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Paula Dagnon
IT442
Philosophy of Technology
As teachers, one of our goals is to create an environment that gives our students the best
possible chance to succeed and thrive. This is not an easy task, as every student is unique in
personality as well as learning style, and may not respond to certain teaching methods. When this
happens, you have to adapt, you have to pull from your arsenal of teaching techniques and find
one that best fits that particular student. The more you have in your arsenal, the more likely it is
you find a technique or method that will work for that student, and give them a chance to
succeed. In todays world, the amount of instructional technology available seems to be endless
and its not slowing down. However, not all of this technology is good and it takes time to weed
through them to find the right one, but its worth it when you do.
In order to weed through all of this technology, you need to know what specifically you
are looking for. According to the online dictionary technology means the application of
scientific knowledge for practical purposes. Although this is true, we want to take it a step
further using the SAMR model. SAMR stands for substitution, augmentation, modification, and
redefinition this model is a guideline for implementing instructional technology into a classroom
and can help you find what you are looking for. Substitution is the first step, in this step the
technology acts as a direct substitute, with functional improvement. An example of this step
would be taking an essay and instead of writing it you type it directly substituting paper for a
laptop. You dont want to stop here, this is a good first step to get your feet wet, but if you stop
here a class full of iPad or laptops turns into a class full of very expensive worksheets. The next
step up is augmentation, just as in step one technology acts as a direct substitute the difference is
in this step it adds some sort of functional improvement. For example, taking the essay you were
working on and using google docs for the purpose of collaborating with fellow students, getting
quick feedback and editing assistance. Although these first two steps are good starters they are
not where you want to be, what we are looking for in good instructional technology is found in
the next two steps. Next is modification, the goal of modification is using technology in a way
that allows for significant task redesign. Going back to the essay example, using modification
you would take that essay and now post it on a blog, and get it published as an article making it
available to the public domain where you can receive comments and interact with readers from
all over the world. Lastly there is redefinition, ideally this is where we want to be with our use of
technology and how we should define it. Redefinition takes technology and uses it to create a
completely new task that wouldve been inconceivable beforehand. Using redefinition in our
example, you would now be taking that essay and using it in a multimedia package, creating a
podcast and/or video, as well as enabling the ability conference to speak directly with experts on
the subject, and access to communication with other classrooms around the world to discuss the
topic. With each step in the SAMR model, you are becoming more connected to the outside
world. Its like the analogy Kevin Honeycutt made in his video about implementing teaching
technology, Snow global vs global we dont want to trap our students inside their own little
community we want to connect them to the world and give them a chance to grow and progress
beyond their own community. Technology to us needs to be something that makes the greater
connection that allows the students to adventure and create rather than just learn. It needs to be
something that gives them a chance to progress, that is how we should define technology.
As a teacher, I want to be someone who provides a space where students can make that
greater connection and feel free to adventure. This is a part of my theoretical framework,
classroom. I also believe that part of being a teacher is always keeping an open mind and un-
biased perspective, this means being willing to try new and different strategies that might assist
students in ways that you may have not thought of before using newer technology. Another part
of my theoretical framework for teaching is that you should always meet the student where they
are at rather than making the student adjust to meet you. Technology can be used to bridge that
gap between the student and the group so they dont have to adjust. Its also important to
remember that every individual student is unique in personality and learning style. Not everyone
learns the same way and there is more than one way to learn, this includes learning through the
use of technology. Dont settle for whats readily available to you, do some research and find
what you think is the best possible way for that particular student and if it doesnt work regroup
and try again there are plenty of tools to choose from. I also believe that in teaching you have to
fight for what you are passionate for, when your students see your passion and excitement, they
can become excited, and if you are passionate about their learning and progression they can
become excited about their own learning as well. If you are going out of your way to find new
and different technologies that can engage them in learning, it will enhance the learning
experience all around. I think in teaching its important to be a leader, but there are different
types of leaders, I want to be someone who leads from the front, but not by force or entitlement, I
want to lead by example and by being available for students. A part of being a good example is
by being proactive in finding new and exciting ways to learn rather than just talking at them.
