We live in a digital world where things change rapidly and no one has the time to keep up. (especially not teachers) Students today have grown up surrounded by technology and it is well known by now that they will always be one step ahead of the generation that came before. This is old news, and by the standards of the digital age where news is old after 27 seconds (according to common AT&T ads), this is ancient news.
As a tech savvy 90s child who grew up with a lot of technology, I find myself falling further and further behind in the race to comprehend the uses and abilities of today's technology. I'm taking classes on the use of technology in schools and the curriculum for the class is outdated even before it's printed. How are we, the educators, supposed to keep up with the latest trends and understand the technology that our students are using on a daily basis? The answer is simple: let them teach us.
The effort is being made by older teachers to modify their lessons and incorporate technology into the classroom. But many of these well-meaning teachers have spent the last 5 years or so developing amazing lessons and getting accustomed to technology that is now obsolete and needs to be updated again. SMART Boards seem to have already been replaced in some ways by iPad and Apple TV technology. Teachers can't possibly adapt and change their lessons to keep up with the demand for new and improved.
The better solution is to develop lessons that work using a variety of technologies and then let the students decide how they are going to best complete the assignment. If the student has an iPhone or iPad and wants to make a movie using some app - let them. If the student is not quite so up and coming and wants to use the seemingly outdated PowerPoint - go for it. Or if the student wants to find a technology that came out somewhere in the middle like a Prezi presentation - why not. The important part of the lesson is the content, not the method. Giving students the freedom to be creative and use technology that you might not even know exists is a leap of faith, but it is one that will be rewarded time and again because you will learn new things from your students.
I like to think of myself as current, up to date on Facebook, Twitter, I've used an iPad, I have a smartphone, but it's also important to remember I can learn a thing or two from the students myself, they're the ones with the free time to learn it all.
-MB
 |
| www.cartoonstock.com |
So why even bother talking about it?
As a tech savvy 90s child who grew up with a lot of technology, I find myself falling further and further behind in the race to comprehend the uses and abilities of today's technology. I'm taking classes on the use of technology in schools and the curriculum for the class is outdated even before it's printed. How are we, the educators, supposed to keep up with the latest trends and understand the technology that our students are using on a daily basis? The answer is simple: let them teach us.
The effort is being made by older teachers to modify their lessons and incorporate technology into the classroom. But many of these well-meaning teachers have spent the last 5 years or so developing amazing lessons and getting accustomed to technology that is now obsolete and needs to be updated again. SMART Boards seem to have already been replaced in some ways by iPad and Apple TV technology. Teachers can't possibly adapt and change their lessons to keep up with the demand for new and improved.
The better solution is to develop lessons that work using a variety of technologies and then let the students decide how they are going to best complete the assignment. If the student has an iPhone or iPad and wants to make a movie using some app - let them. If the student is not quite so up and coming and wants to use the seemingly outdated PowerPoint - go for it. Or if the student wants to find a technology that came out somewhere in the middle like a Prezi presentation - why not. The important part of the lesson is the content, not the method. Giving students the freedom to be creative and use technology that you might not even know exists is a leap of faith, but it is one that will be rewarded time and again because you will learn new things from your students.
I like to think of myself as current, up to date on Facebook, Twitter, I've used an iPad, I have a smartphone, but it's also important to remember I can learn a thing or two from the students myself, they're the ones with the free time to learn it all.
-MB
No comments:
Post a Comment