ESubjects Tech Integration Strategies

Top 10 Tech Integration Strategies

As teachers, we have to prepare students for the world they are going to enter, not the world we came from. These are two very different places. But bringing technology in does not mean throwing reading, writing, discussion, etc. out. Technology is another tool, another way of reading, writing, discussing, and so on.

In recognizing this, we have to accept that part of integrating technology means providing access to technology for students even when we don't understand some of the applications. They will do fine and can learn from the applications themselves. In fact, part of a project can be that students have to brainstorm and choose a relevant technical application to include in their final projects.

Technology should be integrated into the absorptive side of teaching as well as the expressive side.

Expression in technology is not restricted to typing an essay in a word processing program. It should encompass all means of expression from photos, to drawings, to animations, to audio, to coding, to hypertext, to a combination of these. An application like Flash, for example, can consist of imported photos, of drawings and animations, of imported or student-created sound, of ActionScript coding, and of hypertext links. This is not unusual in technology and tech is an excellent way to bring all learning styles into a project.

To limit exposure or accessibility to technology is to limit what students can achieve. Specifically, teachers are responsible for providing a place where students can explore what they are capable of. A student's learning should never be limited by what a teacher doesn't believe his or her students can do or by what a teacher feels comfortable doing.

All school subjects should include media literacy components that include serious research into online scams, pedophiles, anything directed at young users. Students should be taught and expected to use computers within school guidelines and school guidelines should be sensible and take into account the maturity of students. Fanatic reactionary policies will be too tempting for students to violate and policies that are too lax (that don't reflect the online education and preparation students have had) can be dangerous.

Blogs (weblogs) and chat rooms provide a comfortable place for students who are reluctant to share their thoughts in writing with others in the classroom setting. If using or encouraging these in class be sure to preface this with a serious introduction to online safety—what to disclose and what never to disclose. If you don't have enough foundation in this area, call in a professional, not to scare kids, but to prepare them. Check if your school has a policy about chat room and blog use. If not, advocate for intelligent access for students. (http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0409/26/a01-284745.htm article about teen blogging.)

Technology, in most cases, isn't a means of teaching. There are a few programs that help students learn but these generally ignore the social aspects and benefits of learning. Some games, especially those that have students work together or compete against one another, do encourage cognitive and social development. (See James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy, among others.)

If you have any say over the setup of the computers, align them around a room or in some way so that you can always see all monitors. If you need student attention on you and you are not using laptops, have students turn off their monitors.

If you can't beat them, join them. Not to be flippant, but students like visual stimulation and music. And visual stimulation and music are not anathema to learning, so incorporate them into projects intelligently and set limits. If students are allowed to incorporate music into their projects as long as no one uses profanity, they will happily comply to retain their access to music. If a student loves video games, challenge him or her to find a way to relevantly incorporate video games into projects.