Technology in Education: Don't Forget Teachable Moments

Almost all teachers today can say they use technology in education, but that really doesn't tell us much. Technology use in education may be anything from posting grades into an online system to engaging students in 21^st Century Skills. Who's to determine how teachers use technology in their classrooms? While administrators may supervise, give suggestions and offer in-service sessions, not all teachers are going to head in the same direction with tech use. Students need to be exposed to differing teaching styles, and teaching styles are often reflected in how teachers integrate technologies into their classrooms. Good teachers will find ways to fit what will work into their teaching. Just like we wouldn't expect all teachers to teach the same content the same way, we shouldn't expect that they all add the same types of activities to online course pages or engage in similar online or offline projects with their students. Giving teachers the option to inject their creativity, their talents, and their interests into their teaching results in heightened teacher enthusiasm, which shows in their teaching. So when integrating the latest curricular software into schools, we need to make sure that whatever it is gives teachers the opportunity to make it their own in their own special way. In other words, we need to give teachers time for all those "wonderful teachable moments."