Say what?
This is arguably one of the most unflattering pictures I have ever taken. I have this look of confusion and perhaps frustration on my face. For the life of me, I can’t recall what was going on or why I was making this face, but I can guess that it probably had something to do with technology….either being surprised that it was being used to “capture” me or irritated that I couldn’t use it because of poor “connectivity” at NCCAT. This face pretty much sums up my greatest challenges for leveraging technology to empower learning…the technology changes so quickly and there is so much of it that one is often left with a sense of bewilderment and frustration. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy using technology and think that it is a great tool for helping people find information, communicate and enhance the learning experience in many other ways, but all too often as teachers, we are presented with TOO MUCH, TOO FAST. When our district moved to a 1:1 laptop model, teachers went through a three day BLITZ in the middle of the school year and were given about thirty new tech tools to immediately go back into their classrooms and try out. The training was great, but when people got back in their classrooms and started trying to use the technology, they found that applying their new knowledge was more difficult than they thought. Some dabbled with a little of everything and never got to harness the power of any one tool that would truly make an impact on learning other than making it easier to grade assignments or cut down on paper. Some found one tech tool that appealed to them and just stuck with that and never moved on to expand their technology use. Still others decided that as long as they had their SmartBoards and ELMOs on that their administrators would not really notice that they weren’t using other types of technology and they could fly under the radar and stay in their teaching comfort zones (and it worked). For me, the challenge with technology is being able to look past all the bells and whistles and find the things that are truly going to provide meaningful and valuable learning experiences for the children and adults with whom I work. There has to be more to the tech tool than cool graphics and “flash.” I think many of the tools presented to us during NCCAT have the potential to provide deeper learning experiences, but again, despite the slow-to-no-internet-connection, there were too many things presented too quickly and I don’t feel I had much time to really learn about and practice any of them. Though it spanned several days, the mini trainings within were still fast and furious. Teachers are just like other learners…they need time to practice, apply, assess, and evaluate their own learning. I would like to see the technology trainings that we receive allow us to have that time. I would rather be presented with two or three amazing tools during the day and learn how to use them very well than to get ten and not be able to remember which one did which thing. Despite the quick pace of technology creation, changes and updates, teaching and learning still remain thoughtful, reflective practices and thought and reflection take time. I’d like to see more tech trainings that understand that sometimes less is more and it’s okay to give people time to think about and internalize what they might do with whatever wonderful new piece of technology is being presented. Am I alone in this feeling?
Hi Angel.
Although you don’t like this face, I can empathize and be right there with you. I, too, felt very rushed and inundated with all of that great technology. But, like my students and I like to say, “Technology is great…when it works”. The Internet frustrations of last week and the week at DPI were cause for me to have to practice a LOT of patience and re-trying, re-installing and re-connecting… I, too, would have liked some “play time” with the tools so that I could learn it, figure out how it will fit into my classroom’s and school’s schema, and THEN I could have been able to ask important questions. I think if we had been given some additional time to work with the tools during the afternoons and evenings individually or in the computer lab, I could have started the all important planning and implementing stage for next school year. As an aside, I enjoyed our late evening talk about students out on the patio! You know what you are doing and you say the right things for your students, and I really connected to that!
Take care!
Thanks Mrs. Joyce…and just in case I didn’t tell you in Cullowhee, I think you are AMAZING. I really respect your passion for teaching and how sincerely you approach your work with student teachers. I wish I had a cooperating teacher who was half as invested in me as you have been in the new teachers that you have worked with.
You bring up some great points, Angel. This post is a good conservation starter and really gets dialogue flowing. Hopefully, more Fellows will chime in with their thoughts on the topic.
Amneris