Use Properly.... Or Else! **Entry #2

My question is simple: Is technology any good when it is used unskillfully? Can an educator stumble through a PowerPoint presentation, leaving students queasy, and still have any positive impact on the class? My answer to this question would be a firm 'No.' Could a carpenter pick up an electric drill, and not know how to use it, but still manage to use it successfully?
Without the skill to use it properly, technology doesn't serve teachers or students. When educators take technology into their hands, they are picking up a tool. Like any other tool, it must be used skillfully--and for the intended purpose--in order for successful use to occur.
Two things to keep in mind:
1. Educators must be aware of what the technology was designed for.
If I were to take up an electric drill and try to use it to hammer in a nail, I am not accomplishing the task that I set out to complete, nor the task that the drill was designed for. Often there are opportunities to use technology for something other that what it was designed for; however, I believe that in order to successfully pull off such an attempt, one must first know the intended purposes of the technology in question.

2. Educators must also be aware of the message that is being communicated. If you are unaware of what the point of your lesson is, you could easily get caught up in the technology without conveying the critical message to the students. If we look at the electric drill again, it is no use to pick it up, squeeze the trigger, change the bit a few times, and then put it away; the screw won't make it to its intended destination.
Just a few things to keep in mind as we study the use of ICT in the classroom and our responsibility to be knowledgeable and aware as educators.
What are some other critical points to using ICT in the classroom?
Check out 11 Reasons Teachers Aren't Using Technology in the Classroom.