To paraphrase that old expression, "The more I learn about educational technology, the more I learn how much I have to learn."
I guess I always looked at technology education as a two part process; first, students must be taught how to use the specific technology, and then taught how to utilize/apply it for any given educational objective. After viewing the two videos regarding "Digital Natives," I see that learners are well-prepared to utilize technology for education. The burden falls squarely on educators to "power-up" our instruction to fit 21st Century learning styles. If you look at it that way, it's not the students that need to get going, it's the educators.
For my library specifically, I would dearly love to use more technology. Monday through Thursday, I have one group each of third, fourth, and fifth grade students that visit the library for enrichment time. After taking a literature class last summer, I went back to school excited and full of ideas of how I could use Animoto to interest students in all the books I'd read over the summer, and wordle as a great way for students to create summaries of books they had read. I was shut down completely by our technology department. I was told that neither of these programs would be accessible on the student computers in our library, and that I could use the program only on my teacher computer. I have concluded that our District's technology plan is not one of how we can provide learners with a rich educational experience, but more a way to manage hardware.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week 1, Reflective Blog
My Educational Technology Philosophy:
In today’s world, with so much more information at our fingertips, the role of educator has new requirements and responsibilities. We can no longer expect our students to become well-rounded, informed individuals by simply utilizing paper and pen activities.
I believe my philosophy of education in general is a direct reflection of my own attitude and method of learning. I look at education from a very pragmatic point of view. I have always needed to see the value in what I was being taught or it didn’t mean much to me. I also don’t like to feel patronized by having to complete what I view as “busy work”. Just please show me the quickest way to get from point A to point B. I see that same attitude with many of my students; they must be shown the importance/application for information before it becomes valuable to them.
My philosophy of educational technology is very much the same. I don’t have any great need to sit for hours looking at a computer screen. I’m just not that person. However, if you show me a way that I can gain necessary information or ideas more readily by using technology, I’m 100% engaged. Likewise, if I can illustrate ideas or create projects more fluently by using technology , then I really enjoy expressing myself.
I feel my job as an educator of the 21st Century learner is to provide as much access as possible to educational technology, and to teach students how to use this technology to gain information and express ideas. Students who are able to access websites of favorite authors will become even more engaged in that author’s work. Those same students can be shown how to create blogs and thus be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas more readily.
Throughout history, teachers have worked to give students the tools needed to be successful. In today’s world, those necessary tools definitely include technology.
Having my educational philosophy in writing has forced me to actually think about what my philosophy is. Like many people, I get busy with day to day activities and can find myself not really going in a specific direction. This has given me an idea of the direction I would like to take educational technology in our school.
As I am creating my first blog, I can see how this could become a very creative outlet for me. I believe my students would benefit greatly from something like this. So many of them have no one to listen to them; this would be a great place for them to voice their opinions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas. However, at present, the technology department of our school district doesn't allow blogging, so I'm not sure how this would come to pass. In that respect, I don't believe we have met our potential in education as far as technology is concerned.
In "Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning", by Alan November, the author tells us not to use a technology plan as a shopping list, but rather as a way to create relationships. We should decide what technology uses would be beneficial for our students, and then make sure we have the hardware to facilitate those uses. I think in the course of planning, many of us forget this.
In today’s world, with so much more information at our fingertips, the role of educator has new requirements and responsibilities. We can no longer expect our students to become well-rounded, informed individuals by simply utilizing paper and pen activities.
I believe my philosophy of education in general is a direct reflection of my own attitude and method of learning. I look at education from a very pragmatic point of view. I have always needed to see the value in what I was being taught or it didn’t mean much to me. I also don’t like to feel patronized by having to complete what I view as “busy work”. Just please show me the quickest way to get from point A to point B. I see that same attitude with many of my students; they must be shown the importance/application for information before it becomes valuable to them.
My philosophy of educational technology is very much the same. I don’t have any great need to sit for hours looking at a computer screen. I’m just not that person. However, if you show me a way that I can gain necessary information or ideas more readily by using technology, I’m 100% engaged. Likewise, if I can illustrate ideas or create projects more fluently by using technology , then I really enjoy expressing myself.
I feel my job as an educator of the 21st Century learner is to provide as much access as possible to educational technology, and to teach students how to use this technology to gain information and express ideas. Students who are able to access websites of favorite authors will become even more engaged in that author’s work. Those same students can be shown how to create blogs and thus be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas more readily.
Throughout history, teachers have worked to give students the tools needed to be successful. In today’s world, those necessary tools definitely include technology.
__________________________________________
Having my educational philosophy in writing has forced me to actually think about what my philosophy is. Like many people, I get busy with day to day activities and can find myself not really going in a specific direction. This has given me an idea of the direction I would like to take educational technology in our school.
As I am creating my first blog, I can see how this could become a very creative outlet for me. I believe my students would benefit greatly from something like this. So many of them have no one to listen to them; this would be a great place for them to voice their opinions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas. However, at present, the technology department of our school district doesn't allow blogging, so I'm not sure how this would come to pass. In that respect, I don't believe we have met our potential in education as far as technology is concerned.
In "Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning", by Alan November, the author tells us not to use a technology plan as a shopping list, but rather as a way to create relationships. We should decide what technology uses would be beneficial for our students, and then make sure we have the hardware to facilitate those uses. I think in the course of planning, many of us forget this.
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