What stage are you?

The lecture on Stages of Technology Integration was a topic that really got me thinking.   Change is difficult for anyone; for the most part, human beings like consistency and enjoy routines.  For most people up to this point (i.e., not including the generation that is being born into the technology generation) accepting and using technology effectively has been a huge change/challenge – whether it be integrating into the classroom or for personal use.   As I was looking over the slides, I found myself flashing back to various teachers I’ve had in my educational experience.  I have had teachers at all points of accepting technology and I used these references in helping pinpoint where I stood on the topic.

I currently am not a teacher, therefore; I had to put myself in a hypothetical situation to figure out how I felt about technology in the classroom.  I used my past experiences as a guide but I also found myself writing little notes as I was trying to figure out where I fell.  My notes were based on how I felt about a particular stage and whether or not I felt I was at a particular stage or past it. After all my reflecting, I concluded that I am at stage five; the innovation stage. 

I feel that I am at this stage for a variety of reasons.  I believe that incorporating technology is something that cannot be fought.  It is the way of the world and unavoidable, however; I do not believe that every single lesson taught needs to have some aspect of technology attached to it.  It is important to keep children engaged but it is also important to realize that there are many different avenues that can be utilized to do so.  To effectively teach, technology needs to be weaved into the curriculum in a meaningful manner which means, not all lessons will lend themselves to having technology attached.  I feel that I am savvy enough with technology to be able to realize when using technology would be a benefit and when it would be a hindrance to the learning process.

I think that knowing these stages is important and something that pre-services teachers should keep in mind.  As we start to go out and enter the wonderful world of teaching, it may help us figure out where colleagues are on their views of technology.  The goal would be to realize accepting technology comes in stages and knowing this, a support system could be put in place as the push would be getting all teachers into stage five (i.e., the one I feel is the most beneficial to students).