Philosophy Related to the Integration of Education and Technology

My philosophy toward integrating education and technology is rooted in my general education philosophy. I am a teacher. I teach students. In specific terms, the majority of the students I teach are freshmen and sophomores in a rural high school. I believe that you teach young people, not subjects. Subjects are inanimate. They cannot learn anything! Students, on the other hand, are dynamic, complex individuals with vast unknown potentials. It is my job, my commitment, to teach them all that I can.

On a daily basis, I have students that come to me five different subjects. As a result, I have often found that the type of teaching that takes place my classroom does not meet the goals of my educational philosophy. I have enrolled in specific training courses to help me implement new innovative ideas in the classroom. I have all too often witnessed the glazed over look of a student contemplating sleep or Burger King. Television, movies, the Internet, and even the radio have made the profession of teaching a much more daunting task. In order to keep students engaged in the learning process, teaching and learning must be a dynamic process. I recently read a speech from a Briton educator that truly expresses how I feel about the state of education in my classroom and beyond.

The following is a portion of that speech delivered by David Miliband MP, minister of state for school standards, to the north of England education conference in Warrington on Wednesday, January 8, 2003:

	For young Britons in the 21st century teaching needs to serve three functions: the transmission of knowledge for a world built on information, the broadening of horizons in a country still scarred by disadvantage, and learning how to learn in preparation for a lifetime of change.
	Yet too often young people are not turned on by their studies. A recent survey found 70% of young people at secondary level saying there were times when they were bored.
	That raises questions about the curriculum; about school discipline; about ethos and aspirations. But the key is the individual class teacher and how they teach. It is the difference between educational success and failure.
	We know from experience and research what makes for successful teaching and learning. Pace, excitement, variety, engagement - even fun - are the watchwords of the successful lesson.
	. . . teaching needs to make best use of all available technology. One hundred years ago this meant a desk and a chalkboard. Today it means palm-tops, the internet and the dazzling possibilities of digital media.
	-http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,870699,00.html

Without the incorporation of technology into the classroom, our current system of teaching and learning will not survive. Technology is not one of the ‘cycles’ to which you hear many experienced educators refer. Integrating technology into the teaching and learning processes of our classrooms is not a fad. This movement will help our students reach the higher levels of expectations that are currently being legislated at both the state and federal level.

I am convinced that my students will be better prepared, more learned, and far more interested in a curriculum that is facilitated through the use of educational technologies. This school year is another stepping-stone to the wonderful, yet challenging, changes that must take place in the educational processes in my classroom. I look forward to changing from a teacher to a facilitator. I welcome the transition from delivering the curriculum to helping students explore and discover the concepts. Instructional technology is a vital component of change process.