ELA Article

Preparing Tomorrow's English Language Arts Teachers Today: Principles and Practices for Infusing Technology

Dropbox Article Link:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64277307/Preparing%20Tomorrow%27s%20ELA%20Teachers%20Today.pdf


The title of the article first caught my eye and then I began to read the content and I found it to be very interesting, relevant and inspirational to new teachers of all levels and subjects.  The authors first discuss the evolving educational world and how technology has become a required tool that needs to be incorporated into everyday lessons to enhance learning in schools.  The article gave three creative examples on how ELA teachers have implemented the use of technology in their curriculum to create a learning environment where students were interacting and discussing the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with students in Russia.  This is amazing!  The authors explain that that there are seven principles of technology infusion that grow from and correlate with the National Council of Teachers of English Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts (1996) and the International Society for Technology in Education National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Connecting Curriculum and Technology (2000). 
These principles include:

1. introduce and infuse technology in context;
2. focus on the importance of technology as a literacy tool;
3. model English language arts learning and teaching while infusing technology;
4. evaluate critically when and how to use technology in English language arts classroom;
5. provide a wide range of opportunities to use technology;
6. examine and determine ways of analyzing, evaluating, and grading English language arts technology projects; and
7. emphasize issues of equity and diversity.
   
   
   I recommend reading this article because it has a clear description of the positive effects that technology can have in an ELA classroom when implemented correctly.  The descriptive guidelines or principles allow new teachers and veteran teachers to learn how to properly incorporate technology effectively in their classroom while maintaining the core curriculum.