Blog Entry #4

After interviewing a teacher at a local school and looking at that school's technology plan, I realized that the federal and state technology plans are not very evident in all classrooms today. One of the National Education Technology Plan's goals states "All teachers will use technology effectively to help students achieve high academic standards" (e-Learning). The school I conducted my interview at had about 2-4 student computers per classroom. The school had a computer lab, but it wasn't in it's own separate room. It was in the same room as the data coach and intervention teachers. It was difficult to use. According to the teacher I interviewed, not many teachers seemed to take advantage of it. When I asked if she and the other teachers utilized the computers in their classrooms, she said they were mostly used for Accelerated Reader tests. She thought some teachers also used them for drill and practice games.

The technology in the school didn't seem to be used effectively to help students achieve higher levels of thinking. This was probably due to the fact that technology use was not monitored by school leaders. The teacher I interviewed said the extent each teacher used technology was up to each teacher's individual preference. This reminded me of a quote I saw about statistics on teachers' technology use in Indiana's education technology plan, "When asked about their school principal’s expectations of them to use technology, 48% of teachers replied that they are 'expected to use technology regularly, as appropriate to their teaching assignment,' whereas 45% replied that each teacher in their school 'decides individually whether and how often he/she will use technology'" (Indiana Plan for Digital Age Learning). The school where I conducted my interview would fall in that 45% where each teacher decides individually on their level of use of technology.

Even though Indiana's latest education technology plan is from 2007, I still believe the following statement proves true 6 years later: "most school leaders are not yet setting high expectation for integration of technology in curriculum, instruction and assessment. In most Indiana schools technology has not yet translated into changes in classroom practice and is not yet systemic" (Indiana Plan for Digital Age Learning). Some schools are truly excelling in technology integration, which might be because they have had access to more technologies in the classroom for many years. Where I conducted my interview, they had just received SMART boards and were receiving professional development for them; maybe adopting this technology will lead to more technology integration used to encourage students' higher order thinking skills. If school administrators set some expectations with the technology as well, I definitely believe the state and federal technology plans would be more evident in this school.



Sources:

United States. Indiana Department of Education. Education Technology Council. Indiana Plan for  Digital Age Learning. 2007. Web.

United States. U.S. Department of Education. Office of Educational Technology. e-Learning: Putting a World-Class Education at the Fingertips of All Children. 2000. Web.