Let Curriculum Dictate How Technology Is Used

Often, technology dictates curriculum rather than curriculum dictating the use of technology. On this episode of the MarketScale EdTech Podcast, host Shelby Skrhak sat down with Julie Garcia, Program Manager for Instructional Technology at the San Diego Unified School District, to discuss how her large school district has implemented Boxlight technology for students and teachers.

Before Garcia joined the district’s instructional technology department, helping teachers more effectively use technology, she was part of the educational technology department that faced the monumental task of disseminating technology equipment to the classrooms.

“Our district spent a good amount of time just trying to get the equipment out to schools,” Garcia said. “A lot of our work was just trying to get teachers to understand how to use them and how the students would use them.”

Today, San Diego classrooms are advanced, 21st-century teaching environments.

“We have interactive displays in the classroom, the document cameras, the teacher laptops and student devices,” Garcia said.

This Integrated 21st Century Interactive Classroom gives teachers more tools to teach high-quality curricula.

“When I meet with math teachers or history teachers, I discover that is their passion. Technology is not necessarily their passion or on their radar,” she said. “So when you’re wanting to make a change, it first starts with relationships with content. People value what they bring to the table. (Find out) what drives them, and then look at what you have to offer in the area of technology that supports that.”

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