With the proliferation of technical device distribution over the past decade, the efforts of contemporary educators to incorporate technology into the classroom should come as no surprise to those who are reasonably minded, but Nancy Seymour, a teacher at Eight Mile Rock High School in Grand Bahama is still questioning whether technology has been properly blended into the classroom.
The computer studies teacher and business subject coordinator said while there is no shortage of dissertations, transcribed discussions, articles or expositions attempting to prove the benefits or disadvantages of technology in the classroom, and while the utilization of technology in daily learning is indeed on the rise, educators still face challenges in blending core, general and vocational lessons with technology.
"The predominant complication, as discussed by many of us who are educators in The Bahamas, is the lack of equipment to effectively support the effort of technology integration" she said.
Despite widespread belief that high-tech integration in schools is only attainable for the middle and upper-class sectors, the Grand Bahama teacher believes that understanding the importance of using technology in everyday lessons is a necessity in the lower-income sectors of society.
"Computers are used to improve teaching quality where quality is very expensive to reproduce or to substitute for the lack of teachers or schooling opportunities that cannot be made available with conventional teaching methodologies" (Dr. Nkasiobi Silas Oguzor, 2011, abstract).
"In other words, especially in the rural areas of our country, we should endeavor to consistently increase and upgrade computers and other technological instruments for maximum results," said Seymour.
According to the educator, the rapid evolution in the world of technology means that many alternatives -- some unconventional -- are being introduced to combat the challenges that are experienced during the process of integration. She believes that some of the alternatives should be considered.
According to some educational partnerships, since personal digital assistants (PDA) came on the scene, the difficulties that are usually experienced with technology integration have diminished tremendously. Those sources have observed positive results from the use of student-owned PDAs as teaching and learning tools.
"Regardless of the challenges or the methods used in correcting them, the move toward consistent use of technology in the classroom is a move in the right direction -- not only for integration, but as an autonomous subject area as well."
Seymour believes the worldwide paradigm shift in education vigorously supports a more interactive classroom.
"While traditional strategies and models should not be entirely abandoned by us in this region of the world, we must continue to make efforts in synchronizing our educational system with global trends. An interactive classroom does not always mean a technology-filled classroom, but when aptly applied, a technology-filled classroom is nothing short of an interactive classroom. Since educational underpinnings are being redirected toward more interaction in the classroom, and since the use of technology yields interaction, one of our aims of education, as a country, should be to promote the development of technological skills in school-age children," she said.
According to Seymour some people would argue that such an aim is in place and is declared in curriculum goals and other statements, but there aren't any national measurement tools to support such an aim.
In most junior schools, students have the option to choose computer studies as an elective course, but there is not a Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) examination to determine a success rate in the field.
In senior schools most students also have the option to select computer studies as an elective, but apart from the keyboarding/typewriting exam, there is not a Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exam to determine a success rate at that level either.
In a technological era when a three-year-old playing a game of Leap Frog, a 16-year-old listening to songs on his MP3 player and a parent making a Skype call into a business meeting with colleagues from around the world are all realistic scenarios, Seymour does not believe she is engaging in a blame game. However, after a period of introspection, as an educator, she began to question whether she was doing enough to ensure that the children who pass through her classes have the necessary tools to prepare them for the future.
"All of us, as citizens of this country, must realize that proof of proficiency in the core, general and vocational areas outside of technology alone is no longer adequate. If we are genuinely determined to move in sync with the paradigm shift in global education, we must establish contemporary national evaluation tools and methods that are comparable and competitive worldwide. Not only are we in need of even more promotion of integration in core, general and vocational disciplines, but also in teaching technology as an independent field of study," said Seymour.

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