Technological advances have always dictated the direction taken by societies that adopt them, from the development of the wheel to the advent of the computer age. Our task, as educators, is to see beyond the here and now and become more like visionaries, who help our students adapt to the changing nature of our society and economy. Fifteen years ago, I worked in an international company that, although a fully formed technology operation with sophisticated computerized equipment, still had no presence on the Web. Many of us could see that international transactions were going to move almost entirely to the Internet in the years to come, and we were quickly proven correct in our assessment.
Fast forward to the present, and in several communities where I have observed classroom activity, the resistance to a web presence is shocking. I have met several bright, intrepid teachers who have helped create a technology movement within their schools, but many more are alarmed at the shift to an electronic world. Admittedly, this new world is daunting: so many options from which to choose, so many rabbit holes in which to potentially disappear.
Enter the wonderful world of Judy Arzt! In her article, she not only gives wonderful examples of classrooms that have moved into a constructivist, collaborative, multi-modal atmosphere of learning, she gives an astounding number of links to websites that can help the reticent teacher develop a web presence for their classroom (and perhaps for themselves).
I am charged up! I am invigorated! What do you think?
I feel just as motivated to introduce my students to this global opportunity! In my school however, I feel as though teachers are resistant not because they do not think the tools available are useful to student learning, but because the school is not providing the time or professional development to delve into these tools. With some time for collaboration and exploration I can foresee blogging taking off and opening the doors to new learning opportunities!
ReplyDeleteTeachers will need to be proficient in these technologies before we can successfully teach our students how to interact with them appropriately. Do you see the same thing where you are teaching?
I think blogging is incredible, especially for teachers! Teaching and sharing certainly go hand-in-hand, so I love perusing other blogs to get some lesson inspiration! I've found Pinterest to be an excellent way to locate the blogs that best pertain to my interests. I see great potential in blogging with our students, once we've gotten the hang of it ourselves...
ReplyDeleteI have seen QUITE a bit of resistance at my own school to our new program we are implementing. Most teachers in the school are actually tech enthusiasts, but our new program is a "Bring Your Own Device" program, encouraging students to bring tablets, e-readers, laptops, or even smartphones to use as an agenda, to take notes, do research, etc. The idea of cell phones in class have made some teachers very resistant to the whole thing, and at first I admittedly was with them. Something that a colleague said made me think about it differently. He said, when a student is doing their science homework in your class, you ask them to put it away. You don't ban all science binders from the room. You set up expectations and make them aware of the consequences of misusing their materials. It's no different. I am now 100% on board with the BYOD program, and it's actually helping several of my students with their organization skills.
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