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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Blog Posting #1: Opinion Piece
As much as Infrastructure is the key piece in affording a teacher the opportunity to integrate technology into their classroom; I believe Educator Preparation and Education is the most important piece of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology.
A teacher can have every single technological tool known to man, but if they do not know how to integrate it into the curriculum those technologies will go unused. Educators must be trained on how to integrate available technological resources into their curriculum. Every single district has different capabilities when it comes to available technologies. Due to this factor, I believe that it is the duty of the teacher's employer to properly train all staff on the effective integration of technology into the curriculum. I know that both districts that I have been employed by have had a technology facilitator for each individual campus. These technology facilitators should not only know the district's technologies inside and out, but they should have a very good understanding of the curriculum for the school they serve, particularly the curriculum for the core subjects.
Am I saying that the district should do all the work of integrating technology into each class’ curriculum? No. My point is that each district should initiate the process of helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Once you get a teacher rolling with some ideas, I believe the teacher will then start to generate their own ideas of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. The problem that must be addressed, from my experience, is not only in teaching teachers how to integrate the technology, but in giving them the tools to do it themselves.
A teacher can have every single technological tool known to man, but if they do not know how to integrate it into the curriculum those technologies will go unused. Educators must be trained on how to integrate available technological resources into their curriculum. Every single district has different capabilities when it comes to available technologies. Due to this factor, I believe that it is the duty of the teacher's employer to properly train all staff on the effective integration of technology into the curriculum. I know that both districts that I have been employed by have had a technology facilitator for each individual campus. These technology facilitators should not only know the district's technologies inside and out, but they should have a very good understanding of the curriculum for the school they serve, particularly the curriculum for the core subjects.
Am I saying that the district should do all the work of integrating technology into each class’ curriculum? No. My point is that each district should initiate the process of helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Once you get a teacher rolling with some ideas, I believe the teacher will then start to generate their own ideas of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. The problem that must be addressed, from my experience, is not only in teaching teachers how to integrate the technology, but in giving them the tools to do it themselves.
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