What are your ideas of what a technology integration specialist is as you previously learned in other SNHU courses? Also, discuss today’s students and teachers as related to their use of technology in and out of the classroom. Use the module resources to assist you in completing this assignment.
From what I have learned throughout my other SNHU courses, a technology integration specialist is someone who helps teachers, administrators and school personnel better integrate technology into their curriculum. The role of the technology integration specialist is to help teachers, students and administrators feel more comfortable using technology, while also helping all individuals understand how and why technology can improve the classroom. As a technology integrator it is critical to help teacher's and administrators learn to use technology to assist in the educational process, but not consume or become the educational process. Strictly teaching students how to use a tool, such as Glogster, is not beneficial if students are not able to formulate meaningful answers that relate to the curriculum or standards. Technology should be used to help students demonstrate their comprehension and understanding, or to help students better understand topics and ideas; not to replace curriculum.
Today's students are constantly surrounded by technology. Students, within my own school district, are becoming familiar and comfortable using technology in a variety of their classrooms. Teachers who have the opportunity to use technology within their classroom, often have students complete homework or projects also on the computer. Students are using technology at home, and at school. At home technology usage can range from school related activities such as homework or studying, to social or hobby related activities.
At my current school district, the range of technology users within the building varies drastically depending upon the teacher. Some teachers use technology within their classroom, and are also personal technology users. Other teachers may use technology for personal reasons outside of the classroom, but cannot understand the benefits of using it within their classroom. Within my district, we even have a few teachers who minimal use technology inside and outside of the classroom. From my observations, there has been a slight correlation between the teachers that use technology during school, and outside of school and the age of the teacher. This is not the case always though, as many veteran teachers are excited and eager to learn more about technology to better enhance their teaching practice. Technology use for teachers is hard to predict and hard to analyze because a lot of preferences depend on the teacher and their personality. Some teachers are very intrigued to learn how they can improve their classroom by using unique tools and materials, while other teachers prefer to stick to methods they are more comfortable using. Neither method is correct or incorrect, as long as the outcome represents that students are learning and comprehending to the best of their ability.
No comments:
Post a Comment