We are often bombarded with many posts and articles about the successes and failures of technology in education. Too often these assessments are based upon the technology as if it were the only factor having any effect on the students in the classroom. Of course this overlooks something that has been pounded into educators’ heads for years: The greatest influence on students in the classroom is the teacher. That holds true with or without technology in the classroom.
The environment for learning is created in the classroom by the teacher. The teacher determines the tools selected for learning in the classroom. The teacher determines how much time each subject gets and what should be emphasized over something else. Yes, there are restraints and mandates placed on every teacher by administration, but the majority of the individual learning environments that directly affect students, are environments made by classroom teachers. Whenever I read an article, or post, pointing out the failures of technology in the classroom, my first question is: How well was that teacher trained in the use of that technology and its new methodology in the classroom? My second thought is: was that technology mandated to be there without teacher buy-in, or support? Without both of those requirements being met, coupled with what we know of the teacher’s impact on students in the class, how could technology ever be successful?
Adding technology into a curriculum is not a passive exercise. It requires a teacher to not only understand the basics of the tech, but an understanding of whatever new pedagogies and methodologies accompany that tech. Using technology in the classroom is more than just going from a number 2 pencil to a ball point pen.
I have had too many discussions with adjunct professors/teachers who have just been thrown online to teach courses that they have only taught in the classroom for years, because that is now the direction colleges/schools are being directed to go. Little thought on the part of these colleges/schools has gone into what it means to teach online. What methodologies need to be refined or changed? What training a professor/teacher needs in the use of new and devolving technology seems to be an afterthought if a thought at all. Teaching online seems to be a politician’s choice of solution to getting a bigger bang for the tax-generated buck. Many politicians are legislating requirements to teach online with no support for the teacher training needed to support a successful program. There is always the “They’ll-figure-it-out mentality” that seems to drive most change in education. It’s a cheaper, more sellable solution to the problem, but a digital worksheet is still a worksheet. We need to teach using methodologies of the 21st Century to take our best shot with 21st Century tools for learning, collaboration, curation, communication, and creation.
We need to be more critical of the studies that we see on the use of technology in classrooms. We need to ask if and how the teachers were trained in that technology and all it entails. We need to examine the mindset of those educators as well. Are they supportive of tech in the classroom, or do they view it as an added burden that they were never prepared for. Not every educator is prepared to accept technology as a tool for learning. These attitudes have profound effects on results.
Teaching is complicated. It might be argued that teaching is more of an art than a science. Complicated tasks are not easily assessed. With so many variables for success in education, how do we get it right? We cannot accurately assess the effect of technology in the classroom without considering the teacher responsible for implementing and using that technology. We need to consider implementation, training, and support, as well as ongoing professional development of staff as the technology evolves, changes, or is replaced. All of these are factors we need to consider and evaluate, if we are to truly determine the effect technology is having on learning. If we are serious about better educating our kids, then we better get more serious about educating their educators.
I wish our administrators knew this. Too many teachers have technology thrown at them, and they are told to use that technology. The amount of training is paltry, especially since many teachers still aren’t tech savvy.
[…] We are often bombarded with many posts and articles about the successes and failures of technology in education. Too often these assessments are based upon the technology as if it were the only fac… […]
Reblogged this on teaching knowledge and creativity.
I could’nt agree more. Another facet of this, I feel, is our need to separate or compartmentalize the many thing going on in the classroom or school. We see curriculum as separate subjects, separate from technology and pedagogy. It seems to me that we need to see the connectedness rather than the separateness. If we see the connections, then hopefully we can support teachers in many different ways, with technology or otherwise.
I agree with what everyone has posted. In the 80s te reo maori games were introduced but the kids knew how to play them better than me. A lot of our staff just weren’t technologically inclined until we had PD.Yes the competent teacher is always the best resource to guide the kids. They can either make or break the kids, sometimes it can be scary the power that teachers have over our kids.
Reblogged this on VP stories and commented:
Another great post by Tom.
As an instructor who recently invested the time and work to complete a OLC Mastery Series Workshop I certainly agree. Tech is a great means, but the teacher must be prepared to use it to create a thing of beauty in teaching.
Reblogged this on What I learned today… and commented:
Another great post by Tom Whitby on factors needed for successful use of technology in the classroom. I especially appreciate the insights about classroom teachers who are thrown into the position where they now must teach their course online…
Reblogged this on leighgreen34.
[…] prepared making educators more supportive of tech overall. Here is a similar post on this subject: Why Do We Separate the Teacher From the Tech? If we are to better educate our kids, we must first better educate their […]