TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL

TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTION
 We're all familiar with the extravagant promises of
technology: It will make our students smarter -- and it will do it
faster and cheaper than ever before. Moreover, the promise
suggests, this miracle will occur almost by osmosis. We need only
place a computer in a room, stand back, and watch the magic take
place. If only life were that simple and learning that easy!
As educators, we were unfamiliar with the technology and
uncertain about its possibilities. So we stepped back and let software
developers, hardware vendors, and other technicians define not only
what we could buy but also how those products would be used. In
many ways, the technology drove the educational process, and it
didn't work very well!
Now, we've entered an era in which technology is no longer
an intimidating novelty. Its use in business and industry is both
accepted and expected. And pressure abounds -- from the federal
government, from local school boards, and certainly from the popular
press -- for educators to get on board and see to it that students
become technologically skilled.
But is mere technological skill enough?
Two points should be considered:

TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL
“Technology is a tool that can change the nature of learning.”
• Technology lends itself to exploration. But before technology can be
used effectively, exploration must be valued as important to both
teaching and learning. In a technology-rich classroom, students
might search the Web for information, analyze river water, chart the
results, and record what they've learned on the computer.
• In a technology-rich classroom, students don't "learn" technology.
Technology merely provides the tools to be used for authentic
learning. It is a means, not an end.
• Technology provides educators with the opportunity to move from
simply streamlining the way things have always been done to really
imagining things they would like to do.
CHOOSING AND USING THE TOOLS

“Teachers must determine how technology tools are used,

and they must have a hand in designing the staff
development process that trains them.”
• Teachers must take responsibility for helping design the
staff development process so that it really meets their
needs -- so that it includes time to practice using the
equipment, to watch teachers model lessons that infuse
technology into the curriculum, and to mentor other
teachers.
• Teachers cannot revolutionize the educational system by
themselves -- and make no mistake about it.
• Administrators provide us with time to work together, to
explore, and to play with technological tools. We have to
make sure that support for lifelong learning for educators,
as well as for students, is built into our schools.
 WORKING TOGETHER

Teachers must have the support of all stakeholders in the

educational community. They must resist the notion that learning
to use the "gadgets" is an end in itself.
They must provide desperately needed leadership to find
the best ways of using technology to enhance teaching and
learning. They must expect and demand the best and most
interesting software to enhance their educational goals. They must
be included in planning the technology implementation -- and be
encouraged to experiment with the available tools.
Finally, teachers must educate themselves on how to best
use those tools to enhance teaching and learning.
THANK YOU 