Tech in ed workshop

What I learnt from the tech in ed workshop-the 2 days yet-

Since education is a social process it is directly effected by the changing demands of society. Skills to be taught at schools are decided by what skills does society require its citizens to have. The need of the hour now is to have ‘thinking’ individuals and hence schools are focusing on developing higher order thinking in students.
I learnt that technology actually aides in developing these much needed 21st century skills. Higher Order Thinking skills like analyzing, creativity, critical thinking etc.
Using technology in the classroom helps enhance communication skills, developing teamwork abilities in students. It provides information on demand to students-on whichever topic they want and in however much detail they want-hence aiding self paced learning and encouraging students to become self paced learners. Its also opening up several opportunities for distance learning hence making education available to alot more learners.
Students and teachers both can benefit from using technology.

Using technology in the classroom makes lessons more effective. Providing a variety of stimuli-audio, visual etc- helps cater to different intelligences in the classroom and also gives them an ‘emotional experience’ which makes understanding and retention much easier as opposed to just text. It also helps standardize content across schools. It also changes the role of the teacher to that of a facilitator and mentor.

However, for technology to really be effective i.e for it to have a positive impact on student achievement there must be a systemic change as well in terms of teacher –training, curriculum and pedagogy, infrastructure etc.In isolation technology cannot do miracles but if introduced along with the above mentioned, it can work wonders.

For this, it is important that schools use technology not just for the sake of using it but meaningfully. Which means you learn ‘with’ technology and not just ‘through’ technology. Technology becomes
1-media for inquiry
2-media for communication
3-media for construction
4-media for expression

Technology seems to be a very powerful tool for providing inclusive education to special children. As mentioned above, it caters to different types of learners by providing information in many formats.

But in order to achieve all this ,it is imperative that teachers are equipped with basic ICT skills and are comfortable using technology. This can be achieved through ongoing Professional Development where all teachers are taught the need and importance of using technology in the classroom. Along with basic skills, they also get curriculum specific inputs so that they become comfortable with using technology in their classes.

However all this requires a lot of careful planning and goal setting and leaders must look into this aspect before making any investment in technology in order to avoid any wastage of resources.

PS: Pranav, I see the connect after writing this. Complete clarity now. Thankyou!!