The Importance of Technology in the Classroom - Coursework Example

Introduction Teacher attitudes have been recognized as a factor in helping teachers to incorporate computer technology into the room. For example, Lawton and Gerschner (1982) stated that the successful use of computers in the classroom depends on the teachers’ attitudes towards computers. Yuen, Law, & Chan (1999) also identified teachers’ positive attitudes toward computers as an important factor in fostering computer integration and the enhancement of quality learning and teaching using computers. Kluever (1994) also supports the idea that attitudes towards computers will impact students’ understanding of computers and their understanding of curriculum. Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempt to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world (Roschelle, 2001). It is a belief that the student of tomorrow must be well prepared in order to compete in a diverse job market. Schools today are focused on learning and memorizing facts. However, knowledge is almost completely fluid so what is a "fact" today is no longer true or, at the very least, no longer applicable tomorrow. Going forward, the workforce must be more adaptable and flexible than ever before as jobs and entire industries will come and go numerous times over the span of a career. Although it may seem apparent why attitudes affect technology in the classroom, there are several factors affecting the reason why this is so. Summers (1990) identified lack of knowledge and experience in the computing area as one of the most common reason for teachers’ negative attitudes toward computers. Furthermore, Jegede & Owolabi (2005) identified computers access as an important factor in computer attitudes. The relationship of computer experience compared to attitudes has been analyzed by Harrison & Rainer (1992) . It was concluded that people with prior computer experience have more positive attitudes than those without such experience. Given this reality, we must question whether schools are prepared for the demands of educating our children as we move into the future. Technology education must be seen as fundamental in achieving workforce competencies, especially when the competencies include critical thinking, solving semi-structured problems and reasoning (Bybee, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to explore reasons why certain teacher attitudes could prevent the implementation of technology in the classroom. In addition, this author will exam how both federal laws and assistive technology in special education are forcing teachers to utilize technology, thus provoking undesirable teacher attitudes towards technology. The Importance of Technology in the Classroom While there may still be skeptics within the field of education, people would agree that a technology-rich environment enhances a childs education at least to some degree. Even teachers who are reluctant to infuse technology into their lesson plans would have to see the merit of students using technology consistently in classrooms. Many education experts are calling for an increased use of technology in the classroom to ensure that todays students are better equipped as adults to enter the workforce. Many are also arguing that these changes shouldnt be made just for the sake of business, but for the kids themselves. After all, they are growing up in a digital world — shouldnt their school experience reflect this (Hill, 2002)? The role of educators is to prepare our students for life after school. Teachers need to do all they can to ensure the student will be competitive in the workplace. Providing students with the opportunity to not only use but to also expand these skills across all content areas is essential to ensure solid technology skills. One advantage of a technology-rich classroom is the access it affords to information. At the most basic level, access to online dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and other online services puts current resource material in the hands of each student. The wealth of information, primary source materials, and variety of perspectives available is almost mind boggling. The ability to compare and synthesize information from a variety of perspectives within a matter of minutes is invaluable in any classroom, particularly social studies. Analyzing a current event from the perspective of peoples of other countries around the world was impossible without technology. According to Venezky (2004), for students, new technologies could make schools more alive, more challenging, and more rewarding. This may carry reverberations of the overused promises of yesteryear’s technologies but there is a major difference. The World Wide Web already provides all of the major services needed to make this come true. It already includes models for making the school day a journey through collaborative projects across countries and continents as well as tutoring and mentoring by professionals, students and semi-retired teachers. Improves Understanding Technology can be used as a tool for representing student ideas and understanding of content by creating multimedia presentations whereby students become teachers. Simulations and role-playing activities provide students with real world problem-solving opportunities. Technology provides students with the opportunity to produce authentic work involving higher- order thinking skills. Technology can be used as a medium to support collaborative projects and build a community of learners. Wang (2006) has stated that technology is used as an empowering tool to support student collaborative critical inquiry. Wang goes on to say that if students were compelled to learn technology at the beginning of an assignment, they were soon deeply drawn into the process of exploring and discovering. The more they explored, the more they discovered. The more they discovered, the more they explored. It can be connoted from Wang that technology improves students motivation and attitude towards learning. When motivated, students approach challenging tasks eagerly, they continue to persist when faced with difficulty and take pleasure in the tasks they achieve. Similarly, students with positive attitudes are more likely to