http://www.edutopia.org/blog/technology-and-teaching-finding-balance-andrew-marcinek
As the title mentions, this article discusses finding a balance with the use of technology in the classroom. This balance is discussed in a couple different ways. For one, the teacher needs to find a balance to the amount of technology that is integrated into the classroom. The author discusses how daunting technology integration can seem to educators so rather than trying to incorporate a huge number of apps and every new web 2.0 tool that comes along, he suggests finding a few to focus on. His point is that the focus should be on the learning objectives and the tech tools should enhance the objectives. The tech tools should not be the focus. It is not about the quantity of the tech tools we introduce, but the quality of the ones we use. They should develop a variety of skill sets. He offered three suggestions, Google drive, Google sites, and Edmodo, which are tools he has used previously in his classroom.
The article also focuses on the responsibility that we have as educators to integrate technology and that the argument of technology being a distraction can no longer be used as an excuse to leave it out of the classroom. Today's students will be entering a job market where technology skills are increasingly important. Yet in spite of this, we must also teach them balance between technology use and interpersonal skills. We are preparing our students for an ever changing job market that will require them to have a variety of skills.
This is important because sometimes as educators it is easy to be overwhelmed with all of the tasks that need to be completed and technology integration gets put on the back shelf. A lot of teacher have good intentions of integrating technology but don't know where to begin. It is something we need to make sure we take the time to do. As the author mentioned, it is a vital skill that is essential to the future of many of our students.
I do agree that technology integration can be a bit daunting at times. For me it is the large number of programs that are available. I started this program to force myself to become more aware of the options for integrating technology. I do see the importance of it. In the first few classes we were exposed to a large number of programs and tools to that end, but I have seen that it also takes the next step of trying them and not being afraid to have things not go exactly as planned.
I also think we owe it to our students to integrate technology if we are truly preparing them for their future. It is hard to imagine what the job market will look like in the upcoming years, but we need to make sure our students have a skill set that will allow them to adapt.
I think our school is headed in the right direction with technology integration. It seems that a larger number of teachers are on board. The district has added more devices. More training is always something that would help, but I think there are resources out there if you are willing to take the time to look. The author's advice to start small is great advice.
I agree that all of the different programs and apps can be overwhelming! I also tried the approach of learning two or three of them really well. I did that for a couple of years and it went well, but now there is newer programs and apps that will work better for what I want to do in my class, so I started the whole process over again. Teachers have to be adaptable and understand that things are going to change. However, it can be tough to find the time to be constantly learning and become an expert on new programs.
ReplyDeleteThe plus side to always learning and integrating new programs is that it forces my students to be able to adapt and learn new things quickly, and I believe that is a technology skill in itself. Most of my students will enter a workplace where they will be forced to learn a new tech. The better they are at adapting, the higher advantage they will have. The last point I want to make sure I agree with is that the distraction excuse is out the door. We must teach these students the skills they will need in the 21st century.
I agree with the statement that teachers, when first integrating technology into their classrooms, need to focus a just a few programs at first. I have found through my own experience that I needed to begin with one application and then slowly incorporate others. It allowed me to learn to trouble shoot effectively and experiment with different features of an application or program.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that it is important for students to see constructive examples of how to react to technology when it doesn't work. There are times in my classroom when programs or connectivity aren't working well, and my reaction makes all the difference to how my students will react. Patience and cooperation are important life skills that often accompany the use of technology, along with how to appropriately ask for help or assistance.
I totally agree that the number of options are overwhelming and oftentimes I do not want to commit to a tool only to find a year later that it does not exist anymore. I try to stick with more mainstream tools and that helps filter some out.
ReplyDeleteI really like how the article not only talked about how to balance technology and teaching in a classroom, but also the need for balance within our own lives and students lives. We all balance the need to constantly be plugged in somewhere and it is important to realize the value of personal contact and relationships.
I like the idea of using just a few, meaningful uses of technology. When we started the course I was hugely overwhelmed with the amount of resources being introduced to us. It's very important to emphasize quality rather than quantity. We want to implement the newest stuff so we look better on the evaluations. But it has to be what works for our style and our students. I like what you are saying about balance. That's also something that needs to be emphasized.
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