Blog Post # 2 Reading Response Dexter e-TIPS article

Dexter's article deftly explains the necessary conditions which should exist for the integration of education technology in the classroom to be most effective.  The "e-TIPS" or educational technology integration and implementation principles can (and should) guide teachers to help them determine whether, and how, technology can be used to add value to the teaching and learning process.  I agree with Dexter's point that technology in and of itself "does not possess inherent instructional value"; rather, it can be employed to improve the learning environment.  For this reason teachers need to consider what learning outcomes they seek (for example, is the goal the acquisition of facts or higher level thinking?) before they can determine whether a given technology best suits the task at hand. 

Teachers also need to consider how a given technology can create "added value" to the learning process; that is, it should deliver something more than would be available without the technology.   Various technologies can help individualize lessons, provide scaffolding, and so forth.  For example, a collaborative project to create a powerpoint presentation on the historical background of a novel's setting can facilitate interaction patterns, help in students accessing information and in presenting same, etc.  I particularly agree with Dexter's assertion that by giving students the task to create products with tool software, they end up thinking "more deeply" about the material in order to decide how best to present it.  And it's interesting to think that the use of technology in the classroom to add value to the learning "inherently increases the effectiveness of the technology" as students become adept and teachers share what is effective and works best. 

I agree too that technology provides teachers with assistance in assessing students' progress toward learning outcomes.  Software programs can collect data through drills, etc. and the feedback can also help students' self-assessment.  Or students can save their work at particular points to show the progress made.  And products produced by students such as web sites or "mind maps" aid teachers in performance assessment.

Dexter also addresses the overall school technology environment:  for technology to thrive in the classroom, 1) ready access to supported technology must be available; 2) professional development must target technology integration by teaching not only how to operate the technology but also how teachers can examine their teaching goals and tech resources to construct optimal lessons; and 3) there must be a collaborative environment for teachers to reflect on and provide feedback about the role of technology in their schools.

This article clearly articulartes the guiding principles that can achieve successful use of technology in the classroom rather than a haphazard approach that offers less.  It is important to have this framework as we learn not just how to use educational technology but how it can add value in the classroom.