Article 2 - Unit 2

Handler, Marianne. (2005). Integrating Technology into the Instructional Process: Good Practice Guides the Way. Learning Point, Winter 2005.

Summary:
In the article, Marianne Handler stresses that technology, when incorporated correctly, can boost the level of learning in a classroom. To stress her point, Handler goes over a series of software that can help students learn and think more effectively in a variety of classroom scenarios. When incorporating new software, however, a teacher much be sure to fully lay out the goals and objectives for using it. Teachers should also be sure of the software that they incorporate into their curriculum, and should know the ways that it can and cannot be used in the educational process with the goals for the lesson in mind. Finally, Handler suggests that educators should not be afraid to try new things in order to better reach their students, and that being creative when incorporating software and programs into curriculum should not be frowned upon, but instead should be accepted and encouraged.

Reaction:
I fully agree with Handler’s point in her article. I believe that finding ways to incorporate new and old software into curriculum can not only help reach students that you may have otherwise not been able to, but that it can also enrich the education of all students in a classroom by introducing them to new sets of skills. I also agree that being creative when selecting new software to use when teaching should be encouraged, thought we must look at the outcomes to see if the goals that were set in the beginning of the lesson were met. Even though I agreed with Handler’s ideas, I am unsure of the reality of incorporating software into teaching, however, as many schools have lackluster computer labs (though this is improving), and that getting students access to computers on a regular basis may be difficult for mainstream curriculum (math, science, social studies, English) classrooms.