What is Technology Integration?

Technology integration in K-12 education requires students to actively use technology, not just view technology-based content created by their teachers. The goal of technology integration is for teachers to apply the use of technology in a seamless manner so that it supports and extends curriculum objectives and engages students in meaningful learning.

Teachers should strive to make technology a part of everyday life in the classroom, while using it to enrich learning activities. They should not use technology just to use it. They should find ways to use it so that it enhances instruction and improves student learning. The focus of technology integration activities should not be on the technology that is used, but on the student activities that are conducted using technology.

Technology integration does not happen by accident. Teachers must learn how to incorporate student use of technology into meaningful activities in their lesson plans. There is a learning curve to becoming proficient in technology integration, but once the skills are learned and activities are identified and located or developed, teachers find that technology can actually reduce preparation time.

Why is Technology Integration Needed?

Education leaders have recognized the importance of students learning how to use technology and have enacted new technology standards that require teachers to integrate the use of technology into the curriculum for every subject. They have seen the great need for K-12 students to learn to use technology as a part of their daily lives in order to prepare themselves for a future filled with technology. Almost all workers in business, industry, government, and education are now required to use technology. The technology skills and knowledge that students gain in the classroom will create a foundation for the technology skills and knowledge they will need in the future.

There are many reasons technology integration is needed in education. Robyler (2003) compiled a list of reasons why technology should be used based on current research.

Elements of a Rationale for Using Technology in Education

1. Technology provides motivation for students by:

Gaining learner attention
Engaging the learner through production work
Increasing perceptions of control

2. Technology offers unique instructional capabilities, such as:

Linking learners to information and educational resources
Helping learners visualize problems and solutions
Tracking learner progress
Linking learners to learning tools

3. Technology gives support for new instructional approaches, such as:

Cooperative learning
Shared intelligence
Problem solving and higher level skills

4. Technology increased teacher productivity by:

Freeing time to work with students by helping with production and record-keeping tasks
Providing more accurate information more quickly
Allowing teachers to produce better looking, more “student-friendly” materials more quickly

5. Technology skills are required for an information age:

Technology literacy
Information literacy
Visual literacy

Tools for Technology Integration

Many types of technology tools can be used for technology integration into the curriculum. The most commonly used tools include:

Application Software

Word processing software
Spreadsheet software
Database software
Presentation graphics software
Instructional software

The Internet

Search engines
E-mail
WebQuests
Virtual field trips

These tools can be used in many ways to create technology-integrated activities for students. The challenge for teachers is to design instructional activities so that students are required to use technology as a tool, not as just a mechanism for the delivery of content. Keeping this in mind, teachers should:

Add meaningful activities to existing lesson plans that require students to use one or more technology tools.
Design new lesson plans that require students to participate in meaningful activities that use technology tools.

Selecting Learning Activities for Technology Integration

Many types of traditional learning activities can be extended for use for technology integration. Cunningham and Billingsley (2003) identified a list of criteria that can be used in the selection of technology-based learning activities. These criteria include:

Plan authentic activities – Select activities that are similar to activities that students might encounter in life outside of school.
Promote self-directed learners – Design activities that encourage learners to manage their own learning by allowing them to make choices about their use of time, topics or subject matter, and possibly criteria for successful learning.
Go beyond one subject area – Create activities that encourage the exploration of cross disciplinary questions and issues.
Use multiple approaches – Plan a diverse range of activities and allow students to choose what kind of activity they believe will work best for them.
Go beyond retelling – Include activities that require the use of higher-level thinking skills such as compilation, solving a mystery, designing a product or plan, building consensus, persuading, seeking self-knowledge, or making judgments.
Keep it simple – Both teachers and students find simpler curriculum designs easier to use.
Borrow activity ideas from others – Take advantage of the wonderful educational resources that are available on the web and don’t feel like you have to create the materials for every technology-based learning activity yourself.
Touch imagination – Give students opportunities to use their imaginations for wonder, creativity, or self-expression.
Build to promote intentionality – Student learning activities should be designed and conducted with clear purposes that will help to achieve learning goals.
Engage the learner – Design interesting activities that require learner participation and that will challenge the learner’s current skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
Build on controversy – Build learning activities around controversial issues and offer students opportunities for accessing and comparing different views on these topics.
Use characteristics of the web – Make use of web elements such as hypertext, multimedia, communication tools, and interactivity.
Build activities around current events – Design activities that include opportunities to learn about current events.
Use non-web materials, events, and locations – Use the Internet for some things, but not for everything.
Facilitate spontaneity and discovery – Strive to find the proper balance between teacher control and student freedom.
Plan for open-ended inquiry – Let students make choices within a set of educationally sound boundaries.

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