Innovating a New Concept
The pioneering concept of ?technology immersion? has been developed to create a learning environment that is stimulated, facilitated, extended and made more effective by technology. Technology immersion creates an environment where technology becomes a partner to teaching and learning rather than simply an add-on to it.
Technology immersion is the creation of Anita Givens, Director of Education Technology and Instructional Resources for K-12 schools in Texas and nationally-recognized expert in the application of technology to learning environments. Together, her team is guiding the first and only scientifically-based, large-scale implementation of the technology immersion concept in the United States.
What Research and Experience Tells Us
The idea of immersing a campus in technology is based on research about the effectiveness of education technology and on lessons learned over a decade of piloting new education technology concepts.
Nationwide, schools have made significant progress in providing their students and teachers with educational technology. The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) reports that 99 percent of public schools in the United States have access to the Internet (2001). However, only 66 percent of teachers report using computers or the Internet for instruction and most lessons fail to involve complex inquiries, explorations, or problem-solving activities (Kleiner, et al., 2001).
Similarly, research shows that Texas students and teachers still use technology at a basic level (Shapley et al., 2002). This is due in large part to a lack of technology inside the classroom. On a recent statewide survey in Texas, less than 10 percent of grade 6 to 12 students reported using technology in their classrooms (as opposed to a computer lab or other setting). Furthermore, teachers reported an average of 2.9 computers in their classroom--hardly sufficient to allow every student computer access. Not surprisingly, teachers and principals cite insufficient numbers of classroom computers as a barrier to instructional use of technology (Shapley et al., 2002).
Why Not Just 1:1 Computing?
If the primary impediment to moving today's learning experience into the 21st Century is not having enough computers in the classroom, wouldn't simply providing one computer for every student and teacher solve the problem?
Not likely. Computers themselves are merely an underutilized resource unless they are paired with the content and assessment resources to make them true learning tools. Unless computers are paired with professional development that is about using technology to unlock the process of making meaning--to create and deliver lessons, to convey information in a multi sensory format, to harness tools that measure learning--they are of little value.
Indeed, unless computers are bundled with all of these resources--hardware, software, content, assessment tools, professional development and support--they are likely to be completely ancillary to the educational process rather than a partner to it. From this recognition arises the idea of technology immersion, which is simply the simultaneous bundling and implementation of all of the resources necessary to make technology a true facilitator of and extension to learning.
Too frequently, schools are faced with the difficult choice of implementing only what they can afford, not what they need. This leaves one or more critical elements of the technology paradigm unfulfilled, and often results in making technology a stepchild to classroom activity rather than a team mate. Technology immersion solves this problem.
Enter Technology Immersion
A technology immersion project is a next logical step toward the goal of student on-demand access to learning. By bundling all of the resources necessary to effectively introduce and successfully use technology in the teaching and learning process and then implementing them as a package rather than piecemeal, schools can harness the true power of technology to expand and extend learning. This bundling of resources is critical as it ensures that technology becomes a partner to the teacher rather than a hindrance, and that the technology is sustainable over time.
Technology immersion allows each student direct, ongoing access to teaching both within and beyond the classroom, and allows each teacher the ability to extend the process of learning beyond the chalkboard.
The outcome of the TIP project holds great value to educational policymakers and leaders not only in Texas, but across the nation. As state policymakers grapple with limited resources and increased demand for higher student achievement, investments that are coordinated, that are designed to reduce process costs and that create measurable return are key. Technology immersion aggregates formerly disparate processes and expenditures to make a more successful whole focused squarely obtaining better results through better use of finite resources.
