Instructional Technology in the Classroom

Background

The Jeffersonian way of thinking involved a national passion for educating everyone. A look at the history of education tells us classrooms of today still resemble those of the Industrial Age. When technology is placed into classrooms, it can disrupt the "status quo" enough to impact traditional ways classrooms function.

Instructional management is concerned with the way classrooms look and operate, the way students and teachers interact and any of the factors that impact the learning environment. Instructional management issues have changed dramatically over the last 200 years. Technology can be the impetus for change, if educational institutions are prepared to assist staff in using technology to improve learning and teaching processes.

Research on transfer of learning strongly supports the position that instructional and educational activities should closely parallel the final desired behavior. Because society needs people adept at using technology, we should incorporate technology as students develop problem solving skills and strategies in their classrooms and school-to-work environments. By allowing students to learn in different ways, technology can be a means to apply academics within real-world context. Technology instruction should be present throughout a student’s school experiences. Since technology is ever-changing, teachers need to be life-long technology learners, as well as significant role models in the use of this tool. Teachers using technology will need to expand their role from knowledge-sharers to learning facilitators.

The classroom learning environment can no longer be defined by the four walls of a classroom, nor can a library be represented by books on shelves. Learning takes place when students are responsible for their own learning. Learning should be supported by all members of the school community. Technology should provide students with increased responsibility for their learning. It provides students with non-linear activities in order to learn more by accessing both sides of the brain; it also provides varied experiences to match individual learning styles. Schools should provide the students with the skills and abilities to cope with living in the Information Age.

With these changes also come immense changes in the ways classrooms will "look and feel." The responsibility for assisting teachers through this change process will ultimately fall to the school districts. Current employees need to be assisted in undertaking the changes that come with the use of technology and how to best adapt to take advantage of these changes.

Existing Standards

Instructional management in a technological environment is a complex issue. It involves consideration of instructional management resources, student and teacher interactions, and even design and arrangement of facilities. Much of the available information describing these aspects of the educational process is anecdotal in nature and reveals processes reflecting former Agricultural and Industrial Age concepts.

The most common way for teachers to manage the standard recordkeeping tasks they perform daily is via traditional pencil and paper process. Few instructional sites have any automated systems available to assist teachers. These systems generally improve the tracking of student information, including performance outcomes. With this information teachers would be able to provide more personalized instruction thereby better meeting academic needs of all students.

When technology is introduced into classrooms, interactions between students and teachers change. Traditional classrooms are primarily adult-centered and encourage little interaction between students. When technology is introduced into classrooms, student-to-student interactions increase and the classroom begins a metamorphosis. Those accustomed to using technology as a tool to support learning have found their classrooms become more active and highly energized places where collaborative interactions and cooperative learning groups are common place.

As everyday activities change to assimilate available technology, many teachers find it necessary to alter their room arrangements. Classrooms organized into rows may be rearranged to accommodate group work and collaboration. In addition, school personnel often indicate that the traditional content, time structures and teaching assignments constrict the learning and teaching process. Many educators have lobbied for reform in these areas to enhance the learning environment. Using technology in the classroom seems to escalate the speed of these kinds of reforms.

Current Issues

Many classrooms today look much as they did nearly a century ago. Although there are only a few factors which can assist in the reformation of the concept of school, technology is one of these factors. In terms of instructional management, school personnel who take advantage of available technology also will need to be prepared to alter the mechanics of teaching. Technology allows for individualization, encourages collaboration and can be available any time, any place. Schools will not be confined to four walls, nine months and six hour days. Teachers need to be prepared to embrace the changes that follow.

Impact on Education

Student learning will be more individualized. Lesson preparation will change to accommodate a wide variety of learning styles, abilities and interests. Traditional classes may no longer be necessary since learning can occur from any location at any time. Teachers will need to become accustomed to and proficient in a more diverse set of instructional strategies including using technology effectively in the classroom, and new technologies using distance learning opportunities.

Recommendations

School districts planning to use technology as a tool to improve education should be sensitive to the magnitude of change that will occur. Just as systematic plans for technology acquisition are developed, so must supportive infrastructures for staff be put into place to assist them in adapting to the changes. Few educators are prepared for the dramatic changes that occur when technology is infused into the educational process. These changes do not come slowly. Rather, they occur at a staggering pace. Without appropriate preparation, teachers and students can be left struggling to adapt to their new roles. Several successful strategies may be relevant for schools:

• One effective solution is for educators to create user groups to assist one another through the changes that occur in classroom management.

• Often the implementation of mentor programs is a successful way to bridge the gap between theory and successful practice.
  
• By using pilot programs to test new instructional strategies, many challenging aspects of change can be discovered and preparation can be taught prior to implementation.
  
• Observation of experienced teachers using technology as a tool is another way to clarify instructional management issues involved in technology use.
  
• Appropriate, on-going staff development in the use of information management systems, hardware and software is critical. If the instructional staff does not understand the possibilities available to them, they can not incorporate the benefits into their classrooms.