it’s iNavis… the teacher technologist

“Just for that Johnny, you don’t get to use the computer today!”

Ouch … technology used as a punishment is as bad as making a kid do push-ups in Phys Ed class as a punishment. One of the first things we need to learn is to not use a technology activity as a punishment OR reward. Once we begin to do that we begin to take away the opportunity for a student to learn … and that’s what education is about. Everyone should get a chance, since technology activities are part of the student’s education.

Another downfall of technology comes when it is used in the hands of the wrong person … the teacher. Wait did I say teacher? Yes, but let’s look at the teacher. Gabie Smith wrote:
“The “bad” side of technology use in the classroom became evident when students described ways in which faculty members are ineffective in their use of technology. One surprisingly common response was that faculty members “speed up” or go too fast when using computer-enhanced technology (such as power-point presentations or internet resources). In fact, 36.8 % of the responses to this survey item mentioned faculty speeding up the pace of their teaching.”

Where is this leading to? I’m thinking it’s headed to the traditional teacher. Hmm… maybe it’s more the traditional leaders of our schools? An example, our CFO in charge of hiring the next tech director told me he would like to hire someone from Price Waterhouse for the job. I would suggest that a school needs an educator with a vision who understands what is needed, can develop a plan and lead where no man has gone before! (Sorry, got carried away). Then real change and learning can happen.
But how do we cause them to shift in the traditional administrators and teachers thinking?
If classroom technology integration is to be successful, leaders and teachers in a school should possess similar beliefs about the availability and nature of the school-based support, resources, professional development, vision, and incentives necessary to encourage change within a school environment.

So now what, in part one we saw the undeniable statistics before us of teens today. They are learning in a new way … and what about the future. Today’s 10 and 11 years olds are the first generation to NOT know the internet (well it started when they were born). They are new breed of animal, will the “old school” communicate what they need to know?

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 9:19 pm and is filed under Best Practices, Information, Research and Tagged bad technology, Gabie Smith, traditional teaching, when not to use technology You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.