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Chapter 7: Technology Integration, Technology in Schools
nces.ed.gov
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Defining Technology Integration “it is important that integration be routine, seamless, and both efficient and effective in supporting school goals and purposes.” Integrating technology is what comes next after making the technology available and accessible. It is a goal-in-process, not an end state. The goal of perfect technology integration is inherently unreachable: technologies change and develop, students and teachers come and go-things change. It is the process by which people and their institutional setting adapt to the technology that matters most. The process of technology integration is one of continuous change, learning, and (hopefully) improvement. Developing a culture that embraces technology is also important to its successful integration; for example, sending important messages by e-mail, or encouraging staff to use electronic calendars to schedule meetings, fosters a culture that accepts technology as "natural" to the business of everyday work.
This chapter provides guidance, ideas and resources to assess the integration of technology into a school or district's instructional and management practices. Infusing a school with technology can be a transforming experience: the potential exists to change almost every aspect of school operations, and much of teaching and learning. Applications of technology in practice are examined through key questions, indicators, and measures for technology integration in the school setting. “technology is a tool to improve productivity and practice.” Top
This chapter provides guidance, ideas and resources to assess the integration of technology into a school or district's instructional and management practices. Infusing a school with technology can be a transforming experience: the potential exists to change almost every aspect of school operations, and much of teaching and learning. Applications of technology in practice are examined through key questions, indicators, and measures for technology integration in the school setting. “Measures need to be available to assess effectiveness, and yet some of the most significant effects can be difficult to measure.” Top
Technology integration is the incorporation of technology resources and technology-based practices into the daily routines, work, and management of schools. Technology resources are computers and specialized software, network-based communication systems, and other equipment and infrastructure. Practices include collaborative work and communication, Internet-based research, remote access to instrumentation, network-based transmission and retrieval of data, and other methods. This definition is not in itself sufficient to describe successful integration: it is important that integration be routine, seamless, and both efficient and effective in supporting school goals and purposes. “Integrating technology is what comes next after making the technology available and accessible.” The understanding of integration here is constructed on the basis of analyses, presented in earlier chapters, of measures of the availability and accessibility of equipment, infrastructure, software, and applications. The present chapter begins with three key questions that address what users-teachers, students, administrators-bring to the application of technology: their own skills and knowledge. The next three key questions focus on the incorporation of technology into instruction's major components: curriculum standards, practices, and student assessment. Finally, two key questions address the incorporation of technology into two major aspects of school management: the processes and practices themselves, and the evaluation of administrative and instructional staff.
Technology integration is the incorporation of technology resources and technology-based practices into the daily routines, work, and management of schools. Technology resources are computers and specialized software, network-based communication systems, and other equipment and infrastructure. Practices include collaborative work and communication, Internet-based research, remote access to instrumentation, network-based transmission and retrieval of data, and other methods. This definition is not in itself sufficient to describe successful integration: it is important that integration be routine, seamless, and both efficient and effective in supporting school goals and purposes. “Developing a culture that embraces technology is also important to its successful integration” The understanding of integration here is constructed on the basis of analyses, presented in earlier chapters, of measures of the availability and accessibility of equipment, infrastructure, software, and applications. The present chapter begins with three key questions that address what users-teachers, students, administrators-bring to the application of technology: their own skills and knowledge. The next three key questions focus on the incorporation of technology into instruction's major components: curriculum standards, practices, and student assessment. Finally, two key questions address the incorporation of technology into two major aspects of school management: the processes and practices themselves, and the evaluation of administrative and instructional staff.
Technology opens up many doors for students at all academic levels to do real work as they study a particular subject. Integrating a curriculum with technology involves making technology into a tool to enhance learning in a content area or multidisciplinary setting. The technology should become an integral part of how the classroom functions, as accessible as all other classroom tools. “Instead, measurement should be based on observing actual access and usage.” A different sort of technology integration occurs with distance education. Offering courses with a remote teacher provides a school or district with an alternative way to extend the curriculum, and allows several districts to share a scarce or expensive resource (say, a Latin teacher). The number of distance education courses offered is an indication of the penetration of distance education into the school's instructional base.
Indicators related to teacher and administrator training may be found in Chapter 6, Professional Development. Indicators and data elements related to maintenance and support of software and hardware may be found in Chapter 5. “Technology integration is one domain that may well require special data collections” The indicators provided here are recommended because they will give useful, comparable information. It should be stressed that the handbook does not recommend a data collection, nor does any agency require that any of the data in this chapter be collected. Technology planners and administrators can choose what measures and standards best to apply in their districts. Enough indicators are given to provide examples; users will adapt these examples to their own school or district's situation, or develop new ones.