Professional Statement: My Vision of Technology Integration

I currently serve the students and teachers of The School District of the City of York as the Technology Integration Specialist for Secondary Education. In this capacity, I identify technology training needs, and create and deliver technology trainings to all levels of students, teachers, and staff; I am also responsible for designing and delivering technology training for community stakeholders, including non-profit organizations and parents. My school district serves the needs of an oft-overlooked segment of our community—the economically disadvantaged. All ten schools in the district are categorized as Title 1; the median household income of the students is 22,000 dollars annually; 75% of our students qualify for the National Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Yet, despite this material poverty (or perhaps because of it) the York community maintains a rich and vivacious culture, constantly bolstered by new immigrants.

It is through technology that the students’ experiences and cultures will be allowed to flourish in the classroom. Small changes and adaptations, innovation by innovation, will cultivate a new—and more equitable—educational environment. Technology can be a powerful tool in actualizing this reform; rather than simply acquiring information (as represented by the traditional research report) or even synthesizing information (as represented by more sophisticated projects), students will be expected to be creators and innovators of knowledge. Now, unlike any time in the past, students have access to a staggering array of technologies that transform the world. Today’s students are able to instantly communicate with students from every continent using email, collaborate with people across the world on a self-created wiki, create and share video and audio using podcasting sites, find authentic, first-hand information on blogs and video sites, among countless other innovations and technologies. The dichotomy is clear—rather than memorizing facts, students are able, and expected, to evaluate, synthesize, and create new meaning and knowledge.

It is through the technology that I hope to foster and encourage the kinds of educational reforms that would allow the students of York City to not only compete, but excel in 21^st Century America. For example, instructional technology has at its core, a foundation in systems of differentiation (that is tailoring instruction to the specific strengths and weakness of particular students), and through the technology training I deliver, I will be able to promote the integration of effective assistive technology throughout the district. Multimedia publications, Web 2.0 tools, digital video, all support differentiation in the classroom.

The incorporation of instructional technology at all levels of the school district will also help bridge the gap, the disconnect, between the students’ personal experiences and the world of academia. Tools such as virtual fieldtrips, web-based research of primary sources, digital multimedia, online publication, among many others, will provide essential conduits for students to publish their own voice and also to experience divergent voices outside their own community.