Philosophy

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=** PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION **=

Today’s graduates must be prepared for a whole new working environment. In today’s workforce critical thinking skills, communication, and collaboration are vital to employment. Along side these skills is the skill to use technology. However, the ability to use technology is not simply a skill that will enhance a prospective employee’s likelihood of becoming hired, but rather a must for the position.

The divide between the students who have the technology at home and those who do not is great. Therefore, it is the schools responsibility to help lessen this gap. In doing so they are creating more of a level playing field for students after they graduate. However, using technology in school is not to be done simply to increase a student’s technological skill, but rather to enhance their entire learning experience. To only use technology for technologies sake is a not an effective strategy to creating a twenty –first century employee.

An essential component to successfully integrating technology into the classroom is the selection of the technology to be implemented. Selected technology should support higher order thinking and help students to transfer their knowledge of a topic into application and synthesis of that knowledge.

Technology can be used to enhance learning in the classroom in many ways, it can be used to tutor a struggling student, allow students to explore an idea on their own, used to collect and analyze data, give students a way to present their findings, and as a means of communication. However, to be an effective tool in any of these the chosen technology must be chosen carefully and then implemented as the instructor is confident in their ability to use and troubleshoot small problems that may arise.

Technology can be used to increase student motivation. This can be done by implementing the technology in a constructivist method such that the student feels ownership in their learning. Students will also be able to see connections to their post graduate plans by using communication and presentation tools that are similar to those they will use during employment.

I believe that technology is a valuable part of a student’s education. As I implement technology in my classroom and suggest technologies for others to implement, I will focus on selecting appropriate technology such that its use will be effective in both helping students learn the subject and learn technological skills they will need in their future.