Emily Rose Skirtich

Best Practices in Technology

One of the best practices in technology remains to be accessibility.  Although many school

districts are running away with the idea that technology is a pervasive entity that exudes

throughout every part of students' lives, they must also take time to consider the realities in

which their students live.  Is it truly fair to assume that each student has a smartphone that can

access the internet wherever he or she might happen to be whenever he or she is not in school.

Likewise, it is unfair to expect that each student has a computer, laptop, or tablet with internet

access outside of the school building.  It is a wise practice to get to know your students if and

when you plan to implement technology into a unit or course because you can save your students

and yourself some embarrassment if, in fact, they are lacking one of these amenities outside of

the classroom. One other aspect of accessibility lies in the fact that you as a teacher should first

familiarize yourself with that technology prior to implementing it in the classroom.  Even if

you think you saw a video on YouTube as you browsed through it for 4.5 minutes during

homeroom, you should guarantee that the video is appropriate for the age of your students, that

you have a functioning projector hooked up to the SMART Board to display the aforementioned

video, internet access to relocate the video, and time to introduce and conclude the video for your

class (Filigree Consulting, 2012).  If you have no time to do any of these things before the start

of class, it is most likely a wise decision to push the exercise back until you have fully prepared

your technology and YOURSELF to integrate it into the curriculum. 

 Emily Rose Skirtich

 Accessibility is Key in Technology!

Another best practice that I believe should be exercise while utilizing technology in the

classroom is the flexible learning environment approach.  In this manner of utilizing technology,

teachers should prepare the integration of technology with the mentality that the movement

between large group discussion and small group collaboration as well as individual learning

should flow from one segment to the next.  By operating in this manner, students gain a more

holistic experience from the technology and view it as an inherent piece of the lesson rather that

some outlier and random "fun" part of the lesson used to spice up the material.  Rather, students

should view the technology as an integral part of the overall lesson, and an entity of the lesson

that enhances learning rather than disrupts it (Fine, 2012). This is a large consideration that

teachers should ponder before integrating technology into their lessons and courses haphazardly

so that their students fully benefit from the use of technology in a lesson.  For even more tips on

how to better prepare for technology in the classroom,

visit http://www.securedgenetworks.com/secure-edge-networks-blog/bid/87008/How-to-Prepare-

for-iPad-Technology-in-the-Classroom for me help!

Preparation for the Technological Journey is Key!

Source #1: Filigree Consulting, 2012. Instructional technology and collaborative learning best

practices: global report and recommendations. Alexandria, VA.: SMART Technologies.  

 Emily Rose Skirtich

Source #2: Fine, B. (2012). A Corporate Partnership to Enhance Teacher Training.  Techtrends;

Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 56(6), 27-30. doi:10.1007/s11528-012-

0610-4.