Absolutely Acceptable Additions

I believe, after the readings, that there is no reason or even excuse to be against technology integration in education. I was particularly struck by the excerpt from Moursund's book in which he discusses the "laptop for every child" project. Although I am normally more comfortable with traditional teaching methods this project made a lot of sense. With one initial investment in the technology an entire world of information is opened up to a child. Book, lessons, teachers, tutorials, almost anything can be provided for less online.


Technology integration is not just teaching about the technology, but teaching with it, and how to use it, why to use it and when to use it. Technology integration is successful when it enhances and adds to the learning experience. If technology is successfully integrated it will not stand apart from regular classroom activities, but will cause disruption if it is removed. For example if a SMARTboard is installed in a classroom the students should use it every day for assignments, presentations and even for the mundane activities like attendance.

Technology integration is not successful if it can be removed from the classroom without being noticed in daily lessons or if it distracts from the learning. It is a waste to see a SMARTboard used as nothing more than a glorified overhead projector. Another example of unsuccessful integration happens quite often on campus when a professor spends half of the class attempting to get the technology to work because he or she was not properly trained.


The biggest barrier to technology integration is most likely the initial financial investment. If this is not the case, one should probably look at the administration and staff; people are afraid of new technologies, especially established teachers who do not want to admit that their pupils know more about something than they do.