Improving_Student_Achievement

Describe how the integration of technology as outlined in the National Technology Standards will enhance student achievement and improve instructional practice?

The National Technology Standards for Students highlights several higher-order thinking skills that are directly related to student achievement. These include:

Demonstrate Creativity and Innovation- programs including Garage Band, Comic Life, and iDVD are great tools for students to combine movies, music, and photographs to tell stories in a creative form. Using these programs, students are able to apply newly learned concepts in a creative manner. Other programs like Simtown, among others, require students to plan for and create a city using many higher order skills.

Communicate and Collaborate- programs like Powerpoint and Keynote are effective tools in communicating findings and ideas in an outlined form. This requires students to summarize and use many skills to effectively relay information to an audience. Students are also able to communicate globally using using online resources including wikis, weblogs, and video chats. This creates the opportunity for students collaborate from different locations to solve a common problem of address a pertinent issue.

Conduct Research and Use Information- It is extremely important for students to be able to effectively conduct research using the world wide web, online databases, and online encyclopedias. This information is more recent and easily accessible. Sites like Google Docs and Google Scholar allows students to update information from different locations and access more specialized resources. These sites provide more accurate and detailed information to the user. Students who are able to research information develop their skills including evaluation, analysis and synthesis.

Think Critically, Solve Problems, and Make Decisions- All of the above technology uses presents unique challenges to the users. Using technology affords students the ability be more thorough in investigations and more detailed in presentations. Students developing their technological skills are being more prepared for the real world and workplace.

Using Technology Effectively and Productively- As technology exposure increases, students will become more efficient because they will learn shortcuts, tricks, and easier methods to accomplish a task. In addition, students will be less apt to using the technology inappropriately as they will recognize its value.

As students develop these higher order thinking skills through technology, they will apply them to their thought processes and everyday learning.