Where Do Education and Technology Meet?

The short answer is, Everywhere. I hope they also meet here, on my online portfolio.

It is no longer a question of using technology in education – that is now akin to asking whether we should use a refrigerator to keep food. Technology is not an option but a necessity. In a survey I did of student use of technology, one student answered the question about what various tools she uses every week by adding under Other, “Kindle (if this is considered a technology).” To students today, what we call technology is a part of their lives. For that reason alone it needs to be more than another part of education; it needs to be incorporated seamlessly into our teaching, as seamlessly as pen and paper and the whiteboard. Another reason it is necessary is that students today must be comfortable with technology in order to be prepared for life outside of school, and by comfortable I don’t mean being able to use a cell phone and update Facebook; they need to be able to connect and communicate and collaborate and do research and make videos and present results. They need to have a digital portfolio of their work to demonstrate their competencies.

The most compelling argument for technology in education is that it has the potential to transform education. Among other benefits, technology:

·      engages students;

·      allows for the use of a wide range of tools;

·      allows for greater student collaboration;

·      promotes student self-directed learning;

·      enhances creativity;

·      provides access to an unlimited number of resources;

·      allows teachers to ‘flip’ the classroom;

·      allows for clearer communication and organization;

·      enables teacher collaboration on a large scale;

·      simplifies the task of catering to different learning styles;

·      makes differentiated instruction easier;

·      allows for the ongoing creation and retention of course material;

·      raises student readiness for college and beyond.