As I was reading Mirshra, Koehler & Kereluik's article The song remains the same: Looking back to the future of educational technology (2009) I was struck by the term "time". I think that technology is all about time.
I have long thought that the biggest obstacle for teachers using technology was time. We don't have time to see new technology, learn how to use it, learn how students could use it or how to use it in our classrooms. Our school divisions want us to get on the technology band wagon, but we don't always have the support to take on these new technological ventures. Mirsha, Koehler & Kereluik state, "Teachers are busy people with many goals competing for their time. Educators who are not skilled beyond basic usage will need to learn both the technology as well as how to use it instruction-ally--a completely different skill" (2009). I see this in my own situation; we are told that we have to start using a web-based report card program and are given one hour of "watching" instruction and expected to use it the next day and be proficient. The next time that we updated, they had people come into the school and allow us time to actually use the technology in a computer lab and set up our courses. Instructors were there to answer questions and I felt it was a much better way to handle new technology. Technology needs to be a hands-on instruction. We need to do it to learn it.
On the other side, teachers tend to use time as a battle cry for not wanting to try new things or to change the way they have always done things. I mentioned this in a previous post this month. Teachers are creatures of habit and many of us do not like change. Technology is change and is always changing. I find it a bit hypocritical of teachers to promote and encourage "life-long learning" when we, ourselves do not adhere to that way of thinking when it comes to technology. We need to model life long learning by making the time to learn something new or how to incorporate new technology into our classrooms and our subject areas. We have to be brave and show students and our colleagues that we are not afraid to jump in and learn new things. Take a chance.
I'm not entirely sure how to encourage people to move forward with technology and not retrace the past. My way of doing it is to model it for other teachers and hope that they will become interested and excited about new technologies. There are a few teachers on my staff that are really into technology and I find that when they talk about what they are doing in their classrooms and how they use technology, other teachers are very interested. Hopefully, if we continue to do this we will be able to convert other teachers into tekkies and it will trickle down.
All we need is time...
Katie
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4 comments:
Great idea about taking a chance. What's the worst that could happen?
Great point Kate. If the support to include technology does not exist then most likely it will fall to the wayside as most initiatives tend to without involvement. At my school, I have sat through professional development days in which the topic is either unrelated or unproductive. So how do we get the technology ball rolling in our schools? Do we use our prep times?
I know there are many things on teacher's plates and often too many competing for time and attention - each one with their own learning curve. I don't actually mind a teacher not venturing into the technology world if they are making headway in other areas of their teaching/learning skills. Technology, while important for many reasons, does not have to be the only way to connect with learners and engage them. Does that surprise you?
But I do have a problem when:
a.) teachers expect students to use technology outside of the classroom to complete work without knowing how/why/what they are doing it. If assignments are not re-designed for the digital age, they can easily be completed with no learning taking place. Copy/paste is a wonderful thing.
b.) educators and senior administrators (decision makers) make choices that are completely ignorant of the influence of digital media and the emerging literacies that are being shaped by the Internet. I get frustrated with "back to the basics" movements when conceptions of "literacy" mean old fashioned reading and writing and do not include the diverse literacies of our students today.
Okay - that's my never ending rant. I wonder if we will look back to the future 10 years from now, 20 years from now and see more of the same.
Time...our most valuable resource.
And I agree that it is often used (and perhaps overused) as a reason for teachers not getting on board with technology. In the end, however, I think that technology could make us more efficient, if we make the initial investment of time.
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