Technology in the classroom has been hailed as the key to student success and a great tool for the instructor. However, there are many barriers to making this a reality. Technology has become a piece of our lives that many times we do not even think about as we use it...a commodity that we just throw in our bags. We utilize it check our social media feeds, view YouTube, message our friend and colleagues, and just make life a bit easier overall without ever thinking about how we actually came to be so good at it. Through the slow adoption of modern technology many 0f use take the process of how we learned how to use it for granted.
Initial Thoughts
When asked about what the barriers are to the integration of technology into the classroom, I pondered a bit about my own why integrating technology has not been as successful as we had hoped. After reviewing the material for this week, I began to see some similarities to my own experiences....training and development. We are asked to use technology to make the class a better place to increase student success, a great idea but hard to implement.
As a techie myself and someone who has used technology it the classroom successfully, I have found that many others need a tremendous amount of help. I have learned to utilize new technology slowly over time because it is my hobby. For many others, it is not. They are being asked to use a new skill without the time to develop that skill.
How will it benefit my class?
Quite often, the question I get is - "How will this benefit my class?". This is an important question and needs to be addressed. When an instructor cannot see the relevance to learning something new without a benefit to their classroom or instruction, many times it is dismissed and the instructor moves on. We are used to the way we do things and to add something new may cause undue stress or needless disruption to an already working process. Instructors need to know that what they are being asked to do will prove beneficial to their class.
Instructors understand their content and understand how to teach it, but they need to be taught how to use the technology as a component of instruction. The ability to assess when to use technology and how to increase the impact of student learning (Okojie).
Professional Development
The current organization process of implementing new technology in the classroom comes down to small sessions that are geared to introduce instructors to new methods of instruction. However, many times it ends there and the support afterwards is no where near where it needs to be.
The continued support for technology is lacking at an organizational level. Instructors need to be able to ask follow up questions, be able to reach out to someone after the fact, and receive support is a key component for integration. Instructors may be hesitant to use technology when they experience discomfort and lack support from the institution (Hughes, 2018).
Time and Resources
Many instructors have a full schedule of teaching, grading, advising, and the task of learning something new to add into that feels daunting. The lack of time is the most common reason given when asked about barriers to adding technology into the classroom (Hughes, 2018).
How do we make the time to learn new technologies without being provided the time to learn these new methods? Institutions need to be willing to provide the time, the energy, and resources for instructors to learn new technologies and how to successfully implement them into the classroom.
Student Expectations
We think of our students as digital natives and ready to go when asked to use new technology. Many times our students are only "good" at what they need to do to and what serves them the best with their own devices. Adding new technologies into the classroom also means teaching students how to use these things as well. The instructor needs to be well versed enough to know how to use the technology as well as teaching others to use it successfully. Institutions needs to create and support spaces for students to learn new technologies outside of tuition based classes - free to learn classes that assist students.
Lack of Infrastructure
As we saw with at the beginning of the pandemic, many students and instructors lack the resources at home to take advantage of new technologies. There is definitely a digital divide in access to reliable and fast internet access, sufficient hardware outside of the classroom, and overall support to students and instructors when hitting roadblocks. All of these things need to be taken into consideration when trying to add new technology into the classroom.
References
Hughes, Shannon E., Bradford, Jacque L., Likens, Carol. (2018, February 28). Facilitating Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking Skills in Physical Therapy Education through Technology-Enhanced Instruction: A Case Study. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323450473_Facilitating_Collaboration_Communication_and_Critical_Thinking_Skills_in_Physical_Therapy_Education_through_Technology-Enhanced_Instruction_A_Case_Study
Okojie, Mabel CPO, Olinzock, Anthony A., Okojie-Boulder, Tinukwa C. The Pedagogy of Technology Integration. The Journal of Technology Studies.
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