Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Ita M. Brown
EDUC 584
In recent years school districts and educators have been accused of hindering the learning of their students. At first read such a statement may seem ludicrous. But, those accusers can support their claims. With the ever evolving digital technology, it has been stated that: education has been slow to adapt to these new tools and potentials. (Richardson, 2010. p. 3)
Nationally, school districts are providing technology at varying rates. The main justification is likely funding. Then, there are teachers who are not like digital risk takers like their students, (speaking personally). Some students continue to amaze some of their teachers when they demonstrate their comfort in navigating digital medium. Our students have no reservation or fear of technology. In most cases, they are self taught.
Using data from the National Education Technology Plan of 2005 (Richardson, 2010, p. 7) shared that; students today regardless of their age are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy. I am embarrass to say I'm one of those teachers. But, I think I;m ready to fully enter the digital age to fully benefit me and my students. Listening to my fellow colleagues talk about one computer for their students, I should count myself fortunate to have 5 computers for 25 students. To allow them sufficient digital learning time I schedule students to come to the class before the official start of the day. Further evidence of ny committment to digital collaborative learningfor my students was me recently spending $400.00 to purchasr a used projector and a used laptop to present lessons mainly mainly from Brainpop and Youtubr.
There are an ever chanding trend in technology. To allow their students to engage in participatory learning, school districts need to provide the tolls both the learners and educators need.
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Ita, I couldn't agree with you more about the need for up to date technology, and enough of it for all srudents, in our schools. It is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine that students take a step back in techonlogy terms when they come to school versus their homes. Not only is money an issue, but I also feel more teacher PD needs to be given so techers can understand the possibilities out there and have time to explore in order to enhance their teaching and student learning.
ReplyDeleteIta, I agree with so much of what you wrote. It's like you read my mind. We are supposed to be integrating technology into our lessons and teaching, but our school does not even have enough money to provide computers that work. I have several students whose IEP's indicate that they have computer access. The only problem is there are no computers to access, which is due to funding.
ReplyDeletePlus, I will tell you that you are not alone, I am continually amazed with what my students can do on the internet and their overall computer. I feel so inadequate.