Should We Integrate Technology into the Classroom?
As recently as today, I saw my younger brother's post in a social network: "We used to live in rural areas; then we moved to cities. Nowadays, we are steadily turning the Internet into our permanent residence." And he could not have said it better. I personally spend significant amount of time on the Internet: I turn the computer on before making a cup of coffee in the morning; my day ends soon after the computer processor is turned off. I do not remember when it was the last time I used a paper dictionary-for me, online dictionaries replaced it a long time ago. Just this evening I watched a great movie about Coco Chanel, and no sooner had the movie been over, than I used Google to look up Coco Chanel's biography and photos. Moreover, Skype is always on whenever the computer is turned on. In this way, I communicate with my family and friends from Russia and neighboring NH cities. On Facebook, I post announcements and the links to both required and supplementary resources for my students. A scanner and printer are always kept handy as well, and God forbid the printer runs out of ink or the projector in my ESOL classroom breaks down. As a result of all these technological advancements, in case of a power outage or Internet connection problem, I feel completely cut off from the rest of the world and single-handed.
Our students are no different, and the younger they are, the more modern digital technological devices are second nature to them. (Unfortunately, there is still a category of students, especially newly arrived refugees, who lack computer literacy. However, they are soon forced to learn the ropes of modern technology to succeed in this technologically advanced country. ) They use iPhones to look up an unfamiliar word, Google instead of library resources to find required information, and often choose virtual communication over face-to-face one. Therefore, Internet is their primary learning tool, and to disregard this fact and not to use its benefits means disconnecting ourselves with the reality and reducing teaching effectiveness and efficiency.
I remember being taught the history of the English language by a teacher who used such outdated technology (basically, an overhead projector with "century old" slides only) that it automatically made the subject look drab, irrelevant, and over challenging. The use of modern technological devices would have undoubtedly promoted our interest and enhanced our comprehension and retention. Moreover, technology saves us time on lesson preparation and helps accommodate learners of various learning styles and multiple intelligences. Furthermore, the 21st century employer needs a resourceful, well-informed, able to look for, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize required information employee, let alone a confident PC and Internet user. Hence, to make sure that our future high school and college graduates are marketable in today's and tomorrow's world, we, teachers, should help our students build such skills. To sum it up, these are several reasons why we need to integrate technology into the classroom to name a few. In fact, the question "Should We Integrate Technology into the Classroom?" must have been replaced by "How to Integrate Technology into the Classroom" a long time ago, and answering the latter will be the focus of my attention in the future.
I remember being taught the history of the English language by a teacher who used such outdated technology (basically, an overhead projector with "century old" slides only) that it automatically made the subject look drab, irrelevant, and over challenging. The use of modern technological devices would have undoubtedly promoted our interest and enhanced our comprehension and retention. Moreover, technology saves us time on lesson preparation and helps accommodate learners of various learning styles and multiple intelligences. Furthermore, the 21st century employer needs a resourceful, well-informed, able to look for, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize required information employee, let alone a confident PC and Internet user. Hence, to make sure that our future high school and college graduates are marketable in today's and tomorrow's world, we, teachers, should help our students build such skills. To sum it up, these are several reasons why we need to integrate technology into the classroom to name a few. In fact, the question "Should We Integrate Technology into the Classroom?" must have been replaced by "How to Integrate Technology into the Classroom" a long time ago, and answering the latter will be the focus of my attention in the future. 
1 comments:
"Moreover, technology saves us time on lesson preparation and helps accommodate learners of various learning styles and multiple intelligences. Furthermore, the 21st century employer needs a resourceful, well-informed, able to look for, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize required information employee, let alone a confident PC and Internet user." Well said. It is true that our students are looking up information the minute the question comes into their minds. I do the same thing. I even have my husband addicted to his iPhone. He loves to look up information on demand. It is so important for our students to be able to evaluate and analyze accurate resources. Today my students in 6th grade were asked to look up information to create a travel brochure. They called out the entire class because they could not find any information on their location. I was able to locate the same information for them in a minute. I need to work with them more on finding that information I guess!
Post a Comment