Hello agian for week two. Some questions that have been going though my mind are:
1) How much help is or going to be available to teachers so that they can “keep up” with all the technological advances?
2) How long is it going to take before computer class become mandatory and part of the core curriculum? What types of problems is this going to pose for lower income families or families that may have immigrated (to escape war) and can not afford the computer, computer programs and the hook up fees?
3) How many teachers or soon to be teachers are scared that their students will know more than them, or that technology use will become a huge problem?
I know that to avoid some of the issues is being aware, knowing your rights and responsibilities and keeping up with all the advancements, is the first part. Second is to learn the terms of the field and the slang that revolves around it. This is what I’m learning now. I know the school boards do offer some courses, but is it enough?
Janick
2 responses so far ↓
1
group3
// Jan 27, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Janick,
I’m going to try to answer your questions (or at least provide you with my thoughts in response to them).
1) I think that teachers can and will have many opportunities to learn and keep up with technology. Your school or school division should have professional development days that are dedicated to technology and using technology in the classroom. I also think that a very good resource is other teachers and librarians. Asking others for help, advice, and new ideas is always a good way to go about learning.
2) Many schools already have computers as part of their six day schedules, without it having to be mandatory. As with many things in education, you do need to realize that not all of your students will have the same opportunities. That being said, you may have to make sure that what you do on the computers can be done in the schools, where the computers are (so basically: no homework). This is true for other subjects as well. You wouldn’t have your students take home a science experiment if they didn’t have the chemicals or materials that are necessary to do the experiment. Another thing about computers is it’s not just about having a computer, as you said there are hook-up fees, also you might have to buy a printer, scanner, digital camera, extra software, etc. to carry out assignments for school. I think the easiest way to have all students benefit from technology, is to do what we are doing in ECMP – homework is done as a part of the class.
3) This is a definite worry of mine, but I’m not really scared. As a teacher we should be lifelong learners, and if we have to learn from some of our students I think that is just fine. We have to be open to the possibilities of being able to participate in professional development activities to allow our knowledge of computers to grow. I do agree that because technology is growing so fast that it may become a problem. It is our job as teachers to use technology for learning and teaching, but only when it is appropriate. As I said before, I still think that it’s a good idea to have students hand-write a report instead of typing it some of the time.
Maybe your question – is that enough? – is the right question to be asking. On that same note, we could ask ourselves that about every other subject we might teach and continue to ask if it will ever be enough. I think we need to be positive about the things we do know and seek information and new learning experiences about the things we don’t know.
~Linsey~
2
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// Jul 12, 2006 at 5:49 pm
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