Great article about just jumping in and trying tech in the classroom by Kathy Cassidy, “Technology in the Classroom: Embrace the Bumpy Ride.”

Her point to teacher who are reluctant or overwhelmed is to take it slow, try something, and the real point: to use tech to teach better. Don’t just have it as an add-on, or something more to do.

Technology should help us to teach better and in more meaningful ways. It should be used to connect us. It should give us choice and allow us to share.

 

Use technology when it allows you to do something in a better way than you have done before or to do something that was formerly impossible to do.

 

Examples include using blogs to give student writing a broader audience and communicating with families in an immediate way.She suggests using Skype to connect with another classroom in another state. Use video and photography to allow for a non-textual representation of a learner’s thought process and to demonstrate their learning.

She also reminds us that an iPad or computer is just another tool, like a pencil or crayon. You can have problems with these tools, too!

We use technology not just because it is technology, but because of what it can do. It engages us and helps us to learn.