To be honest, I would have to say that I am doing all of the above…dabbling, doing old things in old ways, doing old things in new ways, and doing new things in new ways. I enjoyed the article, “Adopt and Adapt” by Marc Prensky and while I at first disagreed with some of the things he said, I took some time to think and research a little more. I did change my mind.
I have been one that felt that cell phones did not have a place in schools. Reading another article by Prensky gave me a different insight. He talked about the use of mobile phone cameras. He states, “Except for the research possibilities of the internet, it is hard for me to imagine a tool better able to help education than each student having in their hand a camera, especially one that can transmit the pictures they take anywhere. Students can collect evidence and scientific data, do photojournalism, visually express ideas, identify things and people, and do hundreds of other useful learning tasks, depending only on the imagination of the students and the teachers. The pictures students take can, in addition, be manipulated by them with photo editing software or other programs, creating even more expressive and useful possibilities.” There is a time and place where the cell phone is an acceptable use of technology. As with all technologies there are etiquette rules that need to be followed.
Prensky further states, “Our students’ strengths lie in their ability to quickly master, use and apply technology, and in their fearlessness to try new things. Our teachers’ strengths lie (or should lie) in their ability to distil and teach lessons about and with technology, and to engage their students in discussions that help them see and understand issues that they are likely to miss on their own. In order to figure out ways to use the technologies in service of learning, both groups must work together, because today the ‘right answers’ and ‘best practices’ exist only as ideas and experiments, or do not exist at all.”
Our students do want the ability to use all of the technologies available in school mainly because they are using them all in their daily lives outside of the classroom. They know how useful and time saving they can be. We are at the point where teachers need to embed technology into their entire curriculum. Technology must be integrated effectively if it is to make a difference in the way teachers teach and students learn. Good teachers maintain an interest in new technologies while looking toward improving the effectiveness of their teaching. Support and help from the school system is needed.
Appropriate district-wide use of technology for planning, assessment, professional development, and communication can contribute immeasurably to teacher effectiveness and student academic success. Technology should be integrated, not as a separate subject or as a once-in-a-while project, but as a tool to promote and extend student learning on a daily basis.
Teachers need to work with students to understand how things work, to find out what they already know, and to include them in the different aspects of the planning of curriculum. There are so many things I would love to try with my students…and do plan on trying. This year I will do more with digital portfolios, and plan to set up a blog site with my 3rd and 4th graders for “book talks” to discuss books the kids are reading. I would also like to look into podcasting. Technology is here to stay, I plan to embrace it every step of the way.
