UWP 104D: "Integrating Technology into College Classrooms"

Integrating Technology into College Classrooms

Technology is now a mainstay in our lives as Americans, and indeed as people living during what is no doubt the middle of an age determined by technological breakthroughs. It is no longer an option, more of a requirement, that a person be computer literate in order to market themselves as an ideal candidate for even the most basic jobs. It is for this reason that technology be integrated into college classrooms, both as a tool, and as an instructional method, to help adult students gain marketable skills for the work place. The importance of integration of technology, as both a tool for learning and communication, in a college class room is the most important task educators must face in the next decade. It must be taught to all levels of people as a skill that can be mastered for real-world application in a technologically demanding job market.

The digital age is upon us, and those countries catching up are learning to focus their attentions on the use of computers and digital technologies as a way of inching up the world ladder. It is the younger generations that have the edge in the job markets of tomorrow, having been surrounded by technology from early ages. This trend leaves many adults scrambling to catch up in an increasingly foreign job market that emphasizes the use of computers and technology that they have little or no experience with. This is exactly why adult education must integrate technologies into their classrooms. The article Technology and Equity Issues in the educational handbook Kaleidoscope realizes that “it is also clear that technology should be one of the principal tools by which students learn to manage the ever-increasing base of knowledge they will need to achieve success” (Ryan 412). The integration of computer literacy into the foundations of the college system, much like the standards of basic reading, writing and math skills, would be one way for adult Americans to get and keep their edge in the already competitive job market.

Even the simplest technology integrations into the college classrooms can prove effective for students. One teacher preparation program at a community college integrated the use of digital photography into their program, using digital photos of good student work as examples for current and future students (Wursta 788). This, in turn, inspired the teachers-in-training to use creative technologies to show their own student’s work off through digital formats. Explaining the move to technology integration Melanie Wursta writes: “In the past, some teacher educators have stressed the importance of presenting engaging, motivating lessons to children yet sometimes expected college students to learn primarily through reading and listening. By combining verbal discussion with visual documentation and hands-on learning, faculty can create dynamic, vibrant, college learning environments” (793). In using technology in the education of future teachers, the faculty is also showing those teachers how to integrate it into their own classrooms, while creating a fun, multifaceted learning environment.

It has become a trend to take an ‘all or nothing’ approach to classroom technology, with many schools opting for purchase of expensive, and often useless, technology for classrooms over the traditional school necessities. Programs such as music, art, field trips and libraries suffer for the sake of having the newest computers, hardware or software. To compound the problem, the colleges often lack the funding to train their teachers how to effectively integrate it, leaving students to figure it out on their own. Another Kaleidoscope article titled The Mad Dash to Compute points out the unproven educational outcomes of computer use in classrooms: “Computers, which have as yet demonstrated questionable effects on student learning, must not be bought at the expense of proven staples of mental development, such as art, music, drama, debate, physical education, text literacy, manipulatives, and hands-on learning aids” (Ryan, 389).

There are definitely risks that educators take when focusing their time, money and efforts on using computers in the classroom. In the book titled The Cultural Dimensions of Educational Computing: Understanding the Non-Neutrality of Technology addresses the shortcomings of technology in relation to cultural differences among students. Although the book was written a decade ago, many of the arguments are still relevant to the education of students by computers. One example is regarding computer use replacing such necessities as cultural education. The book argues “The cultural orientations that are weakened in the classroom include the forms of authority and skills associated with the oral traditions: folk arts and technologies, substantive traditions of the community…the fine arts, and the values related to…care, competence, and frugality in the use of the world” (6). This one sided approach of technology in education can be avoided through integration of technology into the classroom. Instead of marginalizing other forms of instruction computers should be used as a way of highlighting other methods of instruction. Computers are integrated into the workforce, and education must use the workforce as an example to build curriculum helping students use technology as a means for their education, rather than as an end of education.

Before technology is brought into a classroom there must be curriculum in place to guide the instruction of students in the online classroom. Instructors should be trained in the best methods of delivery when instructing students in the online environment: “…instructional designers need to look for innovative ways to facilitate quality teaching and learning recognizing that simply converting a face-to-face course to an online course does accomplish the task…methods of instructional delivery may need to be modified for the online environment” (Aragon 155). Funding for schools can be scarce at times, and it comes in cycles, and it is when schools become funded they jump at the opportunity to get technology for their campus, often without adequate planning in how to implement it. If the class curriculum for the implemented online classes is not adequate, students will not successfully complete the course. There are several reasons for this, including learning style, presentation of the materials, and overwhelming amounts of work. Making the class materials available comfortably and understandably becomes the online teacher’s primary goal.

Integration should be the primary goal of community colleges that wish to send out their graduates prepared for the workforce. Too often colleges try to move to an entirely online curriculum, when in reality is it rare that an employee is required to perform their job entirely online. One of the most important things that colleges should teach their students is the social skills and team work that comes with working with other students cooperatively in small groups or pairs. This aspect of education is what becomes more valuable to students in the workforce. Unfortunately, it is also this lesson in socialization that is lost in those courses that are taught poorly online, because teaching group cooperation in online environments can be done. A teacher who is more comfortable facilitating discussions in person should teach a hybrid online or an in person course, where they have access to their students in a real-life environment.

Teachers who have mastered integrating group cooperation into their online courses are those who grade forum posts and responses, have group assignments as a mandatory part of the course, and allow students to post pictures, setting up “profiles” so students can get to know one another beyond a text on a page. This kind of instruction can be welcoming for some students, who are accustomed to networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, but also allow older adults to get to know one another in a more familiar face-to-face way. However, this kind of freedom requires instructors to be aware of everything their students post, and to discipline those students who put inappropriate items on their profile.

Technology is not going to disappear from our culture because it is a means to make life easier. In fact, the easier technology becomes to use the more important it will be for adult educators to embrace it and prepare adequate instruction for their students. Teacher training should integrate technology into their curriculum, showing future teachers the importance and usefulness of technology as a route to effective education, from young children to adults. This will create a well-trained work force prepared, technologically, for any career the person chooses, and computers will no longer be a mystery for those adults who are only now realizing the importance of technological knowledge in their jobs. Integration of technology into schools will only create more opportunities for people outside of school, regardless of age, career, or culture.

Works Cited

Aragon, Steven R., and Elaine S. Johnson. "Factors Influencing Completion and Noncompletion of Community College Online Courses." American Journal of Distance Education 22.3 (2008): 146-58. ERIC. CSA. 9 Mar. 2009 <http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/08923640802239962>.

Bowers, C.A. The Cultural Dimensions of Educational Computing: Understanding the Non-Neutrality of Technology. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 1988.

Ryan, Kevin and James Cooper, eds. Kaleidoscope: Readings in Education. Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.

Wursta, Melanie, Judy Brown-DuPaul, and Laura Segatti. "Teacher Education: Linking Theory to Practice through Digital Technology." Community College Journal of Research and Practice 28.10 (2004): 787-94. ERIC. CSA. 9 Mar. 2009 <http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=H7EJUDE04N6LUD67>.