At Oklahoma Union where i attended school from pre-k thru 12th, we didn't have the luxury of much technology within the classrooms. Going into my senior year they began to install smart boards, from their they got new i pads for the classrooms. I always thought this was a good idea at first, but then none of the teachers would use them because they didn't know how. I never was fully introduced to a smart board until my freshman year of college. Now I understand the benefits of having technology in the class room whereas without it the students are less engaged within the lecture.
All schools that have installed some new sort of technology such as online grade books to new programs, smart boards, printers and more, need to be offered a class or seminar that shows them an idea of how to use it. I think that the teachers know the material but can better explain to students thru technology within the classroom.
The transition from high school where we still wrote our essays on paper to college where I had to learn how to type and what MLA was. I have experienced the change of technology thru the school programs, I think that technology has had a huge impact on my learning capabilities throughout the years.
This sounds a lot like Guymon. We didn't start installing smart boards until maybe around junior high. We didn't have much else than that. Now they have iPads, smart boards and promethean boards etc., but many teachers still do not know how to use them. I think if they did that they could really benefit their students.
ReplyDeleteIn my high school ag class we had a piece paper hanging from the ceiling that said future projector will go here! In high school I had several teachers that never even used a powerpoint. They wrote all of their notes out on the chalk board. Looking back I learned a lot from those classes, however I feel like if they would have used a method such as the TPACK I would have learned even more.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea for the teachers to have a seminar so that they know how to use the technology to it's full potential. This would definitely benefit the students immensely.
ReplyDeleteWhere I went to school we also didn't have any smart boards until my senior year. Our teachers were also very old fashioned and did not care for learning how to use them. I feel like having went through class without this technology makes us more eager to integrate it into our own classrooms.
ReplyDeleteThe seminar is a great idea. What's the point of obtaining all this new and helpful technology if they aren't going to use it? The way our classrooms are evolving, it is MANDATORY that we incorporate technology in any way that we can.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your idea of having seminars for teachers. If your teachers would have had that available to them then maybe you would be able to use that IPad.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explain your personal experience with technology. However, we are capable of succeeding academically with or without technology. The knowledge we have as students right now as pre-service teachers is very similar to what teachers in the Education Field now, the only difference is that they did not have the technology we have today. This means that students can reach their full potential academically with or without technology- the key is the teacher ya'll!!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in your article. At the many school si have attended my teachers didnt know how to or were to lazy to learn how to use a digital textbook in class. I think that as teachers we should not only teach our subject, but life skills like accessing technology for college.
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me think of how technology and teacher preparation for technology! Teacher education programs are trying to teach today’s preservice teachers how to use the wide range of technologies – from old-school software and tools such as PowerPoint, videos and laptops to those ubiquitous tablets and smartphones – as classroom tools, not just as social devices for communicating with friends or playing games.
ReplyDeleteBut because of rapid technological change, the need to fit more class requirements into a curriculum already filled with state-mandated courses, and the hiring practices of schools recruiting new teachers, many teachers colleges are finding it difficult to integrate technology education into their teacher preparation programs.
The result is a “to each its own” approach to teacher education, as the teaching colleges strive to work technology in without taking content and pedagogy out. Presently schools of education develop their own technology-based curricula that build on best practices in the field, in compliance with the recognized standards in the profession.
I did the research regarding TPACK in WVU and am applying and experimenting the Technology curriculum based on my research and the vision from our program. I hope all of you can implement what you have learn from TPACK as you become the teacher from my ongoing experiments in our class!
Your post makes me think of how the teachers are using technology in the classrooms and how they are communicating in one another. I liked how you used the seminar that is like a class that shows and teaches the teachers on how to use technology. I now see why education has to take a class of computers to prepare for the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI had the same experience growing up in a small town in Kansas, where we had little funding during the time I was in school. Today, we receive more assistance from the government for various reasons, and Hugoton Elementary now has a wide array of technology used in their classrooms, which makes me wonder how much I may have missed out on during my education. However, I think it is amazing how technology is always evolving, and I am excited to see what new advances come about to assist me in reaching my students through technology.
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