Equal Access--Is It Possible?

I believe providing equal access to the digital world to all students is definitely a possibility. There are so many technological tools out there that there surely will be something for every learner. As a teacher, it would be up to me to search for those tools in order to guarantee there is equal access among all my students.

It is also extremely important to provide time for the students to work with the technology. It should be factored in to each school day on a regular basis, rather than just for special activities or lessons. Providing the students with the ability to use technology on a regular basis can be difficult to do, but not impossible. Even you have a class of 20 students, you can set aside time for the them to interact with the technology. One way to do it, although not ideal, would be to set a schedule for the students. Since there are five days in a typical school week, each day four students can have a good amount of time to interact with the technology. This would work, but not ideally because the class isn't always working on the same activities or lessons on Friday as they did on Monday, therefore the students who go on either end of the week would be at a disadvantage. However, there is a way to fix this. Each week, the students could switch days, so the same four students wouldn't go on Monday.

In order to successfully provide equal access for the students, it takes a lot of time, energy, and compromise from the teacher.

What can we gain through collaboration

I am actually glad that I waited until the last minute to answer this question because I was lucky enough to attend the NHASCD conference in Concord today (I will also be going tomorrow). Towards the end of the session today, we talked about what it means to be collaborative. Collaboration isn't just working together toward a common goal, it's working interdependently toward a common goal. By working collaboratively with colleagues teachers can see ways to improve instruction, and more importantly improve student achievement. Doing it in the right way is of course important, for instance you shouldn't have a science teacher working with a music teacher, because their goals are going to be different. You should have all the science teachers working together, all the math teachers together, and so on.

EdTechTalk

I chose to listen to the April 1, 2010 Seedlings show on EdTechTalk. I really like the flow of the show. It's very conversational and very easy to listen to. Just in the 25 minutes I've listened I've heard a few different ways to implement technology into the classroom. One thing I loved which was mentioned was that a Kindergarten class in NH is using WebKins and NintenDogs (sp?) to teach students responsibility skills. I can see myself listening to this show often as I can imagine the list of technology resources I can gather.

Essential Questions

Why should we integrate technology into lessons? That is a great question! Students are familiar with technology, so it is only natural to implement technology into lessons. You wouldn't use unfamiliar materials to teach a lesson to students, it would take that much longer for them to understand it, most likely. By implementing technology, a concept most are familiar with, the students will feel more comfortable engaging in the lessons and therefore becoming more informed.

What is the purpose of integrating technology into learning? Another great question! Technology is a part of children's lives nowadays, so incorporating that into their learning experience will help them build a more authentic understanding of the material. The experience will be more meaningful for them because they, most likely, will be familiar with the technology. Providing meaningful experiences for the students to learn and understand concepts and material is extremely important. Meaningful experiences allow students to construct their own understanding rather than simply memorizing facts or processes. Technology can help a student by providing those meaningful experiences.