Integrating technology- the teacher’s perspective

While reading the Regan article this week I couldn’t help but think about when my mother (who is both an educator and a student) got a new computer. Her laptop was broken so my family convinced her to get a Mac, which we all had and loved. She finally conceded and got a Mac but was presented with a new problem. She didn’t know how to use one. She was constantly asking us questions on how to do things on the Mac, and on a computer in general. My mother is a smart woman, but it definitely took her time to pick up how to use this new technology. My siblings and I sat down with her one day and gave her a lesson on how to use the computer. She has picked up on most of the things by now, but still asks us questions. Every once in a while one of my siblings will sigh when she asks a question in a way that suggests, “you should just know how to do that mom” or “everyone knows how to do that it is so easy.” What we have to always remind ourselves is that she had not grown up with this technology and so she has to learn it all from scratch, where for the younger generation it is like second nature.

Regan cites a study in which it was concluded that about 80% of voters recognized that the skills that kids need to learn today are very different from those of 20 years ago. 99% of people also said that teaching these students the necessary 21^st century skills is vital to our country’s economic success. As educators, we not only have to identify what these skills are, but we must also figure out how to teach them to our students.

            Often, when we speak about integrating technology into the classroom learning, we think about how great it will be for the students. What sometimes may get overlooked is the fact that these technologies are not second nature to some of these teachers. Teacher must first learn all about the technology and programs their students will be engaging in and then find a way to incorporate and tailor it to fit a particular lesson. They must change and adapt just as the times keep changing. They must keep learning new and innovative things, and stay in tuned with where the kids are when they are not in school and what they are doing. One of the most important things is to connect what is being learned in the classroom to what goes on outside its walls. Without that association, children lose the connection and learning becomes something irrelevant to them.

When my mother learns something on the computer that makes her life a little bit easier she is always grateful and surprised. She learned how to research on the computer to find journal articles and even books that she can find at the school’s library in advance. For us, it seems so silly, but it really makes so much sense. Technology offers so much to everyone, no matter who we are. Now, whenever she learns something new that can be done on the computer, she thinks about how it can be integrated in her school and how she can use these resources to her advantage.