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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Project-Based Learning and Professional Development
by Susan O`Connor


My first experience with integrating technology in my classroom came on a “need to know” basis. Student publications were quickly moving to embrace desktop publishing, and I needed the skills to teach the tools my students would be using in the classroom. I wanted to begin the year ready to model my new application skills from Day One.
I spent the summer taking classes at our centralized Technology Learning Center. I enrolled in two day classes crash-learning the basics of Aldus PageMaker—the forerunner of today’s Adobe InDesign page layout program, and Photoshop. I also enrolled in just about every class the Technology Learning Center was offering that summer, whether I thought I would ever use the applications or not. I think I earned enough professional development points that summer to renew my certificate for the next twenty or so years.
When I returned to my classroom in September, I was anxious to put my skills to use. I found that I had learned a little about a lot of applications, but I didn’t learn a lot about the applications I really needed to learn. To further my frustration, there was no one but my students to turn to when “something” happened. We all honed our problem-solving skills that year. No matter how frustrating the experience, however, we never gave up because we couldn’t give up. We had a project to complete.
 
Fast-forward fifteen years. I began teaching an International Baccalaureate (IB) elective, Information Technology in Global Society. The course requires students to find a social problem, and craft a solution to that problem using technology. I found it most logical for students to follow the same design cycle that civil engineers, graphic designers, architects, fashion designers and software engineers use to produce professional high quality products. Students identified the problem, possible solutions, and the appropriate (software and hardware) tools. They created the product from the design, and evaluated the design. The course was highly successful.
 
What did I learn from these two experiences? First, I learned that integrating technology into my curriculum takes planning. There are so many applications on the market that the choices can be overwhelming. I was more successful when I geared my own professional development activities toward the projects I had planned for my classroom, and when I didn’t expect to be successful at learning everything at once. I also learned that project based learning gave my students direction for learning technology skills. Curriculum that focused on projects as end products of the acquisition of technology skills provided satisfying experiences.
 
Today, I encourage other teachers wishing to integrate technology in their classrooms to do the following:
§ Examine your curriculum. Begin with the end in mind, envisioning the end result you desire, and choosing equipment and applications needed to make it all work.
§ Choose carefully. Don’t try to learn everything at once. Identify the skills you need to know for your students’ current projects, and focus professional development experiences on learning those skills.
§ Accept that you will be learning along with your students. Know that a certain degree of frustration accompanies learning new technology, and accept that frustration as opportunity for developing problem-solving skills. Don’t worry that you don’t know everything. (No one does!)
§ Develop a network of users. There will be other teachers in your school who are as enthusiastic as you are about the applications you are learning. Try to become an expert on one application, and then volunteer to teach others.
§ Showcase the students’ completed projects. Schedule a film festival, an art installation, or a school-wide or community event. Enjoy!

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