The article, Shifting Ground, by Chris Lehmann brought up many interesting points that I question in my own mind. One question that is at the center of this article is how do schools adapt, change, evolve, to keep up with society? That, I guess, is the million-dollar question.
There are many different aspects to the education system as a whole. The government, the state, the town, the budget, the principal, the school board, the superintendent, the teachers, the students.... where do you begin? It gets overwhelming very quickly.
Let's just look at the teacher aspect. To begin, colleges need to change how they are teaching soon-to-be educators. New teachers can begin the process of this evolution. If they are taught to teach differently then they will themselves, teach differently. What about veteran teachers? How do you get them on board? Hmmm.... lots of different things to think about!
If teachers are the key to this process, it is imperative that they are trained properly and given much support to help with the evolution of education. With all of the new technology, kids are on their own to learn "how to use these tools intelligently, ethically, and well (Lehmann 1)." Most of their elders, parents, teachers, etc. are not as well adept at using the tools than their children or students. The one big issue I find as an educator is that children do not have the training on know how to use technology properly. They do not realize the ramifications of putting information on the Internet. They do not know how to properly share information. Who is supposed to teach them how to do this? If it is our responsibility as educators then schools need to train their teachers properly. Teachers need to feel comfortable with the technology themselves before they can help others feel comfortable with it.
In the end, teachers are the ones having direct contact with students on a daily basis. They will be the ones to ultimately help shift the education system with the shift in society. The big question is, where do we begin?
Another one of those videos to get you thinking about the shifting ground...
Your point about teacher training especially of pre-service teachers is well taken. I had a student teacher last semester and I tried to integrate as much technology as possible. He was also able to teach me a few things too. I'm still unclear though how pre-service teachers are being taught technology integration? Is it viewed as additive vs just best practice teaching strategies?
ReplyDeleteWhile my district has a lot of professional development time and technology is built into that it still feels like and "add on" and not as important as literacy or numeracy PD. I get the impression that some of my colleagues feel as though they don't have to do it because they already know how to teach and are pretty successful. Why change if you don't have to?
I'm enrolled in the MEd-Educational Leadership program and in looking at the course requirements why isn't there a course on technology leadership if the principal is the educational leader of a school? There are plenty of courses on finance, law, supervision, etc. It seems as though a big piece is being left out of principal prep.
"The one big issue I find as an educator is that children do not have the training on know how to use technology properly. They do not realize the ramifications of putting information on the Internet. They do not know how to properly share information."
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly! It is an issue with kids today. Everyone keeps saying how tech savvy students of this generation are, but in reality, they are savvy with what they want to know, and not necessarily with what we want them to know. They are not up on the skills necessary to research, discern factual information, write papers and format them properly, and put together an interesting yet informative slideshow. That is what we as technology educators or even general educators need to teach. They need digital citizenship and to know what their digital footprint means to them.
In response to Kirsten's response above... that is a great point! I will mention that to my boss! There should be a technology education course for all educational leaders to take to help them with the ever changing world of technology and its importance in the classroom.