Issues with Integrating Technology into the Content Areas

The emphasis in education these days appears to be the move towards integrating technology into the subject areas.  However, the process of doing so is often difficult and there can be stumbling blocks for educators.  These stumbling blocks are not insurmountable but ones that educators should be aware of and address when thinking about how to integrate technology into the classroom.  While there are general issues of concern like access to devices, skill knowledge, and age restrictions, when we look at specific content areas the types of issues that emerge are entirely different.

Robyler (2016) highlights several issues facing the content areas when looking at the integration of technology.  In English, Roblyer (2016) highlights the changing evolution of the meaning behind literacy.  It's not uncommon to hear the terms "21st-century skills, media literacy, digital literacy and information literacy" (Roblyer, p. 261, 2016) in education circles.  However, the rapid pace of technological development means that meaning of these terms is continually changing which adds an extra challenge to teachers who "must become proficient in the new tools that help define literacy in the 21st Century and possible strategies to teacher it" (Robyler, p. 261, 2016).

The solution for this problem is tricky and one that can't easily be solved.  The only real solution is for educators to develop a Personal Learning Network of educators that they trust, blogs they like, and resource sites they like.  Also, joining a site like Twitter and curating it for professional purposes is a fantastic ideas.  Some people get bogged down in thinking they have to read everything, don't worry, you don't.  The really good stuff on Twitter gets retweeted multiple times over and is often hard to miss.  Finally, many third party services allow you to save hashtag searches which is incredibly useful as there are a plethora of hashtags out there for different subject areas.

While Robyler does address other issues with technology in English, I was most moved by the inclusion of motivating students to read and write (Roblyer, p. 266, 2016). A few years ago I attended a workshop led by Alan November who recalled a a girl he talked to.  The girl was failing English and he wanted to know why.  It turns out the girl was writing fantastic fan-fiction for an online site.  Her response to Mr. November was along the lines of "I can write for just my teacher, or I can write for thousands of people who enjoy my writing."

The above situation brings up the idea of audience.  In a world where people can connect with others from around the world, is it enough to ask students to write a piece of work that is only shown to the teacher and their parents.  The prospect of opening our classroom to the wider world and encouraging students to interact with it can be a challenging thought.  However, the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out (2010) provided countless examples students who were using new technology to not only share their work but also to learn and improve as well.  Surely if we can harness this power and get students to use online technology in this way, it will improve the teaching and learning experience for all.

References

Ito, Mizuko.  (2010).  Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out.  Retrieved from https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262013369_Hanging_Out.pdf

Roblyer, M.D. (2016).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.).  United States: Pearson Education , Inc.