Before school districts jump headfirst into a technological spending spree it would be wise to take time to gather information. A good starting point can be derived from the development of an agreed upon definition of the objectives educators are seeking to accomplish with the technological tools about to be purchased.
Once you’ve determined the task at hand and the best tool for the job, there had better be someone around who is proficient in the equipment’s use (McKenzie, 2004). Just because I own a hammer and power saw does not mean I’m capable of building a deck for my home. Once a commitment has been made for a school district to incur the substantial start up costs of technology integration it will be imperative to demonstrate a return on this investment.
Eye and mind candy replete with sound bites are no substitute for sound instructional practice existing within a well designed curriculum (McKenzie, 2004). Bell (2001) expressed the opinion that you need to be able to answer the questions:
“What can I do with this particular technology that I could not do without it?
Is it worth the effort?”
We shouldn’t use technology simply for the sake of using technology. However, we must for survival’s sake be able to see past the present to predict and actively manage the inevitable future paradigm shift.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment