Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction by Lynne Schrum

         This article discussed the idea that many believe technology will make our students smarter.  However, it needs to be used appropriately as a tool in order to truly make positive influences in our classroom.  It starts by encouraging teachers to understand and believe that technology is incorporated in the classroom to help achieve academic goals and that’s why they should be integrated into curriculum, NOT because they were expensive and therefore important. 
Technology fosters exploration, and therefore, could be used to engage in project-based learning.  Mention of “technology-rich” classroom environments stated that the students should be active explorers by searching for and finding information, along with analyzing and recording their findings.  This takes work and guided practice to ensure success.  The students need guidelines on what it looks like to be engaged in their work so they are not running around, doing whatever they please and having no direction as to where they are going.  Technology is not to be learned by the students, but rather a tool for endless opportunities in authentic learning.
In order for teachers to effectively incorporate technology lessons in the classroom, it is crucial that the teachers are active and cooperative with other teachers to develop and share ideas that would work.  It cannot be done by a single teacher.  It also needs to be recognized that learning in a technology-rich classroom looks different than a traditional classroom setting.  Students are working on different things, at different steps of their projects, and there might be a lot of different things going on at once. 



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