The Learning Coach –
Alright, time to come clean. Although I read most of the articles that had been provided to us it was really the Learning Coach that caught my eye with it’s title.
And that’s only because I thought that it was going to be an article about a new technology – Learning Coaches. Which in essence I consider myself to be as I provide online and f-f support for kids who are home schooled. That is not, however anywhere close to what this article is actually about and I really have to laugh at my short-sightedness.
It turns out it is actually an overview of technology trends and their potential for education in 2012. Of the eight that were mentioned, really only one was new too me – the online curator service. And that gave me a bit of pause. Am I the typical educator?
When I think about the question of how useful these technologies would be to the broader educational community I believe we really need to take a look at what defines community. There does appear to be growing divide in public schools between teachers who are willing/flexible/comfortable/confident with technology and those who are not. I have many colleagues that still consider overhead projectors to be adequate technology. At the same time there is also a spectrum of teachers with good classroom strategies (from experience and seasoning) to those who struggle (usually but not always due to inexperience). I have witnessed new teachers trying to implement technology without a sound framework and appropriateness for it’s use into their lessons.
By my calculations that leaves probably less then 10 percent of the educational community that have enough experience and enough tech-savvy to be able to appropriately find use in their practice for these technologies. So how useful are these technologies – incredibly and undeniably useful, but only to about 10 percent of educators.
Counter arguments anyone?
And I’ve already signed up to eLearning Coach newsletter and included the link on my twitter feed. It’s a fabulous resource.
PC
Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
lullings 5:51 pm on September 15, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey PC,
I would be interested in drilling down into this 10% you have calculated. Do you think they are from all backgrounds? Do you think that they are from all ages?
I am going to put my head on the chopping board now and it might actually create a bit of a backlash. In my experience the biggest differentiator between people is their attitudes. The biggest influence on peoples attitudes is their work environment. I find that people working in the public sector are forced into a changeless single-minded-ness attitude that hampers both the ability and desire to change. I am not taking sides and not blaming anyone. I find that private sector people are required, and allowed, to be more dynamic and versatile and that it stands to their personal development in what ever field they are in.
You posed the question that its between the teachers who are willing/flexible/comfortable/confident with technology and those who are not? Would it be more about what systems are in place for teachers to be allowed and encouraged to test and perhaps fail?
S
Peggy Lawson 8:33 pm on September 15, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the post PC; it actually caught my eye as I was going through the week’s postings, so I decided to take a closer look at the Learning Coach. I like these brief overviews of key technologies to look for. I certainly don’t have time to follow up every one in depth, even though my job is focused on bringing technology to the classroom throughout my division, but the more I continue to hear & read about specific topics the deeper I am drawn in.
I see an increasing number of teachers – my estimate would be much higher than your 10% – who are willing to explore how to integrate technology into their everyday instruction. I think one of their biggest challenges (other than costs, of course) is not resistance but time. I’m constantly reading about technological advances and how they may be used in the classroom. I would guess most teachers would be like me – they require repeated exposure to gain a depth of understanding. They, however, have less time to devote to experimentation and practice. While I wouldn’t say this is the only reason educational advances in this area plod along slowly, I think it’s an important one. And as S noted above, it’s important that teachers do have this time to test and fail.
Peggy
manny 11:24 am on September 16, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Peggy,
The experimentation phase when it comes to introducing new technologies definitely needs to happen. Unfortunately it seems like a catch 22. I read somewhere that on average, a teacher needs about 2 years to successfully adopt and integrate new technologies into their instructional practice. However, it seems as though we are always playing catch up because of the rapid growth of technology. It seems to me that as soon as we figure out how to integrate a new technology into the classroom, it is already obsolete and the next best thing is already on the market and being introduced into classrooms. I feel that this is just one of the realities we have to face and makes it difficult to remain on the cutting edge of innovation.
Manny
Peggy Lawson 5:21 pm on September 16, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Very true Manny – excellent point!
Doug Connery 1:35 pm on September 16, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi everyone:
A few quick comments:
PC – there is a technology divide with post secondary instructors as well, generally by age. Younger more likely to use/adopt technology and older, especially those late in their careers less likely.
Stuart: – I believe the private/public sector situation occurs in all fields, not just education.
Peggy – From what I have seen working for nearly 10 years with post secondary instructors it is a combination of attitude (Stuart) and time. Without some sort of offload it is difficult for instructors to find the time to integrate technology. Some motivated instructors will. I have seen situations where faculty are given time and a goal through a project, andt they do work hard at it and others who because of attitude, don’t really create good value based on the time and money made available to them.
Manny – It is a risk for the teacher and the school to actually prototype something new and different live in the classroom.
Doug.