Day 28- @TeachThough 30 Day Reflective Teaching Challenge
Respond: Should technology drive curriculum, or vice versa?
Is this a real question? Technology is a tool that we use to learn and express our learning. Curriculum is the subjects or course of study in school. Should we study technology? Sure. Should it drive what we study? Absolutely not.
Technology is ever changing. When I was studying to be a teacher, I took a technology in education course that featured “Hypercard Studio” as a prominent technology tool. This was 16 years ago. Is this technology tool still around? NO. Technology is ever changing. Curriculum should be more of a constant. Curriculum should not be based on a tool. Dd we base our curriculum on the pencil, film strip or overhead projector? Teachers need to think about how technology helps students learn and communicate their learning with in our curriculum.
Curriculum needs to be broad enough so that it does not need to change do to the date on a calendar. Curriculum needs to focus on how students learn, not tools they learn with or how they need to express their learning. A few years back PowerPoint was a dominate tool in education for expressing learning. Now look at all the alternatives we can use!
Sweat to Inspire 
Ooooh… you and I could have such a good conversation about this. 🙂
Technology integration should be so seamless that it ceases to be a “thing.” ‘Cuz when it’s a “thing,” it’s possible to leave it out entirely. Ideally, tech shouldn’t fit the task; it IS the task. (And the task IS tech. Very New Age-y. “Be the cloud…”) Instead of two standalone entities, I like to think of tech and curriculum as two lenses in a microscope. When both are adjusted to complement the other, concepts become clear.