STEM Teachers are Falling Behind by Not Staying Up to Date With the Level of Technology in the World Today
Describing The Issue
The issue and theme that I have observed while studying Module A is that many teachers are not comfortable or proficient using technology in their everyday practice. This is particularly a problem for teachers in the STEM fields since the use and development of new technologies is the driving force behind all major economic development in any STEM related industries. Math and Science teachers in elementary schools often don’t have any background in science or technology and many older teachers are under the assumption that doing their job is about teaching children basic math and science fundamentals rather than incorporating and exploring the use of state of the art technologies. Many of these teachers have a negative attitude toward science and technology and may neglect to spend time teaching the subjects at all. (Sherman & MacDonald, 2007)
Incorporating more technology in the classroom is still up for debate for many schools and educators. It takes continued financial investment and additional time commitments to ensure that schools have Wi-Fi, computers, tablets and other devices that are up to date. There is furthermore the problem of figuring out how teachers and students use technology so that content is properly taught and mastered. Technology use and proficiency is a problem with all educators and the learning experience for both student and educator can be far superior when the proper use and training of technology is encouraged. Many teachers would argue that we should just continue to lecture at kids and have the same results that we did in past decades (Efaw, 2005). Can teachers continue to be the sole experts in the classroom? Can we just educate the way we always have? The answer is: Absolutely not.
Technology can help unleash student and teacher creativity, which can lead to innovative projects and learning beyond what most students experience today. Student access to technology allows for more research and access to expertise beyond the teacher. It opens a window into the global economy and cultures beyond a student’s neighborhood, city, state and country. Many Web apps allow students to create information and projects that weren’t possible in the past. Teachers and students can connect across the globe to work with others or directly reach experts. Students can create instructional videos for their peers, often making difficult concepts easy to understand.
In the first module of ETEC 533 we were required to watch a series of video cases regarding technology use in k-12 classrooms. The attitude and aptitude of some of the teachers regarding technology shocked me. I was surprised to see a newly trained and orientated teacher who wasn’t comfortable using technology in her classroom and didn’t feel that the time invested would be worth the benefit. If technology is put in the hands of a talented teacher it can be the instrument of change that can encourage creativity and help students own their learning. It can allow learning to be differentiated for every student and give real-time data about progress so that teachers can adjust lessons. I have seen first hand throughout my teaching experiences the benefits that technology integration can afford to students. While interviewing a colleague to discuss technology use in the classroom he and I were synonymous on the relation between technology proficiency and teachers’ ability to prepare students properly for the future. The fact is that teachers and technology professionals can no longer be separate titles.
Analyzing the Issue
It took quite some time to find primary research studies relating to teacher training and teacher proficiency. I found that most studies relating to technology use, were pertaining to students and rarely did researchers show an interest in identifying problems with teacher preparedness. I was able to locate some good studies showing the benefits of integrating technology into math and science teacher training. I was also able to find data that would imply that teacher’s either aren’t properly trained or prepared to teach children science or to be proficient with modern day technology. Searching for articles matching my criteria was done most easily through CiteULike. I found CiteULike produced more accurate results than the UBC library search catalogue and it was easy to read through a description of the article to see if it would be an appropriate study to choose. I then had to ensure that the article was producing research via original data collection. I encountered many articles that framed my issue, but upon further examination, they were either not primary sources or didn’t directly relate to STEM fields. In reading many different articles, I did find vast array of information that supported my issue. I also found some articles that met all criteria however, were unavailable through the UBC library and were required to be purchased elsewhere. Eventually, I was able to find a number of relatively current studies that provided original empirical data framing the issue.
The article “Infusing technology into a mathematics methods course: any impact?” (Li, 2005) presents an approach to teach a secondary mathematics methods course integrating technology. Specifically, the study focuses on how the integration of multimedia and online discussion into a mathematics methods course affect student teachers’ beliefs about geometry and their attitudes toward educational technology. Empirical data collected in the study include students’ written assignment, transcription of online discussion, multimedia projects, and instructor’s journal. The qualitative analysis of data revealed that two themes are particularly salient: 1) the student teachers’ attitudes about using technology in classrooms had changed; and 2) for at least some of the student teachers, the fact that multimedia project focused on geometry positively affected their attitudes toward geometry and teaching geometry.
The study clearly identifies numerous research studies that support the idea that technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics. This research also strongly suggests that new roles, responsibilities and technologies are developing and need to be mastered by teachers. (p. 218) Throughout this study it was clearly evident that as a result of the training the pre-service teachers were able to realize that appropriate incorporation of technology in education can enhance teaching and learning. The research proves if technology-enhanced authentic experiences can be designed for student teachers and, at the same time, provide them with opportunities to implement and test their technology projects in real classrooms, student teachers and their students will gain more than the traditional methodology courses.
Sherman and MacDonald’s examination of “Pre-service Teachers Experiences with a Science Education Module” (2007) describes a module provided to first year elementary participants in a two-year after-degree Bachelor of Education program. The module was specifically designed to address the fact that pre-service teachers can enter the B.Ed. degree with little or no science knowledge. Science experiences were explicitly incorporated into the B.Ed. module described here linking science content knowledge to specific science pedagogic content knowledge. The pre-service teachers were surveyed and interviewed during and after completion of the module. It was found that the inquiry-based approach increased the pre-service teachers’ level of science knowledge, their confidence with regard to teaching elementary science, and improved their attitude toward science teaching and learning.
