Learning Belief 4:
I believe teachers must have adequate access to technology, professional development, adequate time, and support to successfully integrate technology in the curriculum.
In an article titled Learning from Case Studies of Technology Integration The Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) identified four areas in which teachers must have support in order to effectively integrate technology in their curriculum. The four areas are:
- Adequate time to identify and learn technologies
- Adequate scheduling of access to computers
- Adequate equipment
- Adequate professional development
As I have collaborated with peers during my studies for my educational specialist degree I have found these four areas to be common problems for many of us in the teaching field. Sharing knowledge and skills with colleagues is one way that I can support my peers in technology integration. After completing a needs assessment and learner analysis, I developed a workshop to share my knowledge of and experience with wikis. I would like to develop an Inspiration and Kidspiration workshop. In preparation for that task, I have created a website, Concept Mapping in the Elementary Classroom, that includes a screen recorded introductory tutorial to Kidspiration. This website will serve as a resource for the workshop that teachers can refer to after the workshop.
During the Learning with the Internet course, my classmates and I supported each other by sharing and reporting on our experiences at the 2008 K-12 Online Conference “Amplifying Possibilities”. I reported on a presentation entitled Changing Disabilities to Possibilities – Using the MacGyver Approach. Through this online professional development, I learned about a tool called Voice Thread. I was happy to be able to share this tool with a speech language pathologist at my school who has students that could benefit from this tool. Sharing between professionals is one way to ease time demands.
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