Evaluating Technology Guidelines

Guiding Principles for Using Technology
Cynthia Misner
June 18, 2010
I love to integrate technology in my classroom, but I have several questions that I ask myself before I make a request to my administrators. When I am mandated to use new software or hardware, I take the required Professional Development courses and try to use the knowledge asap, so I do not lose the brief training on the new equipment. The list below is a set of questions that I ask myself, before I go to administration with a sales pitch for technology or software I am interested in for my classroom.
• Do I need Professional Development to use this equipment?
• Can I teach myself how to use the equipment?
• Will the number of preps for the courses that I am teaching decrease my ability to properly utilize the new technology?
• How many of my students will be able to utilize the new technology or software?
• How expensive is the technology? Will my administrator blow his or her wig when I make the sales pitch?
• How user friendly is the software?
• How user friendly is the manufacturer of the technology or software?
• Do I have time to integrate the technology or software into my existing curriculum?
• Will the new technology or software enhance my students learning, or is it just the bells and whistles version of what I am already doing?
• Will the technology help to prepare my students for their future in the workplace or at the collegiate level?
Some examples of technology that I have used that have enhanced my students’ learning, have been virtual tours of the Louvre, the catacombs, the Sorbonne, Jean d’Arc’s museum, le Tour Eiffel….(I have also taught French). I also had an international classroom e-mail account when this was not a very flat world. My students would correspond once a week with another classroom in France when I had this account opened. I have utilized an interactive human cadaver and virtual labs when I have not had the access to the lab supplies or a cadaver to explore the science involved in the labs. I also have used computer based labs to reinforce science explorations and data collection. They also have a lot of labs that I cannot investigate in the classroom without them.
Seven years ago, I went to a Professional Development course on the Smart Board. I made a sales pitch to my administrator, but he did not believe it was the wave of the future. Three to five years ago whole school districts started to install interactive boards in classrooms. I changed school districts so I currently have one in my room. I have used a variety of interactive programs which really involve the students learning scientific concepts. One interactive activity that I really liked was one based on the periodic table. Students were given elements and then they were timed on how long it took the students to find the elements on the periodic table. Another teacher happened to come across it and came to my classroom to show it to me. I have used it thereafter. I am hoping this course is going to help me make the connections to assist me in finding and utilizing technology and software without spending hours and hours searching for items and then experimenting with it all.