Running Head: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY 1

Vignette Analysis #2

How does a whole school move towards integrating technology?

Camille Maydonik

36428084

ETEC 532 Technology in the Arts and Humanities Classroom

Instructor: Dr. Alexander De Cossen

University of British Columbia

February 27, 2011

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Vignette #6, "How does a whole school move towards integrating technology"

introduces us to a situation that many, if not all, schools have or will face. Many school

boards are championing 21st Century learning by infusing learning technologies in the

daily school experience. Educators and students alike are embracing these digital

technologies as they facilitate the personalization of learning thus allowing students to

share in the responsibility for the success of their own education, provide alternative

ways in which to teach and learn, assist educators in delivering instruction and assessing

learning, enable educators to tailor instruction to individual learners and present choice in

professional learning. That being said, Jacobsen & Goldman (2001) state, "Teachers are

subject to the prevailing power structures, constrained economies and cultural

expectations in an educational status quo that often limits how technologies are deployed

in schools" (p. 85). Oftentimes, one person is responsible for the deployment of learning

technologies in a school, which may result in an unequal representation of what teachers

require to make the necessary changes to their pedagogy. This is the case in vignette #6,

however the Educational Technology department head in charge of the change process

attempts to balance equitable distribution of the new computers so that as many students

as possible are able to benefit. Upon reflection of the implementation, the Educational

Technology department head comes to the realization that many of the decisions made

were of a collaborative nature, while other decisions were made following a top-down

approach.

Through the creation of a committee, the lead of this change process addressed

the level of technology knowledge of the staff, teachers' interests and the vision of the
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administration. However, in this vignette, it is stated that the teachers who participated in

the committee focused on their own technology ideals without considering what other

members of the faculty required. In this case, it would have been beneficial to survey the

whole faculty to gather baseline data to understand the teachers' initial ideas around

adapting their pedagogy to the integration of technology in their teaching. The baseline

data may have uncovered other possibilities in order to address the barriers and

challenges to the full integration of technology. I would argue that since this situation

occurred in a secondary school, that the student voice should have been included on the

committee as well. By considering the role that students play in deciding how

technologies are used, the final rollout of the computers may have looked very different.

By establishing how the students would like to use the computers, more possibilities may

have emerged. Young people (students, learners) have a new way of looking at the

world, and presently, there is a fundamental mismatch, in some cases, between teachers,

their pedagogy, and their students. Learning is changing. We are relying more on

technology and the networks that learners create to access knowledge that exists outside

of the individual. By involving students in the process, "they are learning how to

participate in a learning and thinking culture, one that encourages them to make things

with their hands and heads" (Jacobsen & Goldman, 2001, p. 95).

When integrating technology into the curriculum, it is important to consider

assessment. Jacobsen & Goldman (2001) explain: "educators need to evaluate the quality

of the new knowledge and representations that students produce, and communicate new

expectations with parents" (p. 108). Before this can happen, however, professional

development must occur to enable teachers to design learning activities that will afford
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students the opportunity to create and produce meaningful content, rather than just

learning how to run computer applications. In order to best integrate technology into the

curriculum, it is important to involve all stakeholders, including students, in the process

and to assess how technology can be used to bridge the content and the pedagogy.

Reference

Jacobsen, D. M., & Goldman, R. (2001). The hand-made's tail: A novel approach to

educational technology. In Barrell, B. (Ed.). Technology, teaching and learning:

Issues in the integration of technology. Calgary, AB: Detselig Enterprises.