Recap #3: Teachers and Technology
Although I feel as if I've only scratched the surface, the semester is ending and I have to start finding a way to wrap things up. I've re-read my earlier posts and a few issues stick out over and over again. I'll be posting on them for the next couple of days. Please read on...
3. Teachers and Technology - I have major amounts of respect for teachers. Really I do. It takes a great person to knowingly choose a job that is hard, time-consuming, and poorly paid. And I don't just mean elementary and high school teachers ether. That said, I am not convinced that technology can do anything that good teachers can't. After lots of reading and exploring, I do believe that there are a lot of technologies out there that can help transform the classroom into a better and more exciting place. However, I've known teachers that have been doing that for years with not a computer in sight. Still, for the teachers that are ready and willing to use it, I think that some of the new technologies out there could help in creating awesome learning environments. I truly think that blogs and notepads are going to help teachers do great things. That's the good news. The bad news is that these new technologies, like all the stuff that comes before them, are not free. Not only money, but time and effort will be required to use these technologies in the classroom.
I've heard from a lot of excited people that have found really interesting ways to use technology in their classrooms with great results. However, as Dr. Al Jarf reminded us in her paper, those results came with more work from her. The blog seemed to do a great deal for her writing students, but it required lots of extra time on her part of keep responding to posts, encouraging and inviting students to keep posting, and just get the blog up and running. She noted that students needed that extra effort from the instructor to keep interested. This echoes what I've been reading all semester.
So, technology is good, but is it really fair for us to ask already overloaded teachers to assume more work? Perhaps if the assumption of more tech is paired with a reduction of the number of classes or students? But that costs money...
3. Teachers and Technology - I have major amounts of respect for teachers. Really I do. It takes a great person to knowingly choose a job that is hard, time-consuming, and poorly paid. And I don't just mean elementary and high school teachers ether. That said, I am not convinced that technology can do anything that good teachers can't. After lots of reading and exploring, I do believe that there are a lot of technologies out there that can help transform the classroom into a better and more exciting place. However, I've known teachers that have been doing that for years with not a computer in sight. Still, for the teachers that are ready and willing to use it, I think that some of the new technologies out there could help in creating awesome learning environments. I truly think that blogs and notepads are going to help teachers do great things. That's the good news. The bad news is that these new technologies, like all the stuff that comes before them, are not free. Not only money, but time and effort will be required to use these technologies in the classroom.
I've heard from a lot of excited people that have found really interesting ways to use technology in their classrooms with great results. However, as Dr. Al Jarf reminded us in her paper, those results came with more work from her. The blog seemed to do a great deal for her writing students, but it required lots of extra time on her part of keep responding to posts, encouraging and inviting students to keep posting, and just get the blog up and running. She noted that students needed that extra effort from the instructor to keep interested. This echoes what I've been reading all semester.
So, technology is good, but is it really fair for us to ask already overloaded teachers to assume more work? Perhaps if the assumption of more tech is paired with a reduction of the number of classes or students? But that costs money...
posted by Spelunker at 5:04 PM
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