tech4fun

Is it instruction that includes the use of technology or is it technology that includes the use of instruction in some form? Does it need to take place in a classroom setting or does it occur in the school hallway when a teacher asks me for a quick three minute review on how to use Photo Story 3? Does instructional technology include the use of only computers or is it students using digital cameras to take pictures of geometric shapes that they find inside the school building and then downloading their photos into a slide show application on the computer? The slide shows can be uploaded to the school server for all of the grade levels to use. Does it occur when a classroom teacher feels comfortable connecting his/her laptop to the laptop projector and using a mobile lab cart with the students to visit web sites that illustrate how simple machines work?

A student’s family has put together a CD of photos that the family took on their vacation trip to an active volcano in Hawaii and the student brings the CD to school to share with the class. The teacher locates a website that shows active volcano sites throughout the world and displays it on the projector screen. The class creates a bar graph during math that illustrates which countries have the most active volcano sites. Is this instructional technology? Is it instructional technology taking place when I overhear two teachers talking and one is showing the other how to find their grade level Gateways in FCPS 24/7? 

I’d like to think that instructional technology is all of the above examples and many more. As the use of technology becomes increasingly common in our daily lives so to does its presence in the classroom.  It requires us to become interactive with its potential to teach curriculum with real time information.  Learning then becomes a shared experience as students contribute to the learning process with their assignments and projects that incorporate digital images, slide shows, videos, and so much more! 

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