However, whilst doing the readings for class my walls of opposition began to slowly break down a bit. In reading Dewey's writings, I noticed he was emphatic about the importance of educating students to become good citizens in society. He discussed the link between the classroom and society numerous times. Therefore, if I followed my "ideal" path of eliminating technology from my classroom, my lessons would be less applicable to the real world outside. Students would see a disconnect from what I am teaching and what reality is. This would prove to be counter productive.
Upon reading Sheskey's article on "Creating Learning Connections", I began to come around more and more to the idea that students nowadays are different than in my generation and the generations before. Technology is such a part of their life outside of the classroom, that it would be credulous of me to think that I could change that. In fact it would probably do more harm than good. Sheskey states that one of the common causes of boredom in the classroom is students' perception that the methods of how the lessons are delivered to them are irrelevant to how they learn. Thus it follows that by incorporating technology into my lessons, I have a greater chance of grabbing students' attention and making lessons memorable to them. Their brains need to keep active and interested, and using technology helps to do this.
During our classroom discussion I was very much encouraged by listening to Jeff and Kristin discuss the fact that the aim of this class is not to permeate our lessons with technology, but instead find the right balance between using technology and traditional styles of teaching. In addition, I found it reassuring to discuss all of our worries and concerns about using technology in the classroom. By the end of the class I had quite a change of perspective. Before this class I was quite skeptical about this concept, however, now I find myself eager to learn how to effectively incorporate technology into my lessons. I realize that keeping up with the times and the way in which students are learning nowadays is vital in being an effective teacher. I believe that, when executed correctly, using technology in the classroom allows for access to a wealth of information that otherwise would not be as easily accessible, nor perhaps, in some cases, as memorable.
Yes, I think we are all a bit concerned about finding that balance between technology and 'traditional' methods. I think you and Sheskey are right though - we have to have some technology in the classroom, because a) that's something that could resonate with students, and b) as teachers we have the responsibility to teach about the tools of technology available in our content areas.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I've enjoyed reading your first post but breaking the text up a bit more would help readability. cheers!
You draw the distinction between technology and traditional methods, but isn't technology part of what we consider traditional? The use of projectors, movies, and other things constitute technology, so when we talk about technology, what exactly do we mean?
ReplyDeleteI love that you emphasized the word effectively when talking about incorporating technology into the classroom. Many of the classes I took as an undergrad were based solely on powerpoint lectures. Yes, these classes used technology, but the use of the technology did nothing to help me learn the material. If anything, the use of powerpoint made things worse because professors would try to cram so much information onto each slide. I never knew what the most important ideas were to study! So I definitely agree that if technology is used in the classroom, there should be a clear purpose for it, and that we as teachers should steer clear of using technology just to say we used it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take. My worry as a teacher is that I will use technology as a crutch for my teaching rather than using it to enhance. I have had way too many teachers and professors who just read off of their powerpoint slides during their lectures. Students gain little, if any, educational value from this practice. I had classes during my undergrad where I would not even attend the lecture and just download the powerpoint slides. I would like to get to the point where I can use technology to add substance. I hope this class can help me develop these skills.
ReplyDeleteI think everything we will be doing is a balancing act - and the big part of being an effective teacher is to be in active control of that balance. Just as you can't always let your students read what they want to in an English class, you can't just play YouTube videos in class, but as I said somewhere else, it can be the hook to engage them. Now to find the right blend of hooks to work for you and your classrooms.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at my previous experiences, the most memorable and successful uses of technology were situations where it supplemented the lesson, not where the lesson revolved around the technology. If we can make the use of the technology seamless, and not the focus, perhaps it will be a more successful use. I will be interested to see how TeacherK and TeacherJ use technology in their lesson plans. It is a perfect scenario to study their use. Not many professions get this realistic learning environment in action. We are fortunate to have that.
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