Should We Ban the Words “Technology Integration”?

Gary Shattuck, Tech & Learning CIO Advisor, knows that technology is being used in classrooms, but he is concerned about how it is being used. He says that technology is usually an add-on to lessons, not essential to them. According to Shattuck, while we are using technology to engage students, many of us are not using technology for the type of engagement in which technology is embedded into lessons. To solve this problem, Shattuck suggests we forget the words “technology integration”, which leads us to view technology on a “superficial level”.  Shattuck, the director of technology and media services at Newton County Schools in Georgia, says that lessons need to be “meaningful and purposeful” and that technology should be embedded, not simply integrated, into lessons.