Essay about Integrating Instructional Technology

Submitted By mackbella
Words: 916
Pages: 4

Integrating Instructional Technology The purpose of the Comprehensive Classroom Technology Plan is to integrate technology into the classroom to improve a student’s education. The Plan will lay out the details of a safe, secure, and effective teaching environment that students will look forward to being a part of. Technology is to be used as an aide in guiding students towards achieving their academic goals. However, using technology can have its advantages and disadvantages. We need to maintain a balance of positive use and keep the negative aspects to a minimum.
With funding from the federal government and the states, our schools are now capable of providing multiple computers and tablets for each of their district’s classrooms. By using technology, children utilize the biggest tool that they can learn from and can communicate with other classrooms with. As their teacher, my duty is to implement technology instruction into their daily routine and advance their abilities to achieve.
Sometimes technology is perceived differently by children at different levels of learning. While one child will embrace the use of computers, others may shift towards books more as a means of learning. At this point, it is just a matter of convenience for the individual student. Often there are advertisements on websites, which can be a major distraction to young children. Their train of thought is waivered and it may take extra time to regain concentration. Some historical websites offer virtual tours and video of interesting buildings or battlefields, for instance. If a student wanted to tour the pyramids of Egypt, a virtual tour or even Google Earth can give amazing details that books just can’t produce with words. Children enjoy technology and they even like to understand how technology works. This kills two birds with one stone, they can learn their lessons while also gaining a perspective on a possible career choice in technology. Many students look forward to the activity that will be accomplished with the SmartBoard or the iPad, which keeps their attention focused on the lesson and thus having them remember their work.
Often students may rely on the computer to learn more than they do on their teachers. Communication can be lost and we need to keep the balance of books, handouts, and computers in the daily curriculum. The original view of information technology within education focused only on the implementation in higher education, believing that information technology would assist in the integrating learning (Cauley, Aiken & Whitney, 2009). Now there are computers in preschools and Kindergarten classrooms and students are preparing for life in a technological world.
Having internet access in the classroom is very important. If a classroom has wired technology, it often comes with a bulky computer tower that must be in one specific area where the plugs cannot be moved around. There is often not enough space in a classroom to have towers, or personal computers, for each student. In a wireless atmosphere, tablets and laptops can be moved around conveniently and equipment can be shared with ease. Access is set up easily and we can adjust privacy settings with the IT person so that time limits can be set and age appropriate sites can be accessed. Teachers can utilize the school’s site at their home wirelessly so that they can update grade books and prepare lesson plans. Teachers who formerly expressed discomfort with using Internetbased software and ePortfolio development now have much greater comfort with using the software because of collaboration with other teachers, professional development activities, and adequate time to use the technology tools effectively. (Cobb, 2010)
Using technology in a classroom serves a major purpose for