sustain their efforts and have the desire to be involved in the learning process than students who dislike learning (Liu, 2006). Technology can be used to promote student motivation and desire to learn. Increasingly Diverse School-Age Population Unlike never before, technology has brought people from geographically and culturally different areas closer together. As societies strive to empower citizens with the skills, understandings and dispositions needed to operate in an interconnected global age, teachers are rapidly turning to the use of relevant learning technologies to develop new knowledge and foster cross-cultural understandings. Moreover, although most classroom teachers have had little or no computer technology training in either their coursework or their field experiences (Lockard, 2004) they are nonetheless required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to show evidence of technology use in their classrooms. When instructing a diverse classroom, the teacher can utilize a variety of teaching strategies to develop a positive teaching-learning environment where all students are encouraged to achieve their highest potential. Through technology, an educator can help all students learn by demonstrating respect for differences among groups of people and individuals from varied backgrounds and geographical regions. In addition, technology addresses student diversity through planning, selecting materials and creating appropriate activities which include and enrich students’ experiences and cultures. Learning Styles By incorporating learning styles in the classroom, teachers make material more accessible, more “learn-able” for the students. What is critical for students to know becomes that much more readily available. Material is also learned at a deeper level, making it more likely for knowledge to be retained and appropriately applied. As we consider the future and how active learning and technology converge to create new school environments, we must consider a variety of approaches to learning. Technology can impact all forms of learning (Solvie & Kloek, 2007). In order to address different learning styles, teachers can use technology to overcome the barriers of time and distance to collaborate on professional issues with other professionals. In addition, teachers can retrieve information from local and online databases to plan lessons and use computer-based tools to collect, store and exchange information for efficient decision-making. Lastly, computer-based multimedia devices make more effective classroom presentations for individualize learning and empower students to address their own particular leaning styles. English Language Learners Computer-assisted instruction has been shown in a range of studies to facilitate learning in various ways. Computers can be used to aide in teaching English language students in core academic subjects such as reading and writing. Computers can also aide in vocabulary development as well as verbal language development (Green, 2005) Language teachers, like other teachers today, see independent learning as a goal. It is part of Rubins definition of the "good" language learner: one who sets his or her own direction and takes responsibility for his or her own learning (Rubin, 1979). Certain skills are necessary for independent learning, including awareness of learning styles and the ability to track ones own progress. Both children and adults can be encouraged to be independent learners, but their needs as language learners are often different. Technologys role in fostering autonomy has been discussed favorably over the years, with a number of claims made in support of technology-enhanced language learning. Those claims include that technology, especially multimedia, supports different learning styles; that computers and the Internet provide a wealth of resources to independent learners; and that certain software packages can offer a complete curriculum for language learning. Students with Special Needs Students with special needs must be provided equal access to technology education programs. Research suggests that students with special needs benefit from experiences that involve functional, hands-on learning, such as those experiences students in technology education programs receive (Collins, Hawkins, & Carver, 1991). Through inclusion in technology education programs, students gain basic knowledge and insight about the needs and qualifications of a variety of careers available to them upon completion of school. Technology offers a whole world of possibilities for students with disabilities. Students are often highly motivated by computers and various other forms of technology. Further, students with severe disabilities can access information that, in the absence of technology, they may never have had the opportunity to attain. Computer-assisted instruction has proven to be a motivating and effective method to teach various skills to students with significant disabilities. Using technology to teach students with special needs makes a positive difference in the lives of students. Technology is to special needs students as breathing is to life. Through the decades technology has grown thus facilitating the growth and sustainability of assistive and learning tools for students. The list of tools is tremendous, making it difficult for an educator to keep up to date. However, a solution is an online database called TechMatrix (TechMatrix, 2010). TechMatrix offers users the ability to customize a detailed search of products and to generate a tailored report within seconds. Searching the database can be conducted by four distinct topic areas including: mathematics, reading, writing, and assistive technology devices and programs (Review, 2008) Universal Design of Learning The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 2004 established Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a national educational priority for general education classrooms that include all students, regardless of exceptionality or diversity (Rose, Meyer, & Hitchcock, 2005). UDL provides exceptional and diverse students an environment where instruction is flexible, equitable and accessible every day of the year so that they may succeed. This is the purpose