That is how technology fits into my theoretical framework, and its not a forced fit, its a part of
As technology continues to grow and become a larger part of our daily lives we are
beginning to see it integrated into the classroom more and more. With this comes feedback, what
works and what doesnt, different types of studies, tests, surveys and they are all showing one
thing, technology if used correctly is beneficial on many different levels. The first numbers I
want to present are not those reflective of the classroom but the outside world. In an infographic
published by everyday family it shows that 54% of 21st century kids start using mobile devices
between the ages of 5-8. On top of this, the study also showed that 30% of the apps on parents
mobile devices are downloaded specially for their childrens usage. Not only are kids using
smart devices younger, but its also how they are engaging and spending their time to learn and
be creative. Why would we continue to keep technology out of the classroom when thats what
kids are using in their daily lives. There is no learning curve, they already use to the technology
why not integrate it into the classroom to make learning more engaging and fun. The
groundwork is already in place, in the same study done by everyday family they found that 77%
of the parents accept that usage of tablet increases childrens learning & creativity. The tools
are ready to go as well, 72% of iTunes top selling apps are designed for preschoolers and
elementary students. If the kids are already using the technology and understand how to use it,
the parents are supporting it and there are already countless number of class ready educational
apps out there then what is holding us back from integrating technology into your curriculum? If
thats not enough here are some statistics of educational apps/technology in action, in a study
done by Game-desk, Motion Math, has shown that the iPad can help with fundamental math
skills. Fifth graders who regularly played the game for 20 minutes per day over a five-day period
increased their test scores by 15 percent on average. Its the digital age we live in, I myself have
seen kids in the classroom go from heavy eyelids and heads on desks during a PowerPoint or
lecture to immediately being engaged listeners during lessons including interactive technology.
Its how todays kids prefer to learn and thats not just my opinion, its the story the numbers are
telling.
Technology has many pros and is a great tool that should be used in the classroom,
however that doesnt mean it should be used in every aspect of class. One area where you
shouldnt use technology is in take home work, although there are a lot of beneficial ways you
could implement technology into homework you need to be aware that not every student will
have access to the tools necessary, in fact research shown on andrewscampbell.com states that
38% of low-income families dont have internet access. These lower income students would be
unfairly set back due to lack of technological resources and experience. Another area where you
need to tread carefully when using technology is in any interface that deals with competition or
pinning your statistics vs somebody elses. A lot of educational apps revolve around the concept
of scores and progress, in a classroom setting you dont want to do anything that would make
certain students feel stupid of inferior. These apps do not have to be totally avoided however, to
use them in a one on one basis could be very affective in tracking a students individual progress
or assessing how they are doing during a lesson. In addition, if Technology is being used just so
you can say it is being used then it should not be used. As mentioned earlier in the SAMR model,
we should strive for modification and redefinition through technology not substitution. Lastly if
the technology is being used in a way that decreases student teacher interaction then it shouldnt
be used. Technology is good but its meant to be used as an assist not a sub, teachers should still
control the classroom, they need to use technology as a wingman of sorts in order to reach out to
Technology is great in the classroom as well as connecting back home to the parents.
Technology can be used to facilitate and be a catalyst for family engagement, where without
technology there would be none. An example of technology that can spur family engagement
would be with students who have parents who dont speak the same language as you. Without
technology, it would be very hard to reach out and communicate with these parents however with
programs like google translate you can reach out to them for support as well as them to you.
Another technology that is great for connecting with parents is remind. Remind allows you to
create temporary group chats with parents. Using remind once parents information is gathered,
the creator of the group can send out mass or individual messages about specific meetings or
events that parents might be interested in and can then quickly respond to. Technology can bring
teachers and parents closer together, they can use these tools to collaborate and share ideas after
all who knows the kids better than their parents. A big aspect of teaching is the relationship with
the parents, and anything you can do to strengthen that relationship will be beneficial to you, to
If we want to be the best teachers we can be, why would we not be open towards
implementing technology in our classrooms? Even if you dont take the time to intensively learn
every new tool out there, if simply having more resources to draw from improves the odds of
student success by giving them new learning opportunities, then we should tap into the resource
gold mine that is modern instructional technology. If we were not to tap into it, we would be
doing our students a disservice by limiting the variety of ways they can learn and thus limiting
their chances of success. As teachers, it is our goal to give our students the best chance to
succeed, and if implementing instructional technology in the classroom gives them best odds,
then you better sit down and start doing your research because thats what we are going to start
doing.
Works Cited
"National Association of Elementary School Principals: Serving All Elementary and Middle-
Vega, Vanessa. "Technology Integration Research Review." Edutopia. N.p., 05 Feb. 2013.
Networks, Secure Edge. "8 Studies Show IPads in the Classroom Improve
Education."SecurEdge Networks - Enterprise WiFi Service Providers. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.
OurSocialVoice. "What Is the SAMR Model and What Does It Look like in
Agostinelli., Mike. "NCCE 2016 Keynote: Kevin Honeycutt." NCCE's Tech Savvy Teacher
"The Most Important Reasons To Avoid Educational Technology." Looking Up. N.p., 25 Nov.