Blog 1

After having a very lively discussion with my fellow classmates about the importance of integrating technology into our own classrooms many ideas came to me. The very first is that for the most part a majority of the educators I know are in favor of an education that integrates and embraces technology or different aspects of technology. I believe that this desire stems from an urge to keep up with our ever evolving world, but also as educators we often seek to enrich our students learning experiences with real world applications.

Technology keeps evolving and with it, inevitable change, whether it is the way we communicate or what devices we use in our daily lives. This presents us with multiple opportunities to want to learn and teach our students curriculum or lessons that have technology embedded within. We feel that this will help our students keep up to date with the changes and advances that occur on a daily basis. At the same time we want students to learn through lessons that they will find truly valuable not only because these involve the usage of a computer. So in essence we all seem to want the same thing, we want to use computers and technology in the classroom.

When facing this challenge we also face other dilemmas. First, where do we get the resources we need? Second, how do we create relevant lessons that aptly integrate the use of technology into the different content areas? As a high school teacher in South Central Los Angeles I know firsthand what it is like to lack basic resources such as textbooks, library books and of course computers. During the class chat I discovered that a couple of my classmates also teach in the inner city and they also know what it is like to want to integrate technology into the classroom. Teachers in the inner city are told of the supposed “money for technology” that is poured into our schools yet have nothing but outdated or broken computers to show for it. This makes it frustrating and disheartening, especially when we want our students to have the same resources and access to facilities that students from other more affluent areas have always had.

As the discussion of resources continued, a second question seemed to prevail, how do we successfully integrate technology into the curriculum? Apparently there are many resources, ideas, websites, and lesson plans that have been put to use by other educators, but still there is no clear consensus about the type and purpose of technology when applied in a classroom setting. Some uses that were discussed were research techniques, typing projects, and even creative writing through text messaging. Personally I think that differences in opinion on this topic vary according to a teacher’s own experience with technology and his or her apprehensions or beliefs in technology. If a teacher’s computer and technology skills are highly advanced then he or she may feel more comfortable and confident in wanting to integrate different aspects into the curriculum.

As educators our primary goal is to teach our content area, but there is no reason why we cannot do this as we simultaneously integrate technology into the curriculum. Though there are many questions and issues that arise when this topic is discussed, the goal is common. We are all aware that students would benefit from advancing technological skills especially computer knowledge and usage. One thing that I realized at the end of the discussion is that if teachers really want to make this a reality, we must face the challenges one at a time, otherwise we may become overwhelmed with a deluge of issues that stem from an area of constant change, technology.