of UDL (Children, 2005) UDL provides equal access to learning, not simply equal access to information. UDL allows students to control the method of accessing information while the teacher monitors the learning process and initiates any beneficial methods. The teacher is responsible for imparting knowledge and facilitating in the learning process. UDL does not remove academic challenges; it simply removes barriers to access. Thus, UDL promotes effective teaching (Children, 2005, p. 3) UDL is designed to work with all students in mainstreamed classrooms where multiple abilities are present. Those exceptionalities where the general education classroom is not the least restrictive environment do not need to be taken into consideration. However, with the concept of UDL, all areas of diversity are taken into consideration including learning disabilities, speech or language disabilities, emotional disturbance, autism, health impairments, mild mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, hearing impairment/deafness, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, orthopedic impairments and those with multiple disabilities. UDL is a curriculum-designed process deemed by public law and acts The use of technology in the classroom has become increasingly important since the inception of No Child Left Behind. This act has shifted focus of student success to standardized test scores as proof of mastery of subject material. Special education students typically perform at a lower rate on standardized tests, even when modifications are made. This subgroup must have access to technology so that they can receive the best education possible and perform at a higher level in the classroom during normal instruction and during testing. However, because of different perspectives, special education teachers may face many obstacles when trying to use technology to assess students’ needs. According to Lee & Templeton (2008), in the past few decades the United States has passed several important pieces of legislation which have had an effect on citizens with disabilities, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the IDEA. An amendment to IDEA attempts to define assistive technology as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” This definition is quite broad and leaves interpretation open to individuals. IDEA also requires teams who create individualized education plans (IEPs) to consider types of assistive technology that will benefit students (Lee & Vega, 2005). Based on these general guidelines there have been models of assistive technology developed for further guidance as teams write IEPs. Lee & Templeton (2008) explain that these models all include evaluation of students, selection and acquisition of assistive technology devices, implementation in the classroom and at home and ongoing evaluation. Marino, Marino, & Shaw (2006) give further explanation of software applications, which provides questions that IEP teams may use to pinpoint individual student needs in more than one environment or classroom. Sungard Public Sector, a software company located in Bethlehem, PA, develops an educational software package IEPplus. IEPplus is web-based software that allows educators to track student records and develop IEPs. This author spent numerous years working for Sungard Public Sector as a developer/technology-training specialist helping educators on a schoolwide basis. Consequently, special education teachers have reduced their time spent on paperwork to develop an IEP from one to two days to just a couple hours a week (Wilson, 2005). Furthermore, IEPplus ensures compliance with required procedures and efficiency in providing required documentation. Salient features of a computerized IEP system that administrators or special education teachers need to understand is that the simplification of writing an IEP will result in students having more valuable time in the classroom (Serfass, 2007). As an educator makes the transition from pen and paper to a computerized IEP, a learning curve has to be considered regardless of the tenure or experience a teacher may already have in creating IEPs. To make the transition go smoothly, a teacher should easily recognize the critical components of the IEP. According to the IDEA of 1997, the critical components and functions of the IEP (Englund, 2009) are: Present performance level How a student’s disability affects his/her involvement and progress in the general curriculum Goals and Objectives How the student will be involved and progress in the general curriculum Special education, related services, and supplementary aids and service How the student will participate in extracurricular or other nonacademic activities and be educated and participate in activities with other students with and without disabilities Exclusion criteria An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate in general education classes and activities Participation in state assessment A statement of any modifications in the administration of state or district assessments Measuring progress A statement of how student’s progress towards the annual goals will be measured and how the student’s parents will be informed of this progress Figure 1 IEPplus breaks the IEP into the above mentioned sections, but goes into extensive detail about the childs record. When a teacher first logs into IEPplus they will see their homepage and a link, gives the teacher access to students records (figure 1). At a quick glance, the teacher has the ability select the students record by using a vast amount of search tools. In addition, depending on the administrators privileges, faculty can be restricted to only the students that they are assigned (figure 2). Figure 2 Lastly, the IEP is broken down into sections, making it readily accessible in any area of the IEP (figure 3). Figure 3 According to the IDEA, all students with IEPs are to be educated in the use of technologies as per Title I.B.611.e.2.C.i-v (Government, 2006). The articles of the law supply guidelines for the implementation and use of technology in the public schools. The fact is, the world is rapidly evolving as far as technology goes. The technologies that are being used in classrooms need to be implemented in a fashion that will