What ails Technology Integration in Schools ?

"When does the actual Technology Integration happens in schools ?" is a perennial question and there is no satisfying answer(at least to my knowledge). But we should not get bogged down by this. The main issue is not when do we say that schools have successfully integrated technology but whether they have started on the path or not. The disparity among schools in terms of resources, access, initiative, need, motivation, etc. leads to the conclusion that no standard benchmarks could be setup for technology integration. There are schools who may have ample of resources and hand but a lack of vision and effort has pushed them at the back in the race of technology integration. The schools may add technology resources like computers, etc. and call themselves techno-savvy but the fact remains that building computer labs doesn't ensure their usage and effective utilisation. The need of the hour is to move from a state of being "techno-savvy" to being "techno-smarty" where the focus and effort should be on appropriately utilising the existing resources. There are many things that ails the technology integration process - the mindset of the schools, the curriculum pressure, the initial effort required, the general misconception that tehcnology integration is a costly affair, lack of proper vision and of course the unwillingness to change. Somehow the schools seem to have a general notion that the traditional manual methods are the best as they have been doing it for so many years now. This feeling or understanding does not at all stand them in good stead as they clearly miss out on the fact that technology can definitely bring in more efficiency and effectiveness and can lead to more productivity among the school staff. A research has clearly pointed out that 40 % of the tteachers' time is spent on doing things not directly related to their main task i.e. teachhing-learning process. It is here that technology can play a very crucial role and can help teachers automate their academic and non-academic task and make them more productive and more focused. So, technology integration seems more like a matter of individual choice based on priority and vision.