The Importance Of Technology In Education

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Technology has become an intricate part of day to day life, through computers, smartphones, tablets, and televisions. The world is becoming more and more tech-infused every day, but in education this is not the case. The path to allowing technology in a K-12 classroom has been plagued by state and district rules and regulations that ban the use of any of these tools outside of computer labs, out of a misconception that they are only means of cheating and distractions. But with bleak budgets coupled with looming teacher shortages amidst an increasing demand for results are accelerating the growth of online learning into blended environments. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently described a “new normal,” where schools would have to …show more content…

For instance, Microsoft has partnered with Acer, Asus, CTL, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba, and others, offering US K-12 Public Schools affordable, Windows-based devices to the classroom, with prices starting below $300 (Microsoft). Although electronic devices have been used effectively by colleges and universities around the country in recent studies have been proven effective at the college level, both for remedial students and the general population (McGraw Hill Education). It is sometimes difficult to describe how technology can impact learning because the term "technology integration" is such a broad umbrella that covers so many varied tools and practices; there are many ways technology can become an integral part of the learning process. Just a few of these ways are listed below -- but new technology tools and ideas emerge daily (Edutopia). Educational devices supported by high-speed networks are the portal to the world of online learning and interactive content, to personalized software that adapts to students’ needs, and to breakthroughs in assessing understanding and …show more content…

Ruben Puentudura
A commonly used model that incorporates all of these aspects for technology integration are known as SAMR. The SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model, created by Dr. Ruben Puentudura, guides the process of reflecting on how we are integrating technology into our classrooms. The ultimate goal of technology integration is to completely redefine how we teach and learn, and to do things that we never could before the technology was in our hands (Educational Technology and Mobility).
• “Redefinition: Redefinition means that students use technology to create imperceptibly new tasks. An example of redefinition is when students connect to a classroom across the world where they would each write a narrative of the same historical event using the chat and comment section to discuss the differences, and they use the voice comments to discuss the differences they noticed and then embed this in the class website.
• Modification: This is the level where technology is being used more effectively not to do the same task using different tools but to redesign new parts of the task and transform students

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