The data collection done through this particular study has profound implications on the ideology we currently hold regarding elementary teaching. We assume that it is not necessary for elementary teachers to have a strong understanding of science or technology. If the issue isn’t addressed with either restructuring of elementary programming; including specialized teachers at the elementary level or changing the standards of entry and training for elementary teachers, we will leave students at a disadvantage when it comes to STEM education.
The article “Preparing Preservice Teachers for 21st century classrooms: Transforming Attitudes and Behaviors About innovative Technology” (Williams, Foulger & Wetzel, 2009) promotes instructors’ ideas about behaviors of 21st century teachers, and explores efforts to support their pre-service teachers to join this rank. Overall findings indicated that pre-service teachers in this study (a) used a variety of strategies to learn new innovations well enough to teach or model their use to classmates, (b) expressed both a lack of confidence and lack of awareness of confidence-building experiences but indicated their confidence was strengthened by deeper understanding of the usefulness of tools and their abilities to collaborate with peers, and (c) felt they could use technology in their future classrooms, especially those who taught the innovation to others.
The article noted that currently, definitive classroom practices preparing pre-service teachers for the 21st century are not well established. Innovative teaching and learning approaches that help education move in this direction need to be further explored and documented. (p. 417) This implies that not only are current teachers lagging behind in keeping proficient with 21st century technology but that additionally, many higher education institutions may be sending newly trained teachers into the classroom ill-prepared. This data collection and reflection reinforces the requirement to ensure authentic technology training and computer proficiency is demanded of teachers in today’s digital world. STEM education depends on the utilization of 21st century technology in order to stay relevant to the digital world and environment that students are experiencing.
In the article “Enhancing Collaboration among Math and Career and Technical Education Teachers: Is Technology the Answer?” (Morgan, Parr, & Fuhrman, 2011) they research the idea of teacher collaboration being recognized as a vital component to student success. Their project represents an evaluation of the researchers’ initial efforts toward providing in-service education for teachers focused on collaboration between math and Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. The purpose of the study was to (1) describe selected characteristics of secondary teachers of math and CTE, (2) describe their perceptions concerning the “value of” and their “willingness to implement” the instructional practices and activities presented during a professional development seminar, and (3) assess their views about the use of emerging technology for teacher collaboration. Survey responses indicated that using the Math-in-CTE Model was valued. Overall, respondents valued technology but seemed a bit reserved about the likelihood of implementing and using technology. Results imply that teachers with positive attitudes and self-efficacy for adopting the model may struggle to implement collaboration due to a lack of time and access to technology. This shows a problem relating to school resources and administrative support not offering a level of technology, time, or training opportunity to teachers that would allow the best development of STEM teachers.
I chose the article “NARROWING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE Head Start Teachers Develop Proficiency in Computer Technology” (Chen & Price, 2006) because it addressed the need for teachers to have some consistency from school to school in regards to technology. It also brought to light the existence of a vast disparity in teacher proficiency in technology. The term ‘Digital Divide’ refers to inequalities in children’s access to computers because of factors such as income, race, and parent education. One dimension of the divide is defined by differential access to the hardware of technology. Children from low-income, minority families are less likely to have access to computers in either their homes or their schools. A second dimension, less readily detectable, is disparity in teachers’ readiness to use computers. Many teachers from the inner city are not equipped with the computer skills needed to successfully apply and integrate technology in their classrooms. To narrow the divide and make the educational benefits of technology accessible to all children, schools need appropriate computer hardware and trained teachers who can integrate computers to facilitate the teaching and learning process. This is particularly important when encouraging students to take interest in STEM related courses. To become proficient in technology, teachers require effective professional development programs and adequate classroom support.
Responding to the Issue
After researching and analyzing the issue it is clear that there exists a large number of teachers today that are either not comfortable or not properly trained in the use of up to date learning technologies (Sherman & MacDonald, 2007). This is of particular concern when we see that North America is not graduating as many professionals in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines as other countries are (Johnson 2010). The benefits of math and science teachers embracing and incorporating high levels of technology in the classroom are vast and constantly growing. Teachers that have this training and schools that prioritize technology spending are giving Math and Science students a benefit over the more traditional classroom models (Li, 2005). The use of technology by educators can be the instrument of change that can encourage creativity and help students grow profoundly in their learning. When it comes to all educators, most vitally those who teach math and science, the title of technology professional and teacher must become a shared role in the life of an effective educator. Proper preparation of pre-service teachers needs to give authentic experiences regarding the use of 21st century technology. (Williams, Foulger & Wetzel, 2009) Without this type of training and experience, it is clear that a large number of STEM teachers will fall behind and become ineffective in preparing their students for the future.
References:
Chen, J., & Price, V. (2006). NARROWING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE Head Start Teachers Develop Proficiency in Computer Technology. Education and Urban Society, 38(4), 398-405.
Efaw, J. (2005). No Teacher Left behind: How to Teach with Technology. EDUCAUSE quarterly, 28(4), 26-32.
Johnson, E. B. (2010, April 21). Training Math Teachers . The New York Times, p. 26.
Li Q. (2005). Infusing technology into a mathematics methods course: any impact?. Educational Research, 47 (2), pp. 217-233
Morgan, A. C., Parr, B., & Fuhrman, N. (2011). Enhancing Collaboration among Math and Career and Technical Education Teachers: Is Technology the Answer?. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 26(2), 77-89.
Sherman, A. and MacDonald, L. (2007). Pre-service teachers’ experiences with a science education module. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 18(4):525-541.
Williams, M.K., Foulger, T.S. & Wetzel, K. (2009). Preparing Preservice Teachers for 21st Century Classrooms: Transforming Attitudes and Behaviors About Innovative Technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 17 (3), pp. 393-418.