A Teacher’s Thoughts

I was asked the other day what a technology integrated classroom may look like. Certainly there are many answers to that such as Clarence Fisher’s classroom in Snow Lake. But what might you see in a classroom walk-through? To see or experience all of what makes a technology integrated classroom would require discussion with the teacher and students, a longer observation period, or analysis of planning. The list below indicates some of the things that should be readily apparent when you enter a classroom where the focus is on using technology to learn.

• Technology in the hands of students and the teacher
• Collaboration, with others in the room, the building, or globally
• Students creating
• Creations for larger and authentic audiences
• Students doing different things in the same room at the same time

• Decentralized classroom layouts, with technology dispersed throughout the room
• Access to technology in the room is student controlled
• Technology is or can be made part of individual learning spaces in the room

• Teacher in small group or one-on-one discussions
• Teacher modeling the use of technology to create, collaborate, locate, evaluate, and communicate information
• Teacher modeling of, and instruction in, discourse (thanks to Brad for clarity)

• Content rich explorations and activity, conducted by students
• Content rich discussions among students

While there are really so many different things you might see in a walk through, this list is meant to show the things you are most likely to see on any given day. Please comment anything I may have missed.