Vision Statement

Vision Statement

Being an educator in the 21^st century has brought forth amazing opportunities that previous educators never thought possible. Laptops, interactive whiteboards, and tablets are just a small list of tools that my colleagues and I have access to everyday. In the “Pre-Microcomputer Era,” teachers used multimedia-learning stations that were only able to show animations and video (Roblyer, 2016). Currently I am able to interact with my students through Google Apps, engage students by using the interactive whiteboard, and communicate with parents efficiently with my laptop or iPhone at all hours. I foresee the use of technology in my classroom to enhance my lessons and also provide my students with various ways of enhancing their knowledge of the subject.

In the process of using technology in the classroom, educators need to have a goal for the continuous use. Technology needs to be seen as part of daily learning. Technology should not be taught as a separate class, but integrated into the classroom (Mary Beth Hertz, 2011). As a college student working towards becoming an elementary teacher, a math professor made a statement that has lived with me ever since. “Do not divorce math from real life, relate math to everyday life and your students will never fear it again.” I believe this idea rings true to technology and education as well. If we integrate technology into our students’ everyday lives, the fear of the unknown lessens each time they gain access. As educators, we must make a conscious effort to increase our comfort ability to technology in order to help our students gain the confidence to use it on their own. Instead of having students use technology tools for assessment purposes only. Students should be able to use technology to learn content and show their understanding as well (Mary Beth Hertz, 2011). Practice makes darn near perfect.

Integrating technology into our classrooms doesn’t come without a few hiccups along the way. Software malfunction, slow Internet access, and blocked access because of firewalls are just a few examples students who are fluent with technology may encounter. Now if we back up and look at the challenges of putting a student on a tech device like a tablet or laptop, when they have never had experience with the tool, the challenges start at ground zero. The fear of the unknown is scary to adults and children, especially in the technical world. The motivation has to begin with the educator wanting to learn about technology himself or herself and then integrating it into their classroom. Children trust educators and trust that if they can do it, so can the children. An issue that was brought to my schools’ attention last year was the access students may have to inappropriate images or content. We would like to put our trust in the firewall to protect our students, but there seems to be a way around that sometimes. We must instill in our students digital citizenship and how to be safe and respectful on the World Wide Web.

Technology integration is based on many theories. These theories fall into two different integration models: directed and constructivist (Roblyer, 2016). Directed models include theories such as the behaviorist and cognitive-behavioral. These theories state instruction must provide the right stimuli to get students to provide the desired behavior. The drill and practice games are designed around this theory. When correct responses are given, the user receives praise or awards (Roblyer, 2016). Constructivist models include theories such as social activism, social learning, scaffolding and discovery learning. These theories state cooperative learning and learning through discovery are effective in integrating technology (Roblyer, 2016).  Many times students will provide evaluation through showing their problem solving skills with a model or video, rather than a multiple choice answer assessment. As educators we need to know and understand our students as individuals and help them use integrated technology with a model that fits them best.

References

Hertz, M. (2011, March 16). What Does Technology Integration Mean? Retrieved June 29, 2015.

Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Pearson.