Technology inside of a classroom. Is there any real use for technology in a school? How can teachers use technology in a positive light with all of the information which is now to every person in the world. What type of technology is available for teachers to best teach their students without being cut out of the equation completely. Do I already use some of these tools in my everyday life, or are there other tools and techniques I need to learn how to use and utilize?
According to Bernie Poole's article What every teacher should know about Technology, every teacher should have an understanding of six different areas of technology. They are as follows: Productivity Tools, Troubleshooting, Technical assistance, Web Resources, Search Skills, and Interest and Flexibility.
As I read this article, I found that three of the areas already listed I have already been doing at at this time. They are the Productivity Tools, Troubleshooting, and Technical Assistance. The Productivity Tools are items such as Word, Excel Spreadsheet, and PowerPoint Presentations. I am able to utilize these tools in school related activities in high school and college. The Troubleshooting area of technology I am familiar with for similar things have already happened to me and I have dealt with them before. Such as my computer freezing and the only what to get it to “melt” or unfreeze would be to turn it off and start if up again. Finally, the last area I am good at and have had some experience in is the Technical Assistance. I know several different people who are tech savvy. I trust them completely when it comes to my computer and other devices when my devices do not work well.
While reading this article I found three areas I need to work at and grow in. They are: Web Resources, Searching Skills, and Interest and Flexibility. In the Web Resources, I am yet to grasp just how many sites there are for teachers to use. Before I started to leisurely look at the different apps for Apple products, I had no idea the magnitude of teaching and other educational applications there are just in the Apple app store alone. My mind is blown away by just thinking of the multitude of other resources on the web that is available for teachers to use which I have yet to become aware of. In the area of Searching Skills, mine are adequate, but when it comes to searching for teaching resources, I am in need of work. I have been able to get on Google and type in the relevant information I was unable to find elsewhere, but I have no real skills when it comes to searching for sites which pertain to my teaching with in a classroom. This is one of, if not the biggest area of growth I need to work in. As to the Interest and Flexibility, I have an interest in finding good resources for teaching. Flexibility wise, I am willing to take the time to search for finding the good resources and trustworthy teachers to ask them questions.
Jose Bowen from SMU talks about technology inside and outside of the classroom in this interview. Bowen talks of several different ways to use technology outside of the classroom which helps enhance the dialogue of his classes. This may be in sending a tweet to his class about a real world problem which just happened and he asks the class on Twitter if it has any bearing on the reading they had in class that day. If I were to use this sort of scenario in my classroom, I would probably have more of a student led discussion than me asking a few questions which are easy in that they do not involve thinking critically about what they have just read. This will change my teaching method in that I will have to pose these questions using technology instead of asking them face-to-face. Yes, this is a good thing, asking them face-to-face, but sometimes in order to get the students to really think and analyze critically I may have to ask the questions using technology while not in class. Doing it this way will indeed bring more face-to-face interaction while class is in session and not have all of us plastering our faces to a screen.
When Jose Bowen talked about teaching naked he meant that if you have a strength in lecturing, you go ahead and lecture. If this is not your strong suit, then you can use a podcast or YouTube video in which another teacher, from Yale for instance, will do the lecturing for you. By doing this, the I as a teacher am able to spend more time interacting with the students rather than lecturing to them. Students need to be willing to have those face-to-face interactions with their teachers when they teach naked.
Whether it be mastering a technological requirement for teaching or how I use that particular technique has a large impact on the students who come into my classroom. The method I use the technology for will have to be relevant to how it will best teach my students. This will be in teaching them how to think critically and analyze the information in a way only technology can provide.
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