Technology Autobiography Revisited

The role of technology within education is myriad, because our students live a globally, technology-driven society। The industrial age has now been removed as the frontrunner from the world’s production platform by technological innovations and performance enhancing products and systems that have been developed within this current age of digital progress. Considering this, it can be said that technology within teaching and learning can help create healthy academic environments that reduce inequities within schools and prepares our students to be competitive within a divergent global economy.

Because of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the role of technology within the education process has become more pressing than ever if the goal of 100% proficiency in key content areas is to be achieved by states by the 2014 deadline prescribed by the Act। Teachers can help achieve this goal by using technology to support student learning in key content areas by linking instruction to state, district, and school initiatives that already exist. By taking this approach, teachers can integrate technology into their specific content areas without making technology a separate subject area. Further, technology can help meet the needs of all students if it is used to support different learning styles.

Technology in education also can give teachers the tools required to reach every child and make the goals of NCLB more achievable by giving teachers flexibility within instruction। That is, technology can help teachers design and deliver lessons that inspire student creativity and increase student performance by offering instruction in creative ways. Furthermore, technology in education can help improve classroom effectiveness, because it allows teachers to promote learning and teach the major competencies in ways much different from traditional methods of instruction.

These ideals confirm my belief about teaching with technology, but they leave some stones unturned। That is, teaching with technology requires that the teacher be proficient with the technology. I believe the students probably could learn to use the technology on their own, but they need directives that will guide them toward the desired learning outcome. Otherwise, without proper guidance, the results could be no more than the product of meaningless exercises. Hence, instruction with technology requires extensive pre-service training or professional development that promotes the effective and efficiency use of technology.

I believe that the use of technology with teaching and learning should exceed the boundaries of having a computer in the classroom or several computers within a computer and should consist of class projects that elicit student use beyond the classroom। Teachers should use technology with which the students are familiar. For example, teachers can use blogs to help the students become more creative and efficient writers. Writing with blogs removes the rigidity of structured writing within an educational frame and moves writing to a plane of personal independence with a desired goal in mind – helping the students become proficient readers and writers.

My views have not changed much when it comes to using technology within the classroom, but I have become more willing to venture into uncharted waters। I believe, as has been the case with me, that teachers would like to use more technology, however, because the mystery of technology can be intimidating, many teachers have elect to continue traditional modes of instruction. However, if teachers were encouraged to use more technology within the classroom and given more opportunities to be exposed to effective ways of using technology during instruction, I believe that more teachers would use technology to teach their students, especially once they find out how it facilitate as well as enhance instruction.

Personally, I can see myself not only using technology for instruction as an educator, but I can now see myself promoting the use of technology within education. I realize that technology is the wave of the future and if we do not encourage teachers to use technology more within the classroom then more students will fall by the wayside, because technology is a basic part of their lives. We live in an age were grade school children have telephones, laptops, PDAs, iPods, you name it. For these students, technology will be the only thing they know. Meaning that instruction should be geared toward what they know; hence, integrating technology into instruction. Anything else would be a disservice to the students.