Week 3

Week 3: Discussion of how a pedagogical lens can assist teachers in making choices relating to ICT integration in the classroom?

The main purpose of ICT’s in education is the implementation of engaging teaching tool to enhance the environment for all learners. By looking through a pedagogical lens technology enriches the classroom of the 21^st century. Whilst this is true technology integration also poses some obvious struggles for the classroom teacher. Engaging with education and training about using Web 2.0 technologies effectively for educational engagement is another aspect on top of planning and implementing curriculum.

Aligning ICT with curriculum and assessment will allow for students to engage in authentic learning. Lockwood (1992) stated that activities ‘encourage and affirm learning… they may take many forms, but essentially they encourage the learner to respond to the text rather than remain passive’. By incorporating authentic activities with ICT allows for real-world relevance, complex tasks, different perspectives, variety of resources, opportunity to collaborate and reflect, integrate and apply learning through cross Key Learning Area’s.

It allows for learners to become passionate and engage in their learning in the classroom to create value in their own right to their education. It is the use of effective planning and pedagogy by teachers to create a quality learning environment using ICT for all students. Collaboration can be encouraged through appropriate ICT tasks which allows for those learners who are not as proficient in the use of technology to learn from their peers. This creates a supportive and cohesive learning environment for all students.

In today’s society children from the age of 18 months can successfully unlock an iPhone therefore if we aren’t not arranging our K-6 classrooms according to today’s technological innovations we will lose the engagement of our young enthusiastic learners. Therefore planning accordingly with authentic activities for all students will create significance, quality, and rigorous learning to take place in an ICT integrated classroom.

Reference
Lockwood, F. (1992). Activities in self-instructional texts. London: Kogan Page.