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Instructional Technology Integration

Technology integration is not a subject area, nor is it a curriculum: it is an instructional strategy.  Technology is an instructional tool; using it in an integrative fashion is an instructional strategy.  As such, it is not added to the curriculum; it is a tool for delivering subject matter already in place within the curriculum.  It is a tool for accessing, organizing, managing, analyzing, incorporating and evaluating information.  It is a tool for developing new understandings and communicating.  It is the tool of the 21st century to be used by teachers and students in their teaching and learning.

A portion of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is the Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001, also known as Title IID and/or E2T2. The goal of E2T2 is: To assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the student’s race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability.

Each state is required by NCLB mandates and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) to report on:

Rhode Island must be in compliance and reporting the final two items, Personnel Skilled in Technology and Integration of Technology Status to the federal government by the 2009-10 school year.

Technology Integration Defined

Technology effectively and fully integrated into teaching and learning is defined as an environment in which students use digital tools and resources to answer teacher and/or self-generated questions that dictate content, process, and product.  Classroom management and climate support full-scale integration with minimal implementation issues.

Responsibilities Related to Technology Integration Requirement

The USDOE has required that all states report on the number of Integration Status as well as the number of Personnel Skilled in Technology.  This requirement is directly tied to Title II, D (E2T2) Federal funds.  Recent guidance from the USDOE allows states to pilot a system within the E2T2 program and then roll it out further to a statewide implementation.  During the 2009/10 school year, RIDE will pilot the use of the LoTi Digital Age Survey with over 400 participants in the E2T2 - RITTI 2009 Model Classroom program.  The survey will assess the current state of the personal computer use, instructional practices and authentic classroom technology use. 

RIDE will initiate statewide awareness and guidance related to implementing the LoTi Digitial Age Survey in the spring of 2010.

All personnel will participate in the LoTi Digital Age Survey in May 2010. 

LEAs must amend and augment their Technology Plan in the next annual revision cycle to include:

  • Plans for assessing both students and personnel. (Technology assessment is already a required component in Technology Plans. For most LEAs, this will require modifications to meet the federal guidelines. This is an opportunity for those where Technology Assessments are not included to meet both requirements.)
  • Plans for the full integration of technology into curriculum, instruction and professional development.

Reporting on Technology Integration Status

Reporting on the technology integration status is an "end of the year" reporting item. The pilot implementation of the LoTi Digital Age Survey occurred in November of 2009. Statewide implementation will occur in the Spring of 2010.  Collection of the data necessary for federal reporting will occur in the LoTi Digital Age Survey. 

Other Reporting Requirement Details

  • School Computer Count and Internet Access - Beginning of each school year
    (Beginning 2008/09 -
    Collection will take place within e-RIDE's "Instructional Technology Data Collection Area".  Training for personnel responsible for reporting will occur at the Data Manager Meeting on October 9, 2008.)
  • 8th Grade Technology Literacy - Two testing windows: December and May of each school year
    (Beginning December 2008 - Collection will take place within the TechLiteracy Assessment)
  • Personnel Skilled in Technology - End of each school year
    (Beginning May 2010 - Collection will occur in the LoTi Digital Age Survey.)
  • Integrated Technology Status - End of each school year
    (Beginning May 2010 - Collection will occur in the LoTi Digital Age Survey.)

Helpful Resource

The Technology Integration Matrix, produced by Florida’s Center for Instructional Technology, was developed to help guide the complex task of evaluating technology integration in the classroom.  Short vignettes demonstrate what technology integration actually looks like at different levels of sophistication within different learning environments.  Rhode Island teachers may want to use the Matrix to generate talking points in their own self evaluation as a comprehensive model of technology integration is developed.

Technology Education vs. Educational Technology

Clarification between the terms “Technology Education” and “Educational Technology” has become necessary in the education realm.   Technology education focuses on skills and concepts related to the scientific and engineering world, design processes, technological products and systems, and the use of tools.  Instructional or educational technology involves the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology.  It involves knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve, and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals across all curricular areas.  Another important component of instructional or educational technology is the inclusion of the use of technology to facilitate communication.

Standards

StandardsThe Rhode Island Department of Education recommends the use of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for determining what students, teachers, and administrators should know and be able to do in order to effectively use technology within our schools.  Awareness of the standards that students, teachers, and administrators are being held to is a necessary condition in the successful integration of technology in all classrooms.  It is assumed that teachers, administrators and staff members in Rhode Island’s school districts will be committed to learning how technology can contribute to their ever-increasing productivity and to steadfastly incorporate technology into all aspects of their work, as appropriate, as we prepare our students for life in the 21st century.

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