Reflections on the Dexter article

Technology has a huge impact on every aspect to learning. This article by Sara Dexter really touched upon the ideals that when chosen and used effectively the proper use of technology can have a great impact upon not only the classroom level, but school-wide as well.

At the classroom level, and more importantly at the individual student level, the use of technology greatly impacts the student's ability to both access information and publish their thoughts, feelings, and work in a new way. In this day and age where technology is ever present in our lives, students approach a classroom differently than they did before the true dawn of computers and the internet. Now instead of students entering the classroom and seeking out the knowledge from their teachers, these students enter the classroom with the world at their fingertips (often literally now with the increase of iPhones and BlackBerry Smart Phones) thereby no longer utilizing their teacher as a source of information but rather as their guide throughout it all. This is why knowing how to properly use and implement the use of technology in schools is so vastly important.

On a school-wide level technology plays an extremely important role as well. As teachers become less regimented on the ways and tools of the past, information and document sharing has been essential. Not only is their a world of information now at the fingertips of the students, the teachers now have a whole new world of resources at theirs. Sharing handouts and worksheets across grade-levels, having student records listed on a universal drive, and even networked emailing systems provide an increasingly popular outlet for teachers to expand their own horizons. Walls are beginning to break as the technology available provides all members of a school the opportunities to be less isolated within their role, curriculum, or even placement within the building.


Article: "eTIPS -- Educational Technology Integration and Implementation Principles" by Sara Dexter, University of Minnesota