History of Resistance
Technology is not a modern, 21st century word. Technology has been in our society, and our classrooms for that matter, for quite some time. According to Seattler (1990) integration of televisions into the classroom started in the 1950’s and has evolved to bigger and better things since then.
When first introduced, televisions were given put in classrooms with the expectation that when turned on, teaching practices would be transformed and problems in instruction and student performance would be solved. This movement was met by resistance, as described by Cuban (1986); teachers were not willing to integrate this technology into their teaching practices. Not only were teachers untrained on how to use this new technology, they were also afraid of being obsolete and eventually replaced. Obviously teachers were not replaced by televisions, but there was a real scare for some, especially when school districts were investing in the creation of educational shows and resources. According to Reiser (2002), this trend of investing and incorporating audio and visual tools continued for some time, eventually becoming common place in most classrooms. Simon (1969) put it best when describing the use of technology, saying that it should not be to replace the teacher, rather introduce a new way of interfacing the outside world with that of the classroom environment.
Fast forward a few decades, computers and the internet enter the classroom. Unfortunately, even a decade or so after this integration, technology is still not being used to it full potential. Schank & Cleary (1995) predicted this would happen, making the point that the integration of technology without training educators in how to use it effectively, will not affect the learning environment as it should.
Technology Use in the 21st Century Classroom
When technology was first emerging in education, lack of exposure and uneasiness of the direction technology would take made for resistance. According to Nagel (2008) The US has been pouring money into the educational technology budget, with a spending budget of $47.7 billion in 2008, and a projected even bigger budget of $56 billion in spending and investments by 2012. This investment means that educational reform must address not if, rather how we can incorporate technology so it becomes a powerful educational tool.
Technology evolution has brought new uses and resources into the classroom. No longer is technology limited to a television screen or simply a presentation tool, technology offers tools for reinforcing skills, interactive tutoring, collaboration in an online environment, presentation creation, real time communication, publication tools, and even administrative tools for the teacher (Nelson, Palonsky, & McCarthy, 2010). With all the technology that has been introduced, Fullan (2000) reminds us that the new breakthrough and implementations mean educators not only need and understanding of...