Lexie left this comment on the “Maintaining Identity” post the other day:
I agree the change is too fast, at times it is almost overwhelming the amount of change that is happening. I admit that even I get overwhelmed and frustrated at the speed technology changes. I feel that as a teacher, I must at the cutting edge of what is happening, how can my students learn if I don’t have a grasp of it myself? The question now is, how do we overcome these obstacles? How do we maintain this pace?
This is, indeed, the crux of the matter. One of the possible answers is, “We don’t.” That sounds defeatist, but sometimes you need to acknowledge the problem before you can address a solution. It seems to me that the answer might be bound in process and it has to do with investment.
The first problem is structural. The institution of Education is structured in such a way as to produce process that is antithetical to change. It’s too big, too much at the mercy of outside influences, and organized so that the various constituencies are cast in adversarial relationships. This is largely out of the control of the classroom teacher.
The second problem is process. Because the process is established by the institution, classroom teachers have only nominal control over this aspect. You don’t get to say when or what or — sometimes — even how a given body of knowledge is addressed.
The last problem is personal. This is where the classroom teacher has an opportunity to make a difference. By choosing to learn a tool, discover a technology, and try it out for your own personal learning, you’ve started the investment in your future. The “but I’m so busy I don’t have time” argument is a good one. It’s the reason more people don’t save money, too. All the current income goes to maintenance. Same deal with time.
But here’s the problem.
If I don’t invest, I’ll never get ahead. The resources necessary for upgrade will never be there and the future looks a lot like the present and I get ground up and spit out.
Luckily the reality is that, if i pick the right tools, choose to learn the right technologies, I can leverage my investment in time. By choosing tools that help me identify and augment my weaknesses, I can learn more and learn faster. By having more options in my toolbox, I gain access to even more options — more doors open, more possibilities become potential realities.
And that way lies salvation, it seems to me. With the right starting point, you can lay a foundation to permit you to learn whatever it is you need in the shortest amount of time. You still can’t learn everything, but you can at least have a leg up on figuring out what you need to learn, which is that much closer to actually learning it.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
So true. Your investment has to start somewhere. I know that my knowledge of technology could be better and I am striving to learn all that I can to make sure my investment is the best one.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I think that just having the students do a web quest or treasure hunt or something is a beginning for some if they have never done these types of things. The following website offers some information:
http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/webquests.htm.
This may seem like old news to some, but I have yet to see this utilized as often as it could and I think it could be more often. Grant it some web quests are better than others, but my point is that educators don’t have to create them just yet if they are new to them, but they can use them, and then creating them, or having the students create them could come later.
Or even having a classroom bog perhaps. Currently, I am just substitute teaching this year and I am going into Special Education next year with the hopes of someday specializing in Technology in special ed. and some regular ed. However, I taught a resource class last year full-time and everything I thought about doing, I didn’t except for some Excel spreadsheets and used Study Island http://www.studyisland.com/.
I know now that I wish I had done something with my students once every two weeks or so. I didn’t realize that had the power to do this and didn’t use it. Next year I am going to utilize what I know….even if I have to tie it by a thread to the core content.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I agree, although technology is moving and changing quickly it is non-productive to just watch it go by. We already know that a new computer becomes obsolete in 18 months. Does this mean we never buy a new computer? We are supposed to jump on board whenever possible and just do our best to keep up. I believe that is what the rest of the world is doing anyway.
January 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
A new computer becomes “obsolete” in 18 WEEKS … the question is, “Does the old one still do what I need it to do?”
Answer depends on what you need it to do. Most of the time, the answer is “Duh.”