Sometimes it is a struggle to integrate computer software in the classroom for a variety of reasons. First, we cannot always find the software that meets our curricular needs or students' interest. Second, we may not have the technology readily available to us in our schools. However, we should search to find software that supports our curriculum. Once we do, we should be prepared to create rationale for our school administrators to invest in not just the software but the needed technology. Administrators are not looking for another gadget that will be used one year and ignored the next. Except in the case of inexpensive software that will easily run on computers already available to us, we must be prepared to advocate for what we know works. This means examining the software carefully, researching how it has been used in other schools, and considering multiple ways to use the software in our teaching environments. Tool programs, such as desktop publishing programs, and word processing programs, are easy to adapt to fit many areas of the curriculum. Programs like Excel easily fit into middle and high school math and science curriculums. PowerPoint has become pervasive, but we must use a program like this wisely or it will be hackneyed and under utilized in terms of its potential. Some find PowerPoint a mere electronic overhead with neat slides, but the programs does so much more once the user is aware of its many capabilities.
2 comments:
Do you agree?
What I find most frustrating about using technology in the classroom is the reliability of the technology. It takes special effort to plan a trip to our computer lab as so many teachers are trying to use it, and once you get there something doesn't work and it throws off your whole lesson. This has happened more than once and it is frustrating to waste your instructional time that way.
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