In today's educational world, teachers are becoming more and more outpaced by their students. As hard as we try to keep up with the expanding online world, kids are immersed in the web and technology to a degree we cannot match. In the morning, they check for snow days on the web. They facebook (also now a verb, like Google) their status to friends, and search online for homework help. At school they text their friends (hopefully not while in class), making plans and sharing news. They often have one-to-one computing for classes, and utilize a variety of social and informational sites to complete work and virtually mingle with peers. After school, even activities that use to be individual such as playing video games are now able to be played with groups over vast distances. The world is more connected today than ever, and our students know how to navigate it - do we?
One of the major questions that came from this chapter for me was how can we, with only partial knowledge and understanding of technology, utilize it in our classrooms so that students are truly educated to be citizens of the 21st century? Too often schools today are more hesitant, if not frightened, of the digital world. I have the personal experience of various bans on Facebook as a way to connect with students, many cautionary tales used to dissuade teachers from interacting with students online, and sets of regulations about what can and cannot be accessed in schools. Students, and teachers too, are often frustrated by these imposed limitations on what could be a truly educational experience and new mode of learning.
While we are always scared of the new, as educators, I believe our job is three-fold. First, we need to learn. The catch-phrase for many teachers in interviews and so forth is that they are "lifelong learners" - well, this is one area where that truly needs to be demonstrated. As lifelong learners, it is imperative that technology and the expanding online world is an area we continue to focus on. Secondly, we need to educate students about this same world. Their experience in the online world is somewhat limited - despite their prowess, they focus on what is interesting - social networking, games, and so forth. There is a wealth of resources out there that they do not know about, and it is important that they learn the geography and culture of this world, just as they learn about the geography and culture of the physical world. Finally, in order to truly teach our students for tomorrow's success, technology needs to be integrated to our curriculum, not just added. Many teachers view technology as an addition to the already-packed curriculum. To really benefit the educational process, technology shouldn't be added on, but must be worked within.
I suppose the final message is that technology, while new and ever-expanding, is relevant, necessary, and vital for educational success.
It is certainly very hard for some educators to "keep up with the times". As much as we want to suppress the use of technology to keep things "easier" for us, it is a part of life. We need to accept these changes just as we have accepted the use of the internet as a viable source of information. You made a good point about being "lifelong learners". This is the sort of thing we need to be constantly learning about. It also helps to actually use this technology as well. That is in fact how we "learn by doing" which is discussed.
ReplyDeleteI love lots of new technology but I do think, as a society, we may be less patient as the internet is so fast we all tend to live at that speed. But that isn't going to change and we really shouldn't want it to. I really agree with your last line, "To really benefit the educational process, technology shouldn't be added on, but must be worked within." We can't really add more, but we need to make what we do better.
ReplyDeleteJane, this is a powerful post on several levels. You are absolutely right that even with the tech prowess that students demonstrate...for many, it is limited to social networking, texting, etc. Nothing wrong with any of that (well, maybe there is in the extreme) but our learners are not particularly savvy about using these fantastic tools to learn from. This is a huge point and one that many adults do not get.
ReplyDeleteThat said, we also can't wait around for all teachers to "catch up". There is simply too much stuff to catch up to...and it is a moving target anyway. So, it seems that teachers and adults need to let kids take the lead and tell us what THEY know about tech and we should tell them what we know.
And honestly, teachers need to quit pretending they can get away without knowing about technology...that is simply no longer acceptable.
One more thing...I love the title for this post. This phrase as taken the place of, "Do you want fries with that?" as the best-known phrase from the 1990s.
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