I sometime smile (and sometimes gnash my teeth) when I read/hear about supposed research which shows that a specific piece of technology does not improve learning or student achievement. For example, something came down the pipe a few weeks ago about interactive whiteboards and the lack of effectiveness. In fact, I wasn’t a huge fan of them myself until this year where I saw the learning and communication it offered to teachers using it in videoconferencing and interactive whiteboards which were connected across sites with desktop collaboration software. It brought a much greater sense of ‘virtual presence’ to the learning environment when each site who connected together through VC could all write on the same whiteboard or access and manipulate the same learning resources. Now I know that when I return to the classroom I want an interactive whiteboard irrespective of whether I use VC or not. In other words, I became a believer in this technology when I saw the possibilities of how it could be used to enhance my students’ learning.

Another example – with wireless tablet PCs, I wondered if these were actually worthwhile tools or whether they were just big, expensive PDAs. Once I realized that I could use it in my classroom with my online report card program and make observations/assessments directly into the report card from where my students were demonstrating their learning in the room, I became a believer.

I wonder if enough people understand the potential that technology can have on the learning environment? Why can’t everyone see what we see? Personally, I think it has something to do with a person’s beliefs about learning and teaching which drive their practice, combined with peoples’ awareness of the potential for technology. What should go hand in hand with technology mentorship for teachers should also be demonstrations and applications of technology as it relates to the research on learning and the brain.