Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Importance and Implementation

One thing most people fear, especially educators, is change. Change occurs on a rapid and constant pace. Technology has changed the way we live. It is a part of nearly everything we do. It is essential that education includes the use of technology and the practice of learning about technology a priority. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2009) stated that schools need to prepare students to deal with more rapid change than ever before, for jobs that have not yet been created, to use technologies that have not yet been invented and to solve economic and social challenges that we do not yet know will arise (p. 5). Preparing students will require that schools find ways to meaningfully incorporate technology into the classroom. An important aspect of implementing technology is ensuring that educators are provided with the adequate technological resources and skills. The networked world in which we live provides many powerful learning tools. In order to provide the best learning environment possible, technology and pedagogy must be better integrated (Christen, 2009, p. 28).

Technology allows students to collaborate, find information quickly, show what they have learned, be engaged, and learn through an alternative medium. Teachers have many tools at their disposal to meet the needs of the hyper connected students in their classrooms. Blogging, digital games, mobile wireless technology, are only a few such tools that can meet the needs of twenty first century learners. A critical transformation needs to occur where teachers go from standing at the front of the classroom and regurgitating information to creating interactive, student centered classrooms. Students actively participate in classroom activities to construct understanding. Technology has the power to allow teachers to be facilitators, provide more resources, collaborate with peers, and adjust instruction to fit each individual.

In order to engage students, they must be motivated, the content must be delivered in the way they learn best, and it must be of interest to them. Often, the content that is required to be learned is of no interest to

the student. The trick is to find a method to connect students to content. Digital games offer educators that connection. They are highly motivational to many. Donald Norman (2004) stated that students learn best when they are motivated, when they care (p. 205).

Games inherently provide players with many skills and a distinct attitude. Prensky (2003) points out that the attitude of gamers is one that we would like to see our students emulate: interested, competitive, cooperative, results orientated, and actively seeking information and solutions (p. 1). Consequently, educators should strive to combine what is taught and digital games. Games are full of higher order thinking skills (constructing, designing, judging). While playing digital games players take information in and make decisions quickly, figure out rules without being told, create strategies for overcoming obstacles; to understand complex systems through experimentation, collaborate with other players, perform online surgeries, construct virtual worlds, and fly airplanes. The positive effect of digital games on learning is evident and need to be included in meaningful learning plans.

Blogs are another tool which afford teachers the ability to deliver their content in a manner which can fit many students learning styles. A blog is a website which can contain text, audio, and video postings on a particular subject. Blogs can be accessed from any Internet connection including community libraries and schools. Blogs also provide teachers with a medium to differentiate instruction for diverse learners.

Students have the opportunity to participate in on-line discussions with Blogs. Blogs provide students the opportunity to share their opinion with others in a non-threatening environment. Many students are reluctant to share their ideas in a group setting. The blog provides a stage for them to exhibit their knowledge without having to speak in front of others. Students also have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers through blogs. They can share their opinions or add to the ideas of others.

Blogs provide teachers with the ability to differentiate their content. They are able to cater to a variety of learning styles. Students have the chance to watch videos, listen to audio, read text, or link to on-line, interactive tasks. Blogs allow for teachers to tier their lessons. They can provide enrichment through additional activities or links to further sources of information. Providing the content on a blog allows students to work at their own pace. They can take the time to understand what is expected of them. ELL students need additional support with language, and vodcasts are an effective tool to address these needs (Colombo, Colombo, 2007, p. 62).

Students have the ability to access class materials at their leisure. Blogs expand instructional time by providing teachers with a user-friendly online format to reinforce strategies, introduce new topics and concepts, review important class points, review for tests, and provide enrichment (Colombo, Colombo, 2007, p. 61). They also allow students to receive support from parents who have access to the blog. Therefore blogs are an additional support for student learning. Teachers facilitate the learning and parents have the opportunity to provide assistance to their child by having access to the learning that is taking place in the classroom.

Another example of how technology benefits education is mobile wireless technology. Mobile wireless technology offers anytime, anywhere functionality. Kim, Mims, and Holmes (2006) state that The use of mobile wireless technologies can overcome the limitation of educational flexibility with wired technology (p. 78). Kim et al. also point out that the ability to move about provides advantages that help improve efficiency and effectiveness in teaching and learning (p. 78).

The ability to communicate more often and effectively is also a benefit of mobile wireless communication. Shim and Shim (2001) found that faculty teaching, student learning, communication,

and collaboration are improved by using wireless computers in the learning environment. The openness and ease of communicating between teacher and student, teachers and teachers, and students and students is a byproduct of mobile wireless computing.

There are several other benefits of mobile wireless communication. Students can be more organized, manage time, and keep records. Their work is in one location. Students are also able to access assignments, information, and assessments more readily. Students have the ability to ask questions of their teachers or collaborate with peers at times suitable to them. These mobile wireless devices provide students a way to interact, stay organized, and access information.

Technology is all around us and needs to have a place in the classroom. The growth of technology is evident in all aspects of life from governments, business, and our social lives. Tondeur, van Braak, and Valcke (2007) stated that information and communication technology (ICT) plays an important role in society when we take into account the social, cultural and economic role of computers and the Internet. Considering that all youngsters move through compulsory education, school is the appropriate place to develop crucial ICT competencies (p. 962). We cant afford not to make technology apart of our students lives.

We owe it to our students to make technology a part of our classrooms. Many students in todays classrooms are of the opinion that the work they do in the classroom is irrelevant. Richards (blog, July 12, 2009) notes that if this trend continues, combined with classroom activities that for too many students are unengaging, unmotivating, and unchallenging, some predict that as students develop personal learning environments less connected to what schools currently offer them, schooling as we know it will become less and less relevant(Choices, para. 1). Schools are relevant when students are learning, motivated, taking risks, and prepared for the future. Students are learning with and about technology with or without

schools. When students are choosing and wanting to learn, teachers should seize the opportunity and assimilate it into their classrooms.

Ensuring that teachers have the resources and professional development to provide technological tools and strategies is essential. Teachers will be reluctant to implement technology into their classrooms unless they are given the tools to be able to use them proficiently. Governments, school divisions, and in-school administrators need to ensure that adequate resources and teacher professional development are afforded to their teachers. The National Council of Staff Development (2001) suggests that teachers also need embedded opportunities for professional learning and collaboration with colleagues in order to overcome the barrier of time and teachers' daily schedules (p. 3).

It is apparent that the integration of technology in our classrooms is vital. The uses and benefits of technology in the classroom are vast. Technology will not replace teachers. Classrooms will not disappear and become entirely digital. Teachers need to embrace technology. They need to inject a healthy diet of technology into their classroom. OECD (2010) states that success will go to those individuals and countries that are swift to adapt, slow to complain and open to change (p. 5)

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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2010). PISA 2009 results: learning trends: changes in student performance since 2000 (Volume V) doi : 10.1787/9789264091580-en Prensky, M. (2003). Digital game-based learning. Computers in entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 21. Retrieved from http://www.acm.org/pubs/cie/

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