~Technology Barriers~
- Motivation
- Lack of support (money, time, & leadership)
- Teacher mindset
- Lack of tools
- Lack of understanding for the technology
Technology Integration Plan
By Marilee Seymour
December 3, 2009
In the future, teachers are expected to teach many aspects of the school curriculum the same as today’s teachers, but these futuristic teachers will also understand and utilize technology within their everyday classrooms. So in order for today’s teachers to enter into the future they have to begin integrating these technologies. First they must break through the digital divide, meanwhile keeping with what is considered the best practices of teaching. However difficult the process, it is also necessary that this integration of technology be multicultural. Using sensitivity and politically correct wording is a must so as not to offend or exclude anyone within the curriculum, not just in ESOL.
For today’s teacher to understand and utilize technology, they must first understand exactly what technology is and is not. In fact, technology is technically any tool that is and can be used to enhance, promote, and inspire learning and/or to support such learning. For instance, in the very beginning man used tools such as a rock with paint or a chisel to write, then through the years we advanced to a paper and pencil for writing our messages, but now we have gone further within today’s society to the tools of the future, the almighty keypad and computer that virtually does everything for a person, except of course, u h, maybe think for us! Well, at least not yet!
In order, to integrate this technology into the classrooms of the future, three significant questions must be asked, “What is integrating technology?”, “Where are you at in terms of technology in the classroom?”, and “How do we integrate this technology?” First, integrating technology is utilizing computers within the existing curriculum, which means including them into your lessons. Computers must become the tools that are used every day in the classroom; just like a pen, calculator, or a whiteboard – that helps you to teach and helps the students to learn. Second, according to Bill Robertson’s Integrating Technology into Instruction, it is essential to make a quick assessment of you classroom, your students, and yourself to determine whether they are ready for integrating technology. This assessment is completed by assessing student skills and attitudes, teacher skills and attitudes, access, and resources to both computers and technology. Third, is on how we integrate technology into the classrooms, which is actually simpler than originally thought. By using the Internet students are able to connect to people in their city, their state, their country, or even go global and visit the world. Students can and will learn more through human interactions, seeing and getting reactions to their questions or inquiries from people hundreds, even thousands of miles away has more of an impact on student learning than just reading a book. In particular, the use of e-mails, blogs, IMS, and twitter has a string enough impact to impress students to learn more. Specifically, using a webcam to communicate through a one-on-one session with an actual person who has lived through wars, natural tragedies, special occasions, or local holidays. Thus, encouraging them to learn more about themselves, their cultures, and their country may have a stronger effect on students to promote learning on a higher level.
The digital divide is not accessed only through the physical but also from the emotional, self doubters. Teaching students how to use technology is difficult enough, but teachers need to encourage students to learn and believe in themselves enough to learn something new. Also, in order to break through the physical access of the digital divide, teachers must be encouraged to pursue teaching even through the inequalities and inequities caused by the lack of access to computers or cultural divides. Such as, racism or more specifically the racial digital divide, this is a crucial area that needs to be addressed within society and more particularly by the government, there should be no excuse as to why this issue is ignored. Students of all races should have full access to computers and technology in every school setting. To the government it is considered too large, and complex, while also of an extreme economical cost, but there is no reason the issue cannot be put on the table for open discussion. Likewise, classism or more commonly known as the socioeconomic digital divide is basically the inner “structures of class power and the privileged in schools or the larger societies” (p.40). Lastly, linguisticism gives “no mention of access disparities related to language” (p.46). But, there are major fundamentals of the digital divide that bring up many concerns, which “ include gaps in access to first language Web content and gaps in access to culturally relevant online resources” (p.47).
Multicultural education is not merely one entity, and it is also, to a great extent more than just an individual; it is the accumulations of the many thoughts, beliefs, and history behind the meaning if the word multicultural! According to Paul Gorski, multicultural education can be effectively expressed by a question: (p.12)
“Does every student who walks into our schools or your
classroom have opportunity to achieve to her or his fullest,
regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientations,
religion, socioeconomic status, first language, (dis)ability
national origin, or any other personal, social, or political identifier
around which we have historically experienced and continue to
cycle achievement gaps (including gaps in dropout rates)?”
There must be equality and equity in order to integrate technology into today’s society and classrooms. Although both equality and equity may appear to imply the same, they do not. Equality is “the ideal of equal access which, is derived from the concept of fairness as a uniformed distribution, where everyone is entitled to the same level of access and an avail themselves if they so choose”. Whereas, equity is that “some are excluded or lack the knowledge, income, equipment, or training necessary to participate fully in public discourse, they must overcome obstacles to access in order ensure fairness”. Schools that do not have an open access or a positive outlook of technology could possibly be putting a halt to the future of educational pursuits through technology and hampering its growth.
Best Practices. What exactly are ‘Best Practices’, or is there really no term, goal or meaning to the words? The term “Best Practice” has been used to descried “ what works” in a particular situation or environment. (SERC)
v Until I am sure that all of my students have equitable access to these technologies, I will not assign any homework or out-of-school-time assignments that require computers or Internet access.
v I must encourage my students to think critically about all information they receive, including that which they read on the Internet. Who built this Web site? Who funded it? Whose voice is it pushing forth?
v When I use computers and the Internet in my classroom, I will make sure that I have included all necessary adaptions for ELL students and students with disabilities.
Teachers should always think what is best for the students and how to implement whose practices in the curriculum and the classroom settings.
Five (5) strategies/tools of technology:
1. Microsoft Word – Practice spelling words and writing paragraphs
2. Power Point – To implement classroom presentations
3. Graphics – Relating pictures to words and visual imagery
4. Web Cam – communicate a one-on-one with an actual person
5. Search Engines:
§ Google – information search, language translation
§ Yahoo – Up to date news, e-mails, and information search
What actually happens in the future is up to each individual, but it takes a teacher to teach that individual how to go forth. Thus, technology integration needs to be utilized more and understood for future teachers. To overcome the digital divide and advance further, society has to be ready and willing.
Resources:
Gorski, P. C. (2005). Multicultural Education and the Internet. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
