Isn't it a shame that students feel like they are in prison when they go to school? That they are possibly learning more outside of school then inside of school? I was able to relate to the student's voice 110% because I know that if I sleep through my alarm clock, my cell phone will be ringing with a phone call or a text message telling me to wake up. Welcome to 2007!
The way this student described the lack of technology in his school and his ability to use it really hit home for me. Money is always going to be an issue with schools, but there is plenty that can be done so that every school can have laptops and all sorts of technology resources. This is how students are learning and now it is our job to continue the desire they have for technology and integrate it into our classrooms. If we don't catch up to what the world is offering us, we are going to lose communication with our students and we will only be harming them in the end. The "plugged in" generation is here and growing rapidly. If we truly want our students to learn, then we will integrate technology into our lessons regardless of anything.
I am still trying to figure out why so many teachers are afraid of using technology. Is it a fear of losing control? The technology not working? Possibly messing something up during a lesson? It's time to wipe these fears away because teachers fail to realize they never had so much control to begin with and anything can go wrong during a lesson. Almost every school has access to the internet and it's time to take advantage of that!!
Each article reminded me of what Friedman wrote in chapters five and six. The competition for jobs is world wide. If we keep avoiding technology and therefore loose an enormous amount of communication with each other, we are only doing damage to our future students. If we really want to get them to be "untouchables" then technology, blogging, etc is a must. If we do not corporate these tools into our classrooms, there is no way our students will get the jobs they are capable of.
2 comments:
Hey Kris,
It's great to see you reflecting on your teaching motivations- that's happened to me a number of times throughout last semester and this semester as I have been going through methods and pedagogy classes. It seems that just when I think I've got a "reason" pinpointed, some other idea or motivation comes along and my thinking changes. It's not a bad thing though! Rethinking your motivations keeps you engaged- your teaching will never get stale!
I'd also like to comment on your guess as to why teachers are afraid to integrate technology into their classrooms. I agree- I think teachers are afraid to lose the control that they relish. With that comes the fear that the technology will malfunction thereby causing the teacher to further lose control and look incompetent in front of his or her students.
I say "bite the bullet" and just go with it. If your technology breaks, laught it off, fix it, and try again tomorrow!
Kris,
I understand what you are saying about why you want to be a teacher, I feel the same exact way which I why I may just go the professor route, but that's for another time and place. I also agree with your reflections on staying on top of technology. I blogged about it and I feel that we need to be competent with the technology that our students will be using. I think about someone like Dr. Wolf. A good teacher but some of the things she finds funny simply aren't current anymore (I bring her up cause I know you have had her for a teacher). Would she ever suggest websites to help us understand Chaucer?
My point exactly.
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