Technology and Academic Achievement

Technology and Academic Achievement

This article written by Les Foltos has led me to think even more about the enormous responsibility that I have as a teacher. Being actualized and conscious about the academic learning necessities that our students have is very important. Our mission then would be to prepare them to reach the new social labor skills in which they will be required.

In recent years, schools have increased the use of technology in the classroom, so they have distributed the necessary equipment to improve teaching and learning process. However, some parts of the society question the reality of this investment in terms of real knowledge achievement. Meanwhile, supporters of educational technology believe in academic achievement and scientific progress that a student would gain by being effectively exposed of the use of these technological advances.

New research has published a growing body of factual evidence of the positive role that technology can provide in academic achievement. Teachers must be trained to apply technology and encourage the students to develop the necessary skills to resolve problems.

This means that schools and districts must adopt the urgent necessity to promote technological professional development to their teachers. This training must be complete and not just conform with being familiar with the basic skills. Teachers need opportunities to work with colleagues, and, as the author said in this article, they need a continued interaction in their school building and beyond. Teachers need to share ideas and learn. Professional development needs to be ongoing to provide an effective model instruction.

Educational technology being conducted in the classroom is promoting a positive impact that challenges educators to accept and promote. In this period of time, it is impossible to isolate technology as a variable in good instruction. As good effective teachers, we must embrace the powerful learning tools that technology is offering us. We must find the right strategies to apply in our class setting to achieve our goals effectively.