Connecting
All The Technology Pieces
As a whole instructional
technology in the K-12 environment is still in its formative years.
Until schools can unstrap the technology from the labs and corner
of the classrooms and place it into the hands of the students, technology
will continue to challenge teachers trying to integrate it. While
ambitious laptop programs are beginning to flourish, they are still
a very small minority in relation to those schools that do not have
the same kind of access. From the early success of many of these programs,
it is certainly clear that it will be a mobile device that finally
brings technology into the hands of the learner. The size and immobility
of desktop computers will always be a limitation on their use in schools.
But for now we must make the best of them until a more desirable,
functional and affordable mobile device is universally available to
students.
Without
a sound instructional foundation and anchored by a secure, stable
network, any technology device that is used will not be successful.
It would be wise for us to think forward in developing an integrated
system as these technologies begin to emerge and be used in the classroom.
Many of the pieces of the puzzle are already in place. Wireless networking,
for example, has been around for a few years and could fairly easily
be used to deploy a centralized content delivery server. The digital
content side is getting closer as well. There are many companies that
are developing and have available fairly complete solutions for digital
curriculum. A school to home connection can be realized with secure
connections like a Virtual Private Network (VPN). While the inundation
of learning management systems into the hands of administrators and
teachers in the wake of No Child Left Behind means that there are
also digital accountability systems in place that can be used to monitor
and help customize learning for all students. A unified, well thought
out system will make the transition into a digital-based learning
system much easier for technology and non-technology driven teachers.
Until we see this we will continue to spin our wheels with technology
integration and have to really on the motivated and forward-thinking
teachers and administrators to drag us along as we slouch toward the
promised age of instructional technology.
To keep up with the latest
advances and research in instructional technology check out the educational
technology research page on the SBC Knowledge Network Explorer
web site.
