1) What are your reasons for wanting to use technology in teaching?
2) What are your goals for the types of technologies you will use in the classroom?
3) What are your views of the barriers teachers face in using technology in the classroom?
I tried to think of my personal answers for these questions, as I prepare myself to become an educator. The reason I want to technology in teaching are pretty much to stay current and to create something fun and unique using technology. By the time I become a teacher, around 2019, who knows where technology will be. Students already rely so heavily on it now outside of school and the resources we will have as teachers to create something exciting with technology shouldn't be wasted. There are a ton of programs available to bring the lesson plans to life using at home computer assignments, learning games, ect. My goals would be to use technology for good and to teach my students what can be (positively) done using the internet! I think that should be a goal for every teacher of young children and on, in now-a-days society, to make sure their students are learning how to use the internet and their technology for good. In my classroom (elementary school) I would want to use the internet for homework assignments, a way to gain extra insight to the lesson plans and for games to help drive the lesson in. Growing up my favorite learning game played in school was jeopardy so that'll be a big one I use! The barriers teachers face using technology in the classroom now is probably just a disconnect in the teachers knowledge versus the students. Kids are learning so quickly now that if a teacher doesn't actively try to keep up, they wont be able too. It's important to make sure your knowledge is on par so that the technology you're using doesn't seem stale.
The next point is one that talks about levels of student engagement. Students reported that they felt least engaged during lecture classes, while feeling the most engaged by group projects and lessons that used technology. This hits home to me because I could not agree more. Teachers have to remember that they are talking with a group of students, not at them. I will firmly stand against lecture, as it ends up just being run on sentences and students will just day dream because they are not being stimulated whatsoever. The book states that in 2011, only 75% of high schools made it through all four years and a key reason for them dropping out was plain and simple, a lack of stimulation. 25% of students dropping out is way high of a number. One thing I'll try to remember when I'm a teacher is to look at every lesson and ask myself "how am i connecting this to the real world?". Each day can't be the same way of teaching, or the class will become stale and repetitive, thus losing the interest of the students. I'll have to hang that number of 25% up somewhere so I never forget what my goal is-lowering that number!
The next key issue is an important one to me. It is teacher-centered teaching Vs. student-centered teaching. Teacher-centered focused more on a formal conveyance of information from a knowledgeable teacher to novice students. They instructors use test scores and quantitative measures to determine if the lesson has been learned or not. Student-centered, however, view teaching as creating experiences for their children. They believe lessons should be used with puzzles, questions and conversation, therefore learning the skill through exploration. The struggle for teachers in this generation is the want for one (for most teachers I should say) and the push by officials to be another. The biggest complaint we are hearing from educators today is that they are being told to teach to pass a test, not to learn. This is more teacher centered because the answer to "are students understanding?" is based SOLELY on test scores. This is definitely not the best way to learn because of things like test anxiety which many students suffer from. I would guess most teachers go into the profession wanting to be student-centered and make their classroom an exciting one...I know that is my goal. I fear however, that it will be turned into a teacher-centered classroom based on the expectations that will be set on my students and me as a teacher to make sure they pass the multitude of standardized testing that are given out nowadays.
In conclusion, this chapter, like chapter 1, makes me really think about my upcoming career as a teacher. It makes me nervous, excited and determined as ever to create a classroom that uses all the resources available to me. It makes me want to dive into everything there is to learn about technology and how I can apply it in my classroom, I feel so determined to create a classroom that is student-centered. I wonder if this is ignorance or not, is my idea of a modern classroom skewed? This book is really making me think and I am so excited about that!
Maloy, R., O'loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Ellis, Jessica. "Untitled Powtoon 2 Jessica Ellis." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Sept. 2016. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.
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