allow access to all students. With proper funding and training, a teacher can make a student not just proficient with assistive technologies, but also give the student a sense of independence that would not have been possible a generation ago. Why Teachers are not Implementing Assistive Technology in the Classroom Lee & Vega (2005) describe barriers that educators have when attempting to use assistive technology. These barriers are lack of knowledge about assistive technology, lack of resources and materials, time constraints and lack of funding. Teacher training programs are not doing an adequate job of exposing future teachers to assistive technology. Educators who are already in the field need staff development sessions that focus on assistive technology and its benefits. Special educators were surveyed and 42% reported that they had either one computer or no computers at all in their classrooms. Computer adaptive devices were not used according to sixty-two percent of the educators surveyed (devices such as touch screens, specialized mice and joy sticks). Most of these educators reported that their students used computers primarily for word processing. A few also reported the use of educational software (Ashton, 2006). Taking into consideration all of the available technology, a classroom can be a challenging place. The challenges can become more stressful when the technology that the teacher is relying upon causes more problems. Three of the largest problems that confront the educators are cost, accessibility and training. Like all other problems, these can be overcome with a little persistence and ingenuity. Cost One of the largest problems to overcome is being able to finance the devices. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in the year 2005, average spending for a students’ education in the United States was $8,701 a year (Zhou, 2008). A student with special needs can use a whole year’s worth of spending for just a few devices. With the funds being used so quickly, the special education student’s support staff needs to become proficient in the ability to write grants. Grants are available from multiple sources, such as federal, state and local government, public and private foundations and various businesses. Once a school has adequate funding to purchase the technology, this does not eliminate major concerns dealing with infrastructure and implementation of the technology. Such concerns are • Which vendor do we purchase the hardware from? • Who will implement the new hardware: IT or the teacher? • Courseware: How does it fir into the curriculum? • Philosophy of Teaching: Does it fit with the teachers mythologies? This is the traditional approach to planning technology programs which first involves focusing on cost fand then moving to hardware needs, ease of implementation, courseware, curriculum, and, finally, philosophy of teaching. Perry Brown, director of the office of technology for Anderson Schools in Clinton, Tennessee, believes that the process should be reversed. He believes that when financing technology programs, educators first need to look at the philosophy of education as the foundation of the program, and then the other elements should follow (Brown, 1995). Once the community and school district establish a consensus on the philosophy of the technology program, they will be better prepared to link it to the school curriculum. The curriculum, in turn, will determine the scope and sequence of courseware and other software used in the classroom. Once all of these factors are in place, then cost and financing come into play, adjustments can then be made to meld the desired program with its cost. Accessibility The accessibility of technologies refers to not only the present technological learning devices, but also if the student using the device has the proper abilities to fully utilize the devices. In an article about the use of computers in classrooms with students who have intellectual disabilities, one of the barriers for the students was devise complexity (Wehmeyer, Smith, & Palmer, 2006). Students who had difficulties in cognitive mental skills were not able to access the computers in a meaningful way. The study concludes that, “the percentage of students who could potentially benefit from assistive devices, but did not have access to such devices was greater than the percentage of students who currently use the devices,” (Wehmeyer, Smith, & Palmer, 2006). This is not stating that the device may not be in the classroom, but that the device could be too advanced for some of the students to take advantage of its presence. An example of this would be if a computer were to be in a classroom, but the student who was provided the computer could not understand the menus and navigational links to access any of the programs. The teacher can only address this problem, and the teacher needs training to proper assess the student’s abilities. Training In order for a teacher to get full utilization from the available technologies, they need to have the time for training. Training needs to be on a personal level. It must be between teacher and provider of the assistive devices as well as on a school-wide basis. In a study by Frankie Dissinger of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, she determined that “training required hands-on, solution-finding, and trial-evaluation approaches, in addition, training provided across time, with ample opportunities for practice, had the greatest impact,” (Dissinger, 2004). The study explains that basic school-wide training days were not sufficient to provide the level of training needed to become expert educators. In addition, the teachers needed to have one-on-one training with a technology specialist. This additional training provides the teacher the necessary tools to properly access the student’s abilities and needs. When the student is properly assessed, the school does not waste resources on technology that is ill-suited for use in the classroom. The situation is not as hopeless as it may seem. There are growing resources that educators may use to help with the task of identifying and acquiring appropriate technologies. According to Ashton (2006), most states now have Technology Resource Centers. These centers