Integrating technology into class room instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software applications in a separate computer class. Successful tech integration must happen across the curriculum in manners that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and clearand when technology helps curricular goals.
Many people believe technology-enabled project learning is the ne plus ultra of classroom instructions. Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a reasonable|a genuine snapshot of what the modern office appears like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and groups to find, process, and synthesize information they've found online.
The myriad resources of the online world also provide each class room with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and offers numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text.
New tech tools for visualizing and building, especially in the savoir, offer students ways to experiment and observe sensation and view results in graphic techniques aid in understanding. And, as an added benefit, with technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay |interested and on task, lowering behavioral problems in the classroom.
