Personal Reflection

Over the course of the Foundations of Technology Integration Project, I've learned a lot about integrating technology into the classroom. I understand that technology will never replace teachers but will only aid them in their teaching. Technology is an intellectual partner in the process of teaching and learning. I have wondered about this relationship, however. I believe there is a fine line between helping and substituting. My big question is: How much can we integrate technology before we cross that line? I have learned from my readings that a teacher will also be needed for meaningful learning to occur. But what if websites, videos, and online courses start to replace classroom, lectures, and teachers? I hope that technology never advances to this point, because meaningful learning would be more difficult for students to achieve and teachers wouldn’t have their jobs anymore. The one thing I would do to integrate technology to create meaningful learning would be utilizing video games into my curriculum. Educators are increasing the use of entertainment software as a teaching device in a growing number of classrooms and business settings. Entertainment software helps impart knowledge, develop life skills and reinforce positive habits in students of all ages. In addition to being a great way to keep students engaged, researchers have found that video games have real potential as next-generation learning tools. Games use new technologies to incorporate principles crucial to human cognitive learning. Dr. Jeffrey Taekman, the director of Duke University’s Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center noted, “serious games and virtual environments are the future of education.”
As a gamer myself, I’m very interested in the application of my favorite hobby to the learning environment. When I’m a specialized teacher, I will be following the development of educational video games very closely.