Integrating Technology into the Educational Process

The basic idea of this article is to persuade educators to aim for the use of curriculum-driven software, as opposed to software driven curriculum. Educational software needs to be evaluated in light of what curricular goals it helps to meet. As educators, we need to be thinking of technology as another tool for students to learn content, rather than "teaching computers" as a subject unto itself. The author, Marianne Handler, notes that the goal here is to make the software as invisible as possible.

The author cites research which identifies five "lifelong learning outcomes of importance for today's students":
1. The ability to be a self-directed learner
2. The ability to be a collaborative worker
3. The ability to be a complex thinker
4. The ability to be a quality producer
5. The ability to be a community contributor

In addition to making sure that the technology we use is in service of the content we are teaching, it may be helpful to think of how the technology we bring into the classroom can aid in achieving these lifelong learning outcomes.

In an age of digital immigrants teaching digital natives, there is probably no need to convince students that technology is helpful to them as learners, but Handler points out that students need to understand that the teacher values the technology-based activity and sees it as part of the curriculum as well as part of the learning process. She points out that it is vital to provide the time and support necessary for teachers to experiment with and master the technologies to be used in the classroom.

My reaction: This main idea of this article is pretty hard to argue with: technology is a tool to teach content and thinking skills; the subjects we teach are not just there to provide new applications for software. I liked Handler's statement that the goal is to make the software invisible as much as possible. In our IT class we switch between Mac and PC computers frequently as we work on different projects. Perhaps in a computer lab where science is being taught, for instance, students could also switch between Mac and PC computers. They will learn the differences as they work on their projects (with help from knowledgeable instructors, of course.) That would be a different sort of thing from having a computer class with a PC unit and a Mac unit.

Source: Handler, M. "Integrating Technology into the Instructional Process: Good Practice Guides the Way." In: Computers in Education; 12th Edition. Annual Editions (2007).