Highest Student Achievement with Technology

I recently completed a course titled, “Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and the Society.” As a result of this course, I not only learned about new technologies but more importantly I examined ways that I can utilize technology to improve instruction and increase student achievement throughout my district.
Towards the beginning of the course, I was introduced to blogging, wikis and podcasts and learned how to use these tools to engage in professional development inquiries related to subjects of interest to me. This course allowed me to discover the value of several technology tools for myself before even considering how they could effectively be utilized with students. I believe this was an excellent model of how technology tools can be introduced to other educators and it is one method that I am currently implementing with the adult learners I work with. I am finding that once educators see value in technology for themselves, it is much easier for them to successfully utilize the technology with their students.
I have always based my teaching on a constructivist learning philosophy. I focus on providing students with situations where they can use information to construct meaning and find solutions to real problems. The technology tools I was introduced to in this course, along with the information on the critical skills and attributes that society will demand of its future workers, have strengthened my belief in a constructivist learning model. I have found that students are more motivated to learn when their studies focus on relevant issues and engage them in utilizing student centered technologies. A distinction that was particularly valuable was whether I was using technology with students to do the same old things or was I emphasizing using technology to do new things. The new technologies that are opening up worldwide collaborative networks are particularly exciting and are creating new ways of operating in many realms.
I believe one of educators’ primary responsibilities is to prepare students so that they can adapt to technology and methods of operation that have not yet been discovered. I do not believe this is supported if educators are teaching using the teacher-centered approach of the last century where the teachers held all the answers.
After 20 years of teaching, I continue to model being a life-long learner. I believe if students develop a desire and passion for continued learning, they will be able to find solutions to the complex problems that they will encounter both in their personal lives and that we face as a global society. One of the greatest aspects of being an educator is that I learn new things every day and, as an educational technologist, my particularly focus is on how technology can be utilized to maximize student achievement.
Last week I prepared an issue paper for my Superintendent about the role of the school level educational technologists in my district in an attempt to preserve these critical educational technology support positions. Here is an excerpt from that paper which outlines the general goals for myself and the educational technologists in my district:
“Educational technologists (ET’s) facilitate the appropriate use of existing technology and encourage the use of new technology. The technology tools available in our schools help teachers differentiate instruction and directly address DoDEA standards. ETs build capacity among teachers to ensure that technology is working smoothly for instruction. ETs are needed to support and encourage the transformative use of new technologies including blogs, wikis, podcasts, the extranet and other Web 2.0 tools. These tools and many others facilitate communication between the schools and the community, highlighting the achievements of students and teachers, and enable student and teacher collaboration across the globe. Becoming proficient with these new technologies is a critical component to technology and information literacy as our students enter the 21st century workplace.”
To support these goals over the next year, I am going to focus on providing training for my school level educational technologists on the latest best practices in the areas of adult learning theory, differentiated instruction, backwards design, formative and summative assessment, and coaching models. In addition, I will continue to focus on effectively training educators with the use of web 2.0 and other technology tools for both their own professional development and for integration in their classrooms in order to promote highest student achievement.