The integration of technology into the curriculum offers a host of advantages for student motivation, involvement, and achievement. In past weeks we have looked at the relative advantage of educational technology in general; this week we are investigating the relative advantage of integrating educational technology into the major content areas.
Language arts:
According to Roblyer and Doering (2010), "the most creative and prolific array of strategies and applications for enhancing teaching with technology is to be found in English and language arts." In spite of the multitude of available strategies, most English and language arts teachers are faced with the challenge of actual implementation, fighting the inertia of old language arts instruction methodology.
Three main relative advantages to the integration of technology in the language arts curriculum are: increased student motivation; practice and improvement in reading fluency; and increased interest and volume in student work production. One of the reasons for increased student motivation can be attributed to students' keen desire to learn new literacies. The use of computer-based tracking systems, such as Accelerated Reader, can help teachers and students keep track of reading progress and can encourage free-time reading at home. With the power of the Internet comes great opportunities for self-publishing in various forms, and the prospect of reaching authentic audiences encourages students to improve written products in quantity and quality. (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, pp. 282-3.)
Social studies:
The social studies are a living, breathing content area that grows with history itself. While technology has contributed to the wealth (glut?) of information available directly to students, it also offers many new and exciting educational opportunities that can improve student motivation, build problem-solving skills, and bring students new experiences.
Through simulated problem-solving environments, students are challenged to think critically and place themselves in a decision-making scenario. A classic popular example of this type of software is the game The Oregon Trail. Over the years thousands of students have tried their hand at hunting and fording the river - having fun while learning problem solving skills and learning about the life of frontier settlers. The relative advantage of using technology to run simulations is that it can increase student motivation and stimulation with audio and visual elements that would be impossible with pen and paper simulations. Students see the relevance of the scenarios and internalize what they have learned.
Another advantage of using digital technology is that it makes the world available through virtual field trips. Students can take a tour of art museums indexed and mapped by Google or learn about life in the Colonial era from PBS. According to Beal and Mason, virtual field trips can help students synthesize or prepare for physical field trips; provide information about an area students would be unable to visit; or provide information about an area the teacher has visited (as cited in Roblyer and Doering, 2010, p. 352).
Math:
Math is a subject area rife with possibility for technological integration. It is also a subject area that many students feel is unachievable, unimportant, or just plain un-fun. The advantage of technology integration that these perceived problems can be addressed and hopefully diminished.
Many students' feeling that math is unachievable, or at least unnecessarily difficult, may stem from their own inadequacy in basic math skills. According to Hudson, Kadan, Lavin, and Vasquez (2010), a focused technology integration plan can help students drastically improve in their mastery of basic skills, leaving time for them to work on the deeper concepts.
Calculator-based labs (CBL's) and other probeware give students the opportunity for rich and dynamic data collection, allowing them to apply mathematical knowledge in meaningful ways - a great way to increase student motivation. Finally the use of data analysis and visualization software (such as graphing or spreadsheet software) offers the advantage of helping students see and manipulate data in real time without having to perform tedious repetitive calculations.
The arts:
The two chief areas of the arts - the visual arts and music - tend to be left behind when it comes to the integration of educational technology. This shortfall is not due to a lack of opportunity or advantage, but rather a lack of training and understanding on the schools' and teachers' part coupled with a sense of commitment to the "classic" methods of producing and enjoying art.
Teachers need to realize that embracing certain technology tools in the art classroom can lead to many advantages for the students. For instance, the use of technology can provide expanded modes of expression, allowing students to explore music performance or art creation in any number of ways that might appeal to them. Students are often excited about new modes of learning, and the broad range of literacies for the information age will motivate students to learn. (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p. 366).
Science:
As a science teacher, I cannon imagine teaching science without the use of technology. The relative advantage to making use of various technology tools is great compared with doing science in a pre-digital form. According to Gee, Hull, and Lankshear (1996), there are four major ways in which technology is used in the science classroom, and each way can be linked to one or more advantages for student outcomes.
First, as a productivity tool - spreadsheets and analysis tools help students gather and calculate data, removing one major source for error and allowing them to focus more on deeper concepts. This is a major advantage over paper-and-pencil tabulation, which is tedious and error-prone. Secondly, for communication - whether collaborating with classmates using an online shared document or across the world with colleagues using Skype, technology allows students to communicate and collaborate in real time or asynchronously and pool many thoughts into one central location. Even before the digital age we knew that two heads are better than one, and one clear advantage of educational technology is that it facilitates the pooling of knowledge. Third, educational technology can be used for investigations - digital CBL's and probeware can eliminate much human error from certain measurements in an experiment and offer the additional advantage of maintaining high interest for the students. Finally, technology can be used to create high-quality knowledge products. From weblogs to presentations, multimedia compilations, and websites, students will take much greater interest in creating more complex and appealing products compared to simple written reports. (As cited in Roblyer & Doering, 2010, pp. 327-8).
