology and its implementation is growing."

Integrating Technology into Learning and Working: Promising Opportunities and Problematic Issues
"Technology is now widely used in a variety of educational and performance support situations. New technologies are being introduced before we learn how to make effective use of existing technologies. Rather than jump from one technology fad to another or leap to conclusions that new technologies require new planning and design processes or radically different learning paradigms, it appears reasonable to consolidate what we know works best in which various learning and work environments and to identify known gaps in our knowledge and areas where new technologies simply do not fit well into existing frameworks."

Ed-Tech Is Not Tech But Ed
Short article on the proper perspective of technology in education.

Defining a Technology Integrated Curriculum
"The idea for this article began when I was seeking a more complete definition for a technology integrated curriculum for an application section in one of my K.A.M.s. I interviewed ten Duval County teachers in October 2001 who were recommended by the Supervisor of Instructional Technology Support as Instructional Technology Coordinators at their schools. Two teachers were high school teachers, four were middle school teachers, and four were elementary teachers. I used the qualitative software Ethnograph to help with coding and data analysis."

Learning Space
"Providing educators with opportunities and tools to develop, implement and share effective uses of technology to improve student learning."

Computer Skills
Good (though basic) overview of computer/technology skills.

Technology Integration Courses
Large number of courses available on how to integrate technology - most are fee-based....see also: T.H.E. Institute.

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