Speaking of Technology…3-20-09

This past week, I went out and purchased a headset with microphone to begin podcasting with the kids. Haven’t tried it out yet, but am planning on playing around with it over the next couple of days. The kids are really excited to start posting some of their book reviews to our wiki; I’ve got quite a few to edit this weekend. So far, they are looking really good. One student is just dying to get on and be videotaped. Her name is Autumn. She joined our class in January and has been quite a lively addition. This girl is going to go places – no doubt. She has a personality that is contagious and is brimming with self-confidence. I am looking forward to our first filming next week. Can’t wait to share!
Recently, I had to write a speech on why full funding of education is critical to academic success. I decided that my take on the issue would be to explain how full funding could impact academic achievement in how it is spent. One of the three ways I chose to elaborate on was technology integration. I thought I’d share this portion of my speech on our blog to see if anyone had any thoughts on the issue:
Another way to motivate children to achieve academic success is through technology integration.
Technology holds the potential to transform learning environments from teacher-centered auditoriums to highly interactive, student-centered powerhouses of knowledge. As we move into the 21st Century, it is crucial that teachers become aware of just how technology-savvy their students are. Students hunger with curiosity about our sophisticated and technologically based world. The one computer classroom doesn’t cut it in comparison to a classroom an ocean away where students are working with personal laptops. Can a chalkboard really get the same message across as an electronic whiteboard? What can a student produce when you place a stylus in his hand instead of a pencil? How does one teach reading comprehension and hold student attention when the click of a mouse overshadows the turning of a page?

In a technology-rich classroom, instruction is often complemented by project-based learning. Through the Internet, multi-media tools, and an extensive and ever-expanding variety of software, students can research, interact, dialogue, create, and demonstrate mastery of content and skill in a variety of disciplines like never before.

Let’s not forget the power that advancements in technology have given educators. With the touch of a button, educators today can access valuable data and information about individual students in order to design personalized action plans for increasing their level of academic success. In addition, technology use and integration impacts student achievement by allowing us to reach the special needs of students in new, dynamic ways. Hearing and vision impaired children can interact and compete on the same level in the same classroom with the general education population.

Former Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology, Linda Roberts, dispelled the notion that there is a delusion about technology's capacity to improve K-12 education, and spoke of a realistic vision of how the use of technology can enhance teaching and learning to improve student achievement as well as provide access to valuable, educational resources. In this era of increasing accountability, it is important to be able to demonstrate that student achievement is being impacted. Technology can provide us the ways and means to do just that. The time technology saves an educator is immeasurable. And time is money, so they say.

Let’s face facts. Children today are mesmerized by the wonders of technology. With the flick of a switch, I can capture the attention of an entire class, find the answer to a burning question in science, or virtually transport students from Colonial Williamsburg to the Great Wall of China and back again. There is no question that technology motivates students to achieve, so is there really a reason to question the full funding of education to support its use in doing this?