http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/ITSELE-excerpt.pdf

It's Elementary! Integrating Technology in the Primary Grades

This article is about putting more technology into the hands of younger students and their teachers. The author said the more tools you put in the hands of students and teachers, the more it becomes a part of their thinking. The article said a lot of schools tend to look away from technology because their school does not have the money to give them what they are interested in. The article stressed that even on a “shoestring” budget there are ways to incorporate technology into their everyday learning. A study even showed that academic growth was higher in classes where teachers used technology widely as opposed to those classes who didn't. Another interesting study showed that technology integration in schools decreased student behaviors, decreased the amount of absent students, provided a lower drop out rate, allowed more room for college scholarships, and students were more likely to attend college. I found this to be very interesting because I think if more students are allowed to use a device of their choice then they will more likely be engaged and eager to learn. The article also stressed that integration means the teachers are using technology by introducing, reinforcing, extending, enriching, assessing, and remediating student mastery of particular targets.

The most interesting part of this article was about how schools must have the following to successfully integrate technology in schools: administrative support because this is who makes the final decision and has the final say in it all, staff buy in because staff needs to be on board and willing to integrate the technology into their classrooms and this does not mean that they need to be experts! Time and tools for collaboration, and equipment were the final two components to integrating successfully. I think this is something that many districts are working on today. I feel especially in our district that we are fortunate to have a variety of devices/technology for our students, however, teachers don’t have the proper training or knowledge to use these tools or devices in their classrooms. With technology constantly changing, I think it is important to have staff who are willing to be the cheerleaders and convince teachers that what they are using is important.