Integrating Technology in the Classroom

Technology integration is using various forms of technology to enhance student's experience in the classroom. Technology has come leaps and bounds in the last twenty years. I remember my first experience with computers in elementary school. It was on old clunky computers with a black screen and green or white graphics of very poor quality. We never used the computer in class, nor did teachers use PowerPoint or LCD projectors. We only ever used the computer to play games, or figure out how to move a turtle with the arrow keys. Now there is a t.v and DVD player in most every classroom. Computer labs are frequently used for research and typing schoolwork. Teachers use PowerPoint to help explain a lesson. Part of my diploma exams for English and Biology were done on a laptop provided by the school. For Social Studies we used the Internet to do research for essays. I took keyboarding all through Jr high and grade ten. This is technology integration.
One of the best examples I ever had of effective technology integration was for my Biology 30 class. Mr Konrad gave us a list of topics that we had to look up using the Internet in the school computer lab. We had to find three or more sites that gave solid information and bookmark them when we found them. Then we had to make up a PowerPoint presentation using found information and present it to the class. I found it to be really helpful because the assignment got us using the Internet, browsing sites, learning about our topic, evaluating and analyzing information, but then we had to turn around and put it to practical use.
We also used the school laptop computers in my English class to type up in-class essays and assignments. This often was not such a good experience. My English teacher Mrs. Davidson had very little experience with the computers so whenever something went wrong, she was unable to help us and had to call in a different teacher. Also there were a couple times when the computers would freeze up or shut down randomly due to a system error. This was extremely frustrating when you were in the middle of writing an in-class essay. Once we had to close our computers and hand them in and the in-class essay had to be written out by hand!
Overall I think that technology is an extremely useful resource and could be a huge benefit to teachers and students. Allowing them to interact with various information from around the world; communicate with the teacher and other students; doing research and experiments. However I've also had bad experience with technology in the classroom. Teachers that have little or no experience with technology look unprofessional and only waste time in their efforts to get things working. If I had a dime for every time I saw a teacher ask a student for help getting a computer or TV up and running, I would be rich! Another potential barrier is a lack of funding by the government for smaller schools. Kids in larger centers with more funding have an advantage of these resources, whereas kids in more rural centers miss out. This creates an unfair advantage and student's learning could suffer.