Technology is an ever
increasing force in our lives, in the the Youtube clip by Edutopia teachers
explained how it has been used in their classrooms and the positive effects it
has had.
The main points I took away from that clip were:
Technology can fundamentally
transform the classroom
Technology is a tool, use it
Students will require these
skills in the future
Technology in the
classroom can be used for students to create, express their learning, and take
ownership of it
Can lead to positive unexpected
learning outcomes, ie teamwork
Provides an authentic audience
and the ability to learn at own pace.
Teacher dashboards, learn at
own pace but teacher can still facilitate individual learning.
This
presentation highlighted to me that a good teacher will use whatever tools they
can get their hands on to engage and teach students in a relevant way. It’s not
about what you as a teacher are personally comfortable with it’s about what
will be of the most use to students and prepare them for the future.
I took the same points, however I slightly disagree on your final point. Teachers should always cater to the students and teach in a relevant way absolutely, however I think that if a teacher is uncomfortable there should be some lenience. For example, if I were to realise that Wiki's would help a class, yet I am uncomfortable, I might skip it for that term and then over holidays make it a point to learn myself and become more comfortable. Perhaps even asking for a PD on newer technologies once a year sort of thing. Teaching something you don't know is worse, because students can tell no matter how much you try to cover it up and then you lose respect and their engagement.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I really like the way you have approached the issue of a teacher being uncomfortable with new technology. I tend to be a bit black and white and often set unattainable high standards for myself and then inadvertently impose them on others. Your comment made me refine my ideas in this particular situation, thanks for not being afraid to disagree.
DeletePart of the allure of the blog I find is the edit button! Its so tempting to go back and edit my original post, until I attain perfection but I think I will learn more from this course if I leave it all how it is and improve future posts instead.
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