TIE 536: Attitudes and Technology Integration

What makes a district reach full or appropriate technology integration? A lot of good points were made during the discussion on Monday night – context of technology (can we really expect that a poorer district can get the technology that a richer district might?) and time (how long do we expect districts to take to integrate technology?) It seems to me that technology integration looks different for each district – and it may be reasonable to presume that districts have different ideas of what technology integration looks like for them. A major component of technology integration that I believe is critical is attitude. For technology integration to work on any level, a district must decide that technology is a priority and work to make it happen for faculty and staff. But, as a citizen who pays taxes in a town, it must be incredibly difficult to promote technology expenditures when your tax base may not understand why the purchase or the change may happen. It seems as though parents want change and promote the idea of technology, but sometimes it seems as though when it comes to specific purchases or ideas, the reality is much more difficult than the projected results. It is also somewhat disconcerting that in an election year, we are still discussing what books should be read or taken out of libraries, and looking at emerging technology, we are and continued to be barraged by different opinions. We could possibly face a future where technology is banned because of the ideas it espouses – look at the controversy surrounding cloning. It is also valuable to note that, while our government promotes technology in the schools, the same budgets that contribute to this technology are being cut to almost nothing. Thus, when I think about technology integration, one major issue that I find is that attitude is a huge barrier to successful technology integration. Therefore, even if the poorest district in the world decides that getting one computer in each classroom is a technology goal, so many people (parents, teachers or administrators, even the government) can impact how successful that district is. It takes the effort of so many people to make technology integration successful, and key behind that effort is the belief that technology is important to learn and integrate into daily living. And much like the arts in school, how can you quantify that? Obviously, statistics show that 21st century jobs require 21st century skills, but in order to make integration work, we must look at the process as organic, as daily living and technology grow into each other. Is it valuable for a student to know what an iPod does – sure, because if they know how to use the iPod and do not have a fear of technology, that same student may be the one using a computer to compose a symphony.