The inclusion of technology in the classroom in student driven, well underway and inevitable. Our graduation rates and test scores make it clear that what we are doing isn't working. Students are no longer engaged by the teach/test model or by books. We educators can either get on board with technology based learning, or we will age out of our careers and the next generation of teachers will capitalize on the interest and skills today's students are bringing to the classroom. We educators generally love to be the adults. We also need to cultivate the willingness to be led and guided by our students. Once they know we are genuinely open and interested, they can be eager to show us what excites them as tools for learning.
I believe one key is the recognition that each student brings a different passion to the use of technology and that is a strength. Rather than trying to increase conformity and uniformity, we need focus on uniqueness and the contribution of the individual.
Your best line....
ReplyDelete"We educators generally love to be the adults. We also need to cultivate the willingness to be led and guided by our students."
I've read about some schools where this is an active and regular part of teacher prof dev. I'll have to try and dig out where I read about this and share it with you and the class. What a cost-efficient PD model!!
This reminds me of the younger staff members I work with who are so comfortable with technology that it becomes a regular part of their instruction. Dan Johnson, a MS teacher in North Portland uses google docs during writer's workshop. The kids are al quietly focused on their writing and he "drops in" to make comments and give feedback. He can probably respond to 5 kids' writing in the amount of time I would take to respond to one!
ReplyDeleteThe notion of educators being let and guided by our students also resonates with me. I posed a similar question to another of our classmates. One of the toughest issues to tackle when increasing our use of instructional technology in the classroom is that of training the staff. Perhaps we need to find more creative ways for our students to train the teachers in the functionality of technologies, so the teachers can get back to facilitating student learning and growth...
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