Thursday, June 17, 2010
Setting the Stage reflection
After reading through the articles and watching another variation of the "Did You Know?" video I couldn't help but think about my present school. I teach at a Title 1 school where we have so much technology, but only use a fraction of it on a daily basis. I feel that we've only reached a small percentage of its actual potential in the classroom, yet its there every day, begging to be used. I don't completely agree that web 2.0 is the future of education, but I certainly think it needs to be, and will be, a bigger part of education in the future. However, I also think that educators need more training in how to use it appropriately, creatively, and effectively before America is going to make any sort of advancement in the area. I sincerely want to become one of these educators for my students who can help spark their creativity, partially by using technology in the classroom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I totally agree about educators needing more training. We are lucky if we get someone from technology for come in and show us how to use the equipment. However, that isn't enough lesson ideas, etc. is the training that would really benefit us. I am at a Title 1 school as well, but we do not have much in the way of technology. Our school chooses to use the title 1 money for other things one being hiring more teachers to make our class sizes smaller. We do have smartboards but they came from a grant not title 1.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I've found that training is important, but more importantly is my initiative in using the technology. The more excited I am in the technology, the more work I'll do to figure out how it works and how I can incorporate it in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy school recently because a Title 1 school. Our administration typically uses extra money to hire staff (para's and teachers.)
At my school, I feel that we do a poor job of supporting our teachers with the new technology, so as a result, most of it goes unused.
JYates
I will be honest, I hate the idea of "teacher training." Teaching is not something that you can be trained to do -- sure, you can be trained to use a piece of technology or a specific skill, but teaching effectively is much more than being a "learning technician." I agree with glacierdad's comments about initiative. Teachers do need to be given the space, time and support to learn how to integrate technology (or other aspects of teaching). However, too often the claim, "I haven't been trained..." is an excuse to not do something.
ReplyDeleteThe best teachers that I know (and many of them are in classes like this) take the initiative to make technology (or reaching ELL students, or mastering science inquiry, or...) a priority and create time for learning and risk taking in the classroom to grow professionally.