often provide training for both educators and parents. They also offer online resources such as interactive tools to practice evaluating students’ needs. One of the Centers they specifically name is the Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (GPAT – http://www.gpat.org), which provides PowerPoints, forms, and videos as resources for teachers to use. They also make lesson plans available, such as how to use a portable keyboard during spelling and reading (Education, 2008). Reluctance to change Teachers are often reluctant to incorporate the use of technology to demonstrate the lecture just because they doubt the reliability of the system and are afraid that it could result in harmful effects to the fundamental design of the educational environment. Resistance to change is an intrinsic feature of human nature. Besides, education is too sensitive a topic to carry out much experiments with. "How quickly individuals adopt change is related to whether they value the new approach as compared to an existing approach". (Kotrlik and Redmann, 20-). The conventional system of education has been in use for long and the response has been at least quite satisfactory if not more. Incorporation of technology into the conventional environment in which class is conducted would have noticeable impacts on the interaction both between the teacher and the students and also among the students in general, despite the fact that the attempt would most likely result in enhancing such interactions and make them more conducive to the development of a more rational, organized and practical approach towards the concept building of students. There are many potential causes of the teachers’ resistance to change. Reasons can be as absurd as technophobia or a fear that the technology might not work correctly if taken to the classroom. (Tom, 2009). The teacher might have to face the embarrassment of getting it fixed in front of the whole class. Lack of teachers’ experience in technology use A vast majority of teachers do not make use of technology because they have spent very less time in their life learning how to use it. Results of a research cited in (www.eschoolnews.com, 2010) suggest that only 22% of the teachers inquired revealed that they frequently used technology which was some “31 percent or more of their class time using technology to support learning”. Despite the fact that use of technology is considered to be a modern concept and technology implemented in an educational setup speaks of the modernity and advancement of the educational institution, it is a surprise that a vast majority of fresh graduates are not educated on its use although they are grown up in the computer age. It was discovered in the results of the same study that “younger teachers who are newer to the profession were no more likely to use technology than teachers with 10 or more years of experience”. (www.eschoolnews.com, 2010) Other reasons In a study conducted by (Vrasidas, 2010), the teachers were asked to share reasons for not using technology in the classroom. 81.4% of the teachers interviewed in the study argued that the course to be covered was too much to leave time for experiments, 60.4% teachers argued that too much time was required to prepare the ICT based lectures, 50.2% teachers said there was no support for them available in the classroom if they got caught into a difficult situation, 43.4% replied that they did not assume the position of key participants in the decision making process and 37% said they lacked training and that there was a need for professional development. (Vrasidas, 2010). Conclusion Teachers have not been making use of technology for the educational purposes because of several reasons that include but are not limited to lack of knowledge about the handling and use of technology that deprives the teachers of all the courage and confidence needed to demonstrate lecture in the altered way, lack of sufficient training of the teachers and the teachers’ resistance to change the fundamental structure of the educational system. Teachers also tend to be discouraged by the prevalent institutional system that places lesser emphasis on exploring the strengths of technology and more on the manual and descriptive model conventionally employed in the educational setup. Institutional support is very less and accordingly there is lack of equipment. Besides, there is to some extent, a cold war between generations that is generally not spoken much about. Management of the schools lies often in the hands of the older people who are not ready to underestimate the educational setup they were brought up in and keep a rosy view about the concept that technology can uplift the quality of education. Technology can work wonders to increase the quality of education. (Duttweiler & Madden, 2001 cited in Tatum and Morote, 20-) discovered that “in the Frenship Independent School District, Texas, which serves approximately 5,300 students from the eight characteristics contributing school district success, the number six is integrated technology.” There is a need to acknowledge the ability of technology to boost the quality of educational setup on upper level to keep pace with the changing world. References Kotrlik, J. W. and Redmann, D. H., (20-). Teachers’ Adoption of Technology for Use In Family and Consumer Science Instruction. p. 1 - 16. Retrieved 11 Aug. 2010 from http://www.public.iastate.edu~laanan/ACTER/pdfs/Teachers_Technology.pdf Tatum, S. and Morote, E. (20-). Teacher’s Motivations and Frustrations when using Instructional Technology. p. 1 - 7. Retrieved 11 Aug. 2010 from www.americanprofessor.org/.../SITETeachersmotivations100705.doc Tom, (2009). Why dont teachers use technology more? Retrieved 11 Aug. 2010 from http://www.ihes.com/bcn/tt/eltblog/blog/2009/06/why-dont-teachers-use- technology-more.html Vrasidas, C. (2010). Why Dont Teachers Adopt Technology? A Survey of Teachers Use of ICT in the Republic of Cyprus. Retrieved 11 Aug. 2010 from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=case_studies&article= 46-1 www.eschoolnews.com, (2010). Research dispels common ed-tech myths. Retrieved 11 Aug. 2010 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/29/research-dispels-common-ed- tech-myths/ Read More