Keeping up with Technology

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Keeping up with technology is important for everyone, but especially for the technology integrators, because they are the knowledge base for the school. Technology is constantly changing and if you do not have the latest operating system, you may miss out on using new apps that may not be compatible with previous versions of the OS.  

Case in point:when Apple released version 7 of its iOS, there were already many new apps being released that require iOS7.  On the Internet as well, Web2.0 apps are being developed every day and in order to prepare our students for the future, they need to know how to use the latest technology, so that they are able to transition to the latest products and applications once they are out in the world. 

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Another reason is, in the area of alternative technology, there are always new products that can help our students, who are all struggling to keep up with their learning objectives.  But over the last few years there have been so many new products that have been released that have really made a difference, from iPads to Bluetooth switches for the iPads, and text to speech applications like Kurzweil and Clicker6 or Dragon Naturally Speaking that help students who have difficulties with reading and writing and help to level the playing field for those kids.  In addition, the newer versions of these and other applications make life easier for the teachers, with the improved functionality that the newer versions offer. For example, in Clicker5, word banks had to be built one word at a time, but in the latest version, a teacher can enter a passage of text into a form and the software now builds the word banks automatically.


If we do not keep up with the technology we will be left behind.  Every new release or product or tool is a step up and it is easier to move one step at a time, versus trying to jump from the bottom step to a step halfway up the ladder. We also have to keep up with the students who are already immersed in the technology. Although we do not have to know everything, we need to be able to speak intelligently about technology, if we want the digital natives to take us seriously.