A Vision of Students Today
Until this class, every college course I've had has been parallel to the classroom depicted in the movie. I walk in to an auditorium that seats 200 students, sit and listen to the instructor as he reads from a textbook and fills a chalkboard with 4 or 5 pages of notes. Meanwhile, people are falling asleep around me, talking about what they did last night or looking at facebook on their laptop.
While I can say that I did well in these classes, I can't say I remember much of what I learned. I studied, took a test and forgot the information the next day. I've always been a "hand on" learner and believe that, as the movie says, "students learn what they do."
It's Not About the Technology
I would have to say I agree with Kelly Hines. I'm for technology and the benefits it can provide in the classroom, but, as Ms. Hines explains, "technology is useless without good teaching." Unless the technology is used in the best way possible to provide positive outcome it has no value to neither the teacher nor the students. It takes cooperation of teachers to fully reap the benefits that technology offers to students.
Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Prior to enrolling in this class, I considered myself to be "technologically literate." I could send an email, type a research paper, produce a spreadsheet in Excel and create a pretty impressive Power Point presentation.
Shortly after receiving Dr. Strange's email on how to prepare for the upcoming semester I realized I knew close to nothing about computers. Sure, the skills I knew would suit well if I were to work in an office building behind a desk entering data all day, but to benefit an entire class of students in learning through the use of technology? Absolutely not.
I only viewed my computer as something to do work on, but as I complete projects for this class I am learning just how beneficial this tool can be to both me as an educator and my future students in learning.
I agree with Mr. Fisch in that it is not okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher especially in today's educational systems. I also agree with him when he says that "technology is not the end all and be all of education...just a tool to help us teach." and when he states that when people are "unwilling to make any effort to learn new things" they are proving their own ignorance.
Social Media Count
Yet an even bigger realization of the vast expansion of the technological revolution. A lot of the numbers seem unreal. This was completely mind blowing to me.
As far as my professional career as a teacher, I've come to the realization that technology is here, it's here to stay and it's advancing faster every second of the day. It influences everyone in some way or another globally, and although it will take work, I, along with all other educators should take the initiative to stay on top of it as much as possible.
Comment for Teachers
I was assigned to Aaron Eyler's blog. I read his post titled "That 'Let's Do More' Mentality" which talked about how people seem to make a fuss about doing more to improve on a current situation without first asking if what they were doing was even right in the first place. I agree with Mr. Eyler. We should take a moment to step back and reevaluate what we are doing in order to decided whether or not the next steps to take should build on, or take place of, whatever situation we are trying to make better.
The second post I commented on was "Technology as the New Math".He starts his post by saying "we continue to perpetuate a culture that believes an individual is born with some inherent trait that allows them to be “good” at Math", and suggests that we are extending this mentality to include people's technological literacy. Mr. Eyler makes a valid point when he says that it is overlooked when someone says they just "aren't good with technology" and how we need to stop letting students, or anyone for that matter, put themselves down by believing they can't do something, and help them learn that everyone has to work hard at learning a new skill at some point in their life.
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you had classes like the one in A Vision of Students today. I have yet to encounter a classroom as such. I am extremely thankful that I haven't either. I learn nothing from hearing a monotone teacher lecture about facts. I like discussion and hands on activities as well.
I loved your response to Karl Fisch's post. My favorite quote by him is "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." I also think it is great that you are realizing how important the tools on your computer really are. I bought a Mac in March, and I am just now realizing all the things I can do on it. It is truly amazing, and everything is so useful. I can't wait to have my own classroom where I can explore more technology and actually put it to use. I think your attitude towards technology will definitely benefit you in this class and also your future!
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteI must agree that I have encountered a few classrooms like that in the first video. Maybe not that bad but not far from it. I totally agree with Ms. Hines when she states that "technology is useless without good teaching." Teachers are the key and how they use technology will either help or hurt them.
This class was also an eye opener for me. I realized I needed to learn more about technology and how to use it in the classroom. I also agree that technology is here to stay so we better get used to it! I believe that we can use it for a huge advancement in teaching.