Bringing Digital to the Classroom

Evolving technology has allowed traditional learning to evolve into online learning. There needs to be a thorough understanding of how today’s learners are learning outside of the traditional learning environment. “There’s a huge roll in how digital media plays a huge role in their learning outside of school” (What kids learn with digital media (video), 2010). It is undeniable that technology is invading the classrooms. “Technology doesn’t get adopted because it works, it gets adopted because people use it” (Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now (video), 2011).  Part of the reason is because as people learn (whether it’s intentional or unintentional) they find it’s especially exciting when they learn in dynamic and innovative ways. During an interview with Jessica Parker about teaching technologically savvy kids, she stated that “…literacy & learning is ongoing, dynamic, & growing. The point is to create teaching & learning environments” (Teaching Tech Savvy Kids: Video interview with Jessica Parker, 2010) in order to increase improvements in classrooms and teaching methodologies. Educators today need to start conversing logically with their administrators and with each other issues that will take their classrooms to the next level of learning. During these conversations, educators need to find the benefits of these technological changes and how to integrate them with ease into their classrooms.  

Information today is open and free to retrieve; even so, it can be hard to find valid resources. It’s up to the researcher to find the best information to disseminate. The best thing to do as a researcher is to understand the information and decide if the information is pertinent to your research or not. As educators, this research methodology comes in handy when researching how to integrate technology into their classrooms. It’s important that educators do their ‘homework’ to adequately make the best decisions to find the right technology that would work best for their students.

After educators have done their research, it’s a good idea to involve their administrators in order to get ‘buy in’ for the technology they would like to use in their classrooms. It’s usually a good idea for educators to present a united front and students can be an asset by providing a ‘voice’ for the educators, which would provide the needed support for their case to integrate technology into the classroom. Other ways for educators to garner support is to test theories in the classroom and communicate with online communities. It’s risky to bring in technology to the classroom, but even riskier not to.

Technology is making its way into the classroom with or without educators’ influence. It’s important that educators know this and try to understand how technological changes can enhance their classrooms. It’s always best to embrace these changes, but sometimes it’s hard to do; however, with thorough research educators should be able to garner enough information to support their decision to bring technology into the classroom.

Resources –

Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now (video) (2011). Retrieved February 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html

Teaching Tech Savvy Kids: Video interview with Jessica Parker (2010). Retrieved February 12, 2011 from http://teachingtechsavvykids.com/video/teaching-tech-savvy-kids?xg_source=activity

What kids learn with digital media (video), (2010). Retrieved February 12, 2011 from http://teachingtechsavvykids.com/video/what-kids-learn-when-they