On my campus you might see smart boards going unused, elmo’s gathering dust, and projectors that have to be locked up every night, yet every time you pass a teacher they have a laptop in their hand. I have to ask myself, why are the teacher’s using the schools technology but the students are not? Lessons might consist of a PowerPoint to display the typical lecture style classroom and students seated in rows. On a good day teachers might throw in a few websites to demonstrate a point.
When I look at this picture with a closer eye I am lead to question whether these teachers have just not had enough of the right kind of training. The lessons are still teacher driven with a sparse few teachers really get the kids onto the equipment, engaging their brain, and using their hands.
Three years ago my campus classified itself as Advanced Technology on the Texas Campus STaR Chart, yet today we have dropped to developing in this category. We have fallen off of the band wagon so to speak. When the technology is new, it is novel and we as teachers want to play with it. The result is an infection into the hands of the kids, for a short while. Then we realize we are not as good at it as the kids are and like almost all teachers, we don’t want to feel like we are losing control of our classroom because our kids are smarter than us in something. So we put the technology away in a cupboard so “the kids won’t steal it,” and we forget about maintaining or bettering our skills with this new technology. Meanwhile, the technology continues to increase and we are yet more afraid of it. A few teachers continue to try to use it, mostly out of the idea…”If you can’t beat them join them.” The kids run rampant with cell phones and some teachers say, “Fine, use them then, but use them for something educational. Here, text in your response to this poll question.”
But what about the other dusty elmo’s, projectors, laptops, smartboards, and even iPads? What happens to those?
There is some truth to the saying, “if you can’t beat them join them.” National trends are moving toward a generation of students who have technology attached to them like an arm or a leg. They don’t know how to function without it. Why do we as school continue to behave in an archaic manner? I think that we are scared! But what is wrong with getting schooled by some students? Becoming head learners instead of teachers? I’ll admit that I am just as scared as the rest of them but I am working hard to learn something new from my students just as often as they learn something new from me.
What do I need to do in order to dust off the technology that I have and begin to beg for more? More training, more preparation, more professional development, more trust and encouragement by administration, and more grace to let things slip out of my control just a little bit.
You pose interesting questions. We, too have peaked in our development. I feel that a large part is due to the lack of continuous professional development and time given to sharing among colleagues for this specific topic. A few years ago, one professional development session was devoted to technology per week. Teachers had at least fifty minutes a week of PD in technology.
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