1)+Tech+Integration

An example of Tech integration into a school's curriculum can be seen at: [|NASA Resources Enrich STEM Curricula at Forest Lake Elementary]

The NASA Explorer's School Program taking place at Forest Lake Elementary is a truly inspirational addition to an elementary curriculum. The grants provide opportunities to expand technology tools, summer teacher workshops, curriculum materials, and ongoing professional development in order to create interest and achievement in math and science, and it works. The children are clearly captivated by the activities involving high-tech gadgetry, video conferences with astronauts, and their own video studio (how could they not be)! The most important part of the video, though, is how the girls, when put into a single-sex group, stepped up and really learned about science and technology! It goes to show that anyone is fully cabable of being math/science masters, if provided with great opportunites!

...Unfortunately, most schools aren't blessed with programs like the NASA Explorer's School Program. It is still important, however, to be able to teach students the skills that they will need in the technology-run 21st century. It is for this reason that we have the National Educational Technology Standards, or NETS. Plus, using technology in the classroom can help inspire creativity and inventiveness in students.

In this manner, I plan to use as many technological resources as I can. And, as a future secondary science teacher, it will be easy to incorporate such tools into my lessons. For instance, if I teach physics, there are many software and hardware tools that can be used to help conduct lab experiments, like motion sensors and lasers. If I teach chemistry, incorporating contemporary technological devices into the classroom environments (such as the organic light emitting diode screens of cell phones) would be fun. Or, if I teach biology, I could make use of some of the beautiful high-definition documentaries that the BBC has made in the last few years. As teachers, we are limited by our funding, but the only true limitation is that of our imaginations!