It should come as no surprise that tablets are changing the classroom setting. The future of digital learning in classrooms will require more than just getting tablets in the hands of students to be successful. In order for students to maximize their learning in the classroom, teachers must be given adequate levels of training and support throughout IT integration processes. You can spend all the money you want on hardware, software, and infrastructure, but unless you train teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum it's useless. Effectively integrating technology into teaching practices requires reliable connectivity, a consistent energy supply, and teacher training together to enable IT to fulfil its great potential for improving student learning outcomes. Even after good technology staff development, some teachers will remain unconvinced in using IT. Administrators should model the use of technology and not give up on teachers who haven't yet become comfortable with computers as an instructional tool. The best way to overcome this resistance is to find a practical application of the technology that makes a difference in the life of the teacher.
Technology has a transformative power. Many sectors, such as medicine, manufacturing, entertainment, travel, finance and retail have been changed fundamentally by the effective and innovative use of technology. New technologies flooding into classrooms engage students and make life easier for teachers. Students become more productive due to the increased reliance on technology in the classroom. As information technology grows increasingly, new devices become available that proves to be cheaper and easier to manage than traditional PCs. Having a student walking around with a laptop could be cumbersome but with iPad technology, given their size, weight, dimensions, battery life and easy-on-easy-off nature students no longer need to confine their exploration and learning to the walls of the classroom or a computer lab. iPads are true mobile devices to be used anywhere and anytime. These portable devices can support education anywhere. Students can use them to take notes, while also accessing information from the Web. This gives schools a cost-effective way to place useful technology on every student's desk. In developing plans for technology, schools must ensure teachers are equipped with the skills to integrate digital technologies and new approaches successfully into their teaching, and set a clear expectation that no teacher should ignore the importance of technology in learning.
Improvements come naturally in the schools as long as IT is found within them and teachers receive ongoing, continual training and professional development workshops not only in how to use the technology, but how best to integrate it within their lessons. IT teacher training aims at making educators feel skilled and comfortable enough to use IT within their lessons. One of the techniques is to send teachers out on the Internet to find information and pictures about a subject they might teach in their classroom. They then use a database to organize the information, a spreadsheet to calculate and graph the data, and a word processor to display the results, and even they can use a multimedia program to make it more interactive. Students can use the Internet and multimedia to develop life skills such as collaboration, information gathering, organization, and presentation proficiency. With IT technology, students can access dictionaries, encyclopedias, calculators, graphing tools and atlases all in one place. Beyond print-based materials, they can watch videos, listen to audio, and even manipulate 3-D models. Free Web services are also available to help teachers plan special events, schedule meetings, and otherwise coordinate activities. Consider the scope of professional tools in the hands of teachers, so they can carry out assessment, record and access data easily when they need to. Schools with a well-developed vision for learning which lead and manage their use of technology are more likely to reap benefits.
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