As the INTEL Education coordinator,

It is critical that all classroom teachers are prepared to provide their students with ongoing use of technology in their classroom and this is why the IAT has arranged and asked the teaching staff to enroll in the Intel Essential course. This kind of training is meant to prepare target teachers to function well in technology-rich experiences and provide them with resources and materials that they can use to facilitate students’ learning. The key individual in helping students to improve and develop their knowledge and skills is the classroom teacher. The teacher is responsible for establishing the classroom environment and preparing the learning opportunities that facilitate students’ use of technology to learn, communicate, and develop knowledge products.

I trust that all Intel participants have now the knowledge and the skills to better utilize the internet resources into their daily teaching instructions; they can define all fundamental concepts, have created interactive wikis, reflective blogs, and browsed subject- related resourceful websites.

However, a combination of essential conditions is required for teachers to create learning environments conducive to powerful uses of technology. The most effective learning environments meld traditional approaches and new approaches to facilitate learning of relevant content while addressing individual needs. Teachers’ attitudes for applying technology in educational settings, in my view, play a significant role in creating and sustaining technology-supported learning opportunities for their students. Creating a unit plan that integrates technology into instructions as a primary requirement to pass the Intel Essential Course will not be of any value if teachers stop there and fail to make technology become integral part of teaching and learning process.

Another effective condition is that IAT schools must consistently model exemplary pedagogy that integrates the use of technology for learning content. At our school level, teachers must continually observe and participate in the effective modeling of technology use for both their own learning and the teaching of their students. In this particular aspect, I believe identifying good examples of technology integration and sharing them with all staff will motivate less involved teachers to take a more active role in and most probably change their attitudes for applying technology to teaching behaviors. As English lead teacher, I am in the process of identifying these good examples to share with the teaching staff not only IAT Ain, but other campuses as well.