Educational Technology Philosophy

By Emma Jones

Reflecting on my educational experiences, I appreciate and believe in the

immeasurable impact that teachers can have on the lives of their students. I firmly
believe that teachers must be a positive role model that cultivates our students. Many of
my core beliefs come from my passion to educate and my experiences in education. I
believe that education is the most powerful opportunity due to its potential to change the
world. I feel that every student is capable of learning, if they are provided meaningful
experiences, and a teacher that understands and accommodates their needs. In order
to use education as a powerful opportunity, teachers must accept that the learning
process is a different journey for each student and therefore must encourage them to
explore. A students thinking should be supported by the teacher, and they should be
encouraged to view mistakes as learning opportunities. Technology is a great tool to
integrate into the classroom in order to create those mentioned opportunities of
meaningful experiences that facilitate higher level thinking and problem solving.
As an educator, I feel it is important to provide consistent guidelines and
expectations, while inspiring students to freely explore, discover, and develop their own
passions and interests. Most importantly, I believe that my students should know that I
am still a learner too, learning every day. I do not feel that education needs to be
reformed, but rather, transformed to accommodate todays students and we, as
teachers, must be willing to learn in the process. Education should be personalized and
built in way that allows educators to discover the individual talents of each student. My
goal is to encourage others, as well as myself, to be an educator that proves to their
students that they believe in them. I want my students to know, and trust that I will never
give up on them, and that I am willing to put in the hard work and dedication to help
them become the best that they can possibly be.
As our world is ever evolving, our approach to instruction should be, as well.
Today, technology is both our present and our future. An educators approach to
effective and efficient instruction now mandates that educational technology be
integrated into the classroom. The purpose of technology in the classroom is to
enhance learning, and create authentic learning experiences for students. Technology is
providing a more engaging, interactive, and culturally relevant way of learning.
Incorporating technology into current instructional methods provides opportunities to
deliver instruction in a variety of ways, while creating diversity in the lessons. It is my
goal to use technology in the classroom to share knowledge and information that
encourages communication among students and gives the quietest students a voice

and means of expression. Successfully integrating technology into the classroom relies
on a variety of learning theories and how they are implemented. I feel that the
foundation of constructivism, and the Multiple Intelligences theories, allow for a smooth
process of integrating technology into the classroom. Constructivism allows learners to
create the memory and learn through their ability of creation, which is also provided by
the Multiple Intelligences theory. Incorporating the Multiple Intelligences theory
simultaneously with constructivism, my teaching strategies accommodate and appeal to
a variety of learning styles by presenting materials in a variety of ways to facilitate
effective learning. For example, many of my lessons that include technology address
verbal-linguistic, musical, visual-spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences to
promote creativity and collaboration. Every child is different and will associate
knowledge and retain knowledge in a more meaningful and personal way through a
more self-directed approach. Students experience many things through their lives and
educational experiences before coming into a new classroom and have developed their
own ideas and understanding of those experiences.
I feel that continuing to use my current philosophies while simultaneously using
the behaviorism theory to condition and modify behavior I can enhance my teaching and
instructional planning while integrating technology. I firmly believe that teaching must be
done with passion and patience. Educators of all grade levels are given the opportunity
to encourage and inspire learning within our students and must be able and willing. I
believe that we as educators need to look at what our responsibilities are to students.
Considering our responsibilities to students, we must investigate and explore how
technology can allow us to do what we are already doing, but in a more creative,
effective, and efficient manner that will impact our students on a deeper level.