References:
Roblyer, M. & Doering, A. (2010). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hudson, S., Kadan, S., Lavin, K., & Vasquez, T. (2010). "Improving basic math skills using technology." Action research project, Saint Xavier University.
Language arts:
According to Roblyer and Doering (2010), "the most creative and prolific array of strategies and applications for enhancing teaching with technology is to be found in English and language arts." In spite of the multitude of available strategies, most English and language arts teachers are faced with the challenge of actual implementation, fighting the inertia of old language arts instruction methodology.
Three main relative advantages to the integration of technology in the language arts curriculum are: increased student motivation; practice and improvement in reading fluency; and increased interest and volume in student work production. One of the reasons for increased student motivation can be attributed to students' keen desire to learn new literacies. The use of computer-based tracking systems, such as Accelerated Reader, can help teachers and students keep track of reading progress and can encourage free-time reading at home. With the power of the Internet comes great opportunities for self-publishing in various forms, and the prospect of reaching authentic audiences encourages students to improve written products in quantity and quality. (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, pp. 282-3.)
Social studies:
The social studies are a living, breathing content area that grows with history itself. While technology has contributed to the wealth (glut?) of information available directly to students, it also offers many new and exciting educational opportunities that can improve student motivation, build problem-solving skills, and bring students new experiences.
Through simulated problem-solving environments, students are challenged to think critically and place themselves in a decision-making scenario. A classic popular example of this type of software is the game The Oregon Trail. Over the years thousands of students have tried their hand at hunting and fording the river - having fun while learning problem solving skills and learning about the life of frontier settlers. The relative advantage of using technology to run simulations is that it can increase student motivation and stimulation with audio and visual elements that would be impossible with pen and paper simulations. Students see the relevance of the scenarios and internalize what they have learned.
Another advantage of using digital technology is that it makes the world available through virtual field trips. Students can take a tour of art museums indexed and mapped by Google or learn about life in the Colonial era from PBS. According to Beal and Mason, virtual field trips can help students synthesize or prepare for physical field trips; provide information about an area students would be unable to visit; or provide information about an area the teacher has visited (as cited in Roblyer and Doering, 2010, p. 352).
Math:
Math is a subject area rife with possibility for technological integration. It is also a subject area that many students feel is unachievable, unimportant, or just plain un-fun. The advantage of technology integration that these perceived problems can be addressed and hopefully diminished.
Many students' feeling that math is unachievable, or at least unnecessarily difficult, may stem from their own inadequacy in basic math skills. According to Hudson, Kadan, Lavin, and Vasquez (2010), a focused technology integration plan can help students drastically improve in their mastery of basic skills, leaving time for them to work on the deeper concepts.
Calculator-based labs (CBL's) and other probeware give students the opportunity for rich and dynamic data collection, allowing them to apply mathematical knowledge in meaningful ways - a great way to increase student motivation. Finally the use of data analysis and visualization software (such as graphing or spreadsheet software) offers the advantage of helping students see and manipulate data in real time without having to perform tedious repetitive calculations.
The arts:
The two chief areas of the arts - the visual arts and music - tend to be left behind when it comes to the integration of educational technology. This shortfall is not due to a lack of opportunity or advantage, but rather a lack of training and understanding on the schools' and teachers' part coupled with a sense of commitment to the "classic" methods of producing and enjoying art.
Teachers need to realize that embracing certain technology tools in the art classroom can lead to many advantages for the students. For instance, the use of technology can provide expanded modes of expression, allowing students to explore music performance or art creation in any number of ways that might appeal to them. Students are often excited about new modes of learning, and the broad range of literacies for the information age will motivate students to learn. (Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p. 366).
Science:
As a science teacher, I cannon imagine teaching science without the use of technology. The relative advantage to making use of various technology tools is great compared with doing science in a pre-digital form. According to Gee, Hull, and Lankshear (1996), there are four major ways in which technology is used in the science classroom, and each way can be linked to one or more advantages for student outcomes.
First, as a productivity tool - spreadsheets and analysis tools help students gather and calculate data, removing one major source for error and allowing them to focus more on deeper concepts. This is a major advantage over paper-and-pencil tabulation, which is tedious and error-prone. Secondly, for communication - whether collaborating with classmates using an online shared document or across the world with colleagues using Skype, technology allows students to communicate and collaborate in real time or asynchronously and pool many thoughts into one central location. Even before the digital age we knew that two heads are better than one, and one clear advantage of educational technology is that it facilitates the pooling of knowledge. Third, educational technology can be used for investigations - digital CBL's and probeware can eliminate much human error from certain measurements in an experiment and offer the additional advantage of maintaining high interest for the students. Finally, technology can be used to create high-quality knowledge products. From weblogs to presentations, multimedia compilations, and websites, students will take much greater interest in creating more complex and appealing products compared to simple written reports. (As cited in Roblyer & Doering, 2010, pp. 327-8).
References:
Roblyer, M. & Doering, A. (2010). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hudson, S., Kadan, S., Lavin, K., & Vasquez, T. (2010). "Improving basic math skills using technology." Action research project, Saint Xavier University.