Teaching with Technology. Those three words are a gateway - not only our EDUC504 class, but the reality that lies ahead as we make our way in an increasingly digital age. The chalkboard-and-lecture style of teaching we had been engrained with as children is now a mere afterthought. As emerging teachers, our job descriptions are markedly more complex today than they ever were for our predecessors. Technology is shaping the way we live and it's evolving at a rapid pace that demands new teachers to get on board, harness its full capabilities, and encourage their students to achieve a higher level of cognition that generations of the past could never hope to achieve.
Teaching with Technology may be the formal name of this class, but a more appropriate title may be Teaching Without Limits. We are in the thicket of a vast interconnected world that we must utilize fully and responsibly. Our professors, Jeff and Kristin, certainly seem up to the task to help make us better teachers with the unbelievable tools we have at our disposal. The opportunities are almost quite literally limitless to what we can teach once we realize the potential of technology as a medium.
There are drawbacks, of course, and we discussed some of them in class on Friday. Cyber-bullying is obviously prevalent and it's an issue we must grapple with and be cognizant of. Students can be more distracted than ever before by the technologies we use, and it is not always a good thing. But by and large, there's far more good than bad to disseminated from the use of technology in the classroom.
I thought the Sheskey article did a much more poignant job than I could have in discussing the benefits of teaching with technology. One of the more interesting talking points in the article was the assertion that 'students demand a change' as a result of all this accelerated advancement in technology. Indeed, to make connections with students more authentic, he states "we must change our strategies to fit this new age of students." I find myself in complete agreement. 'Change' often invokes a variety of different emotional responses, but my hope is that the one invoked by my compatriots and I is one of anxious excitement. No other generation of teachers has had the chance to do what we can now do thanks to technology. Let us embrace it, and create new ways to make teaching more effective than ever before.
How you translated the name Teaching with Technology, to mean Teaching without Limits, is really inspiring. You've made me a lot more excited to become a teacher and to use technology than I was before. Thanks! How do you think we should deal with the negatives - cyber bullying - as you said, compared to the positives? How would you use technology in your classroom to promote responsible and respectful technology use?
ReplyDeleteHuss, I share Rachael's feeling that reading your blog post is inspiring. I think that the thoughtful use of technology *can* help us to reach our students, especially those who are not fully engaged. As you clearly understand, though, we really must start with our teaching and learning goals and work outward from there. As much as anything, we're hoping that this class will be an interesting context to explore and make some of these connections.
ReplyDeleteI must also say this it is VERY cool to think about young educators like yourself coming in to the profession with a certain comfort level with technology, and perhaps better able to not only reach students, but also to help colleagues to see and embrace new possibilities.
I liked how you brought up how students will use technology in a negative way. Although, I have not thought too much about cyber-bullying as it was not part of my high school experience, I do recognize that this is a problem with today's youth. Helping them to see that this can be harmful to others and to realize that we should focus attention on the benefits of using technology. I agree with you when you say that to make connections with students we need to make it authentic communication and to do this we need to use what they know and can relate to in an academic and positive way.
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