Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology Integration

Technology integration is necessary for the advancement of our students as well as our schools. Having valuable experiences with technology is paramount for success. In order to achieve successful integration of technology, educators and administrators must be able to effectively evaluate the technology that is being used or that might be used. There are many ways to evaluate software and equipment. Some companies offer free trials so that you can try out their product to see if it will meet the needs of your students/staff. With rising costs of almost everything to do with living as well as teaching, it is imperative that schools purchase technology that they will use and will have an impact on teaching and learning. If a product is not going to be used, why spend the money on it? Also, if you can buy something that will be integrated in various subjects and grade level, it would be much more cost effective.
There are many valuable things that technology can and does bring to education. There are so many ways that students can gain knowledge through using the Internet and collaborating with other students, not only in their school but around the world. There are projects that students can create and participate in and use wiki spaces or blogs to save their information or journal. Some of these sites are free or the cost is minimal.
The main concern is getting educators that are not comfortable with technology to venture out of their comfort zone and try some of these things so that when technology is there to be integrated, it is used and used effectively.

1 comment:

Rajiv Varma said...

Schools and college's would purchase technology when goverment lets them do that. Even if there are private schools with unlimited funds and resources, the bone of contention drops down to the authority who decides the syllabus. If the same thing is to be taught to everyone, why need technology? Change in the way syllabus's are decided is as important as inculcating technology into the field of education