What is Effective Technology Integration for 21st Century Learners?

This week our assignment is to post on our blog about effective technology integration for 21^st century learners. After doing some reading I am learning that effective technology integration is achieved when it is used to support curricular goals. It is most effective to integrate technology into daily activities and classroom practices so that it becomes part of the norm for student learning. What I discovered on the Edutopia website is that technology integration becomes effective when it supports four specific aspects of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts (2008). Technology can help make learning more engaging and fun especially for students who don’t respond to typical methods of teaching. The technical world allows students and teachers access to knowledge, materials, and resources that might not be available to them in the classroom otherwise.

Technology allows students and teachers access to resources such as webinars. Webinars are effective in the classroom because they allow students the chance to interact with other students online and from other locations. Webinars can be effective for teachers’ use as well by allowing access to professional development seminars from other places in the world. This interconnectivity gives students and teachers the ability to make use of many different resources and sources of knowledge.  

One of the things I love about technology in the classroom is that it allows students to be very interactive. Technology allows students to collaborate on projects and to share the information they have collected in very creative ways. Students can create a webpage or blog and post their project or information online for their fellow students to access. They can create videos, slide shows, and powerpoints that allow them to display their individuality and creativity in a way that other students can view and access. While these uses of technology are very effective, they also really help to make learning fun!

There are so many ways technology can be effectively integrated into the classroom. In my post I have only touched on a few but the possibilities are literally endless. I wonder what kinds of new technology will be available to students and teachers in ten years?

Works Cited

Edutopia Staff. (2008). Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many. Retrieved September 1, 2010, http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

Route 21. (2007). Self Direction/Geography and History: How Can Initiative and Self-Direction Skills Support Geography and History Curriculum at the K-5 Level? Retrieved September 1, 2010,http://www.p21.org/route21/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=172

Here is a link to my powerpoint:

http://www.slideshare.net/acoliver55/powerpointfor-blog

My First Blogging Experience!

Hopefully this is working as I type! I have never blogged before and am a little apprehensive using something so unfamiliar to me. My name is Amanda and I am now a blogger! However, I am starting to realize that I don't know nearly as much about computers and their capabilities as I thought I did!


While reading through the course material and accessing available links, I'm realizing how effective the use of technology is becoming in the teaching and learning environment. During class while I was trying not to panic about my apparent lack of knowledge in the blogging sphere, I came to realize that to use technology as an effective teaching tool does not mean that I need to be an expert using it myself. Today's world of education already feels so different from what I experienced as a child. These days, children grow up using technology that I may never have experienced and as such are very capable of exploring and expanding different uses of technology once they have the basic idea. I have a feeling that as a teacher I will be able to learn a lot from my students by observing how they interact with technology themselves. I really like the idea of using blogging in the classroom for student journals and as a forum for homework assignments or the class syllabus. I think blogging also has great potential as a place for students to find or post links to information and resources that will benefit or are of interest to them. Blogging and other such technology is something I would feel comfortable using in a classroom once I gain a little more experience using it myself. I can definitely see the possibilities!