The significant of technology in education

1. By Jennifer Warren

2. Select An Article
 Teachers & Technology: English with an Edge
 Technology: Toward a New Model of High-Tech
Schoolrooms
 Assistive Technology and Inclusion

3. “Teachers & Technology: English
with an Edge” – by Neal Starkman
Neal Starkman’s article used high school English
teacher Andie Brown’s story as an example of how
technology may improve the learning experience. As a last
assignment, she asked her students to make short films to
help them grasp the concept of satire. The results, she said,
were overwhelmingly positive. Her students put so much
enthusiasm into their projects, including those who did
not seem to understand the concept beforehand. Brown
mentioned on particular boy, who showed little effort
during most of the semester.
(continued…)

4. Neal Starkman continued…
This project sparked the boy’s interest in a way that she
did not believe would have been possible otherwise.
Brown said that the end result was worth the amount
of time spent on the project (Starkman).
Source:
Starkman, Neal (2008). Teachers & Technology: English with an Edge.
THE Journal. Retrieved November 22, 2008, from
http://www.thejournal.com/the/printarticle/?d=22614.

5. Personal Reflection on Starkman
This article made me think about my future as a
teacher and how technology can help engage students
in their lessons. I was impressed by the results that
Brown’s project had with her students that even
students who were not doing well in the class
succeeded. One quote I found particularly interesting
dealt with this very thing: “Even students that I wasn’t
sure had really grasped the concept of satire did great
projects” (Starkman). This quote is a testament to how
effective technology can be.

6. “Technology: Toward a New Model of High-
Tech Schoolrooms” – by Royal Van Horn
In his article, Royal Van Horn argues that schools
should start small when trying to integrate technology
into education. The reason he gives for this is that
often teachers are reluctant to use said technology. He
says that elementary schools are particularly difficult
in which to integrate technology, since the days have
set patterns that leave little opportunity for technology
use. Secondary schools also make this change difficult
in that the learning centers mostly around lectures,
which keeps students away from the computers.
(continued…)

7. Royal Van Horn continued…
Van horn also points out that replacing obsolete
computers every few years is too costly, considering the
budgets that most schools have. His solution is to
start the changes with individual classrooms (Van
Horn).
Source:
Van Horn, Royal (2006). Technology: Toward a New Model of High-Tech
Schoolrooms. Phi Delta Kappa International. Retrieved
November 22, 2008, from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/
k_v87/k0603van.htm.

8. Personal Reflection on Van Horn
Van Horn’s argument made sense, because,
thinking back on my educational history, most of my
learning did not involve computers. I can understand
why it would be difficult to integrate technology when
many teachers are unwilling to adapt it to suit their
lessons. One quote that stated his argument
effectively was “School reform, like home remodeling,
ought to be done one room at a time” (Van Horn).
This quote perfectly summed up the article while
illustrating his point.

9. “Assistive Technology and Inclusion” – by
Caren Sax, Ian Pumpian, and Doug Fisher
This article talked about how technology may be
instrumental in helping physically disabled students
get the most out of school. It used Joey as an example
of how this was possible. Joey, who had cerebral palsy,
spent predominantly inactive days in his class. One
example of technology the teachers used to help him
was a series of switches that connected to a toy, which
he learned how to operate. The purpose of this device
was to teach him to associate his movement of the
controls with the resulting movements of the toy.
(continued…)

10. Caren Sax, et al. continued…
Teachers also used this as a way for Joey to interact with
his classmates. The article says that Joey eventually
became part of a regular class, and he had a special
device to signal when he wanted to answer a question.
Source:
Sax, Caren, Ian Pumpian, and Doug Fisher (1995). Assistive Technology
and Inclusion. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved November
22, 2008, from http://newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/
teaching/sax.htm.

11. Person Reflection on Sax, et al.
This article was very informative about how
technology can help physically disabled students. It
shows one of the many ways that people can benefit
from technology, because it gives students like Joey the
opportunity to learn rather than resign them to
ignorance. This quote expresses how Joey benefitted
from technology: “Fortunately, Joey’s teachers and
advocates became familiar with the wide range of
assistive devices that could increase Joey’s access to his
world” (Sax, Pumpian, and Fisher). This shows
another instance in which technology can make a
significant difference.

12. Conclusion
These articles all show ways that technology can
benefit students and improve the learning experience.
With devices to teach disabled students and hands on
projects to engage students, technology provides so
many possibilities.