My Core Belief
In a time when the general public is so aware of the part technology plays in daily life, it is not easy to formulate a core belief on “what instructional technology means to me.”
As School Based Technology Specialist, I am familiar with the National, State and District technology plans – that is in a broad sense.
How can a teacher (including my humble self!) use a simple technology tool and make it educational? Lots of examples – Smatboard, United Streaming videos, Fresh Science DVDs, virtual field trips, and many more!
All these are good and support traditional methods of instruction. Sure, every student has different learning styles – some need the ‘drill and practice’ software for Reading or Math, some are experts in today’s communication side of technology, e-mailing, chatting, and collaborating through Blackboard and beyond, and many will figure out on their own whatever new technology is coming out soon. My core belief is that students still need to be familiar with the basic applications like Word, Excel, database, and presentation application like Powerpoint. If these can be integrated in lessons at every grade level/content area, especially at elementary level, then the students of today will be able to function outside of school- in the real world very well.
