Hindrances to Technology Implementation

technology

I have never shied away from the integration of technology because it is blatantly obvious that the students we are responsible for educating are constantly engrossed on a daily basis.  Therefore I have always made a conscious effort to plug it into my planning and make it an integral part of my method of delivery of some key concepts.  However, within the past two years my greatest challenge for leveraging technology in my classroom to empower the learning experience has been the lack of adequate resources.   My school has grown exponentially with the addition of K-5 two years ago. With this addition, the already tight pickings now has to be spread across K-12 grade levels.

Elementary grades now add a whole new dimension which consist of utilizing data [benchmarks] to drive the progression of lessons.  The occasional testing means that getting into the computer lab is usually nonexistent for weeks at a time since it’s a shared resource.   No fault of the elementary school, all the computers in the school are off limits during this time which can be a bit of an annoyance although I understand the relevancy of the assessments.

One other option would be to assign the students off site assignments but that usually does not yield the outcome that I would rather see.  The issue here is that our school is truly a diverse community and with that I have recognized a huge disparity between the haves and the haves not.  The students who does have the means does an amazing job in execution; model student.  On the other hand, the kids who are barely making it neglects to complete the assignments not for malicious reasons, but because of their socioeconomic standings.  The end result here is that the population who would mostly benefit from this exposure misses out on the auditory and visual stimulation.  I encourage going to the library but some of our students carpool; if they miss that ride who knows what time they will make it home.

Finally, the lack of an actual introduction class to all things technology is missing from the curriculum.  In taking such a class, the students who does not have access at home will not be at a disadvantage.  Unless you are a technology teacher, time spent guiding students to adequately execute basic skills takes away from your already limited time you have to teach that subject.

In closing in spite of these obstacles, I am always seeking and looking for that window of opportunity to integrate technology when I can and is very pleased with the wealth of resources I have acquired thus far.  I am optimistic and very excited at the prospect of introducing many of these activities to my students when the opportunity presents itself.