Posted by:
Dianne Owen
District admin/coordinator
Murray, KY

Topic:
How Technology is Used is Key

Message:

More and more states are developing technology standards for their teachers and students. An example of Kentucky's technology standards can be seen on the website at http://www.kde.state.ky.us. These standards are usually fairly advanced and require time and training to actually become proficient in them.

There are surveys being developed that access the knowledge of teachers and students on technological skills. Many universities have developed surveys that access these skills. I have made up my own three-page surveys that covered the basic skills that most teachers need to know and conducted them in the fall and then again in the spring after a year long training initiative. To me, these are the most effective.

The real level of proficiency for a teacher is to see how they actually use technology in the classroom. Is the teacher using email to talk to her friends or to connect her students to other students around the world? Is the teacher in a rural community using the Internet for a virtual tour of a museum of science or checking his or her personal stock market prices? Now, if that teacher happens to be teaching economics, that would be a good use of the Internet! The key to evaluation is to assess how it is being used in relation to what is being taught.

If the use of technology is tied into a teacher's evaluation, he or she will usually learn more about how to really implement it effectively. Remember?technology is only a tool to learning. The student's learning is the focus and the standards and core content must be met.

There are such wonderful tools and software available. It is truly incredible. But a teacher has to use technology as a part of the activity, instead of the activity. How a teacher uses technology to enhance learning and meet the standards and core content is the real key to proficiency.

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