From the interview discussion thread, the overall themes that I’ve seen arise are:
- There isn’t enough time or training for using technology in the classroom
- Funding and rapid changes with technology make it difficult for schools to keep up
- Technology can be a distraction
- There are challenges with the everyday vs. academic use of technology
- Teacher attitudes towards technology impact its integration in the classroom
- If a teacher is resistant to technology and doesn’t see its utility, then it will be poorly integrated if at all
- Peers who have posted about integrated PD and mentorship have mentioned that they are poorly used. This is due to competing priorities with the need for prep. Given a busy teacher schedule, technology and new pedagogy are often lower priority than the immediate classroom survival.
- Technology enables multiple representations of learning and discipline specific use
- From using technology in assignments to get students to develop digital skills and engage in a platform to practice digital citizenship, technology leads to opportunity
- When materials are scarce or specific experiences are not possible, VR, video, and other digital archives/worlds are important
Change in understanding of issues
What I’ve been seeing from the discussions so far is that technology isn’t always the topic. Connected topics, like training, pedagogy, and access to technology, are often what comes up instead.
I wonder if these conversations are partially reflections of teacher attitudes:
- it’s too hard to do this alone
- there are too many competing priorities, we need to focus on surviving
There is a desire to improve teaching and learning with technology, but the lack of training, time, and funding seem to limit the implementation.
It’s also important to consider the context in which most of my colleagues are discussing. Many are working in the public sector in elementary and secondary schools. In these contexts, there may be less choice in what a teacher can do (e.g., the curriculum is set, technology is selected at the board level) and there are many responsibilities put onto one person. In my context, we are very lucky to have a teaching team and staff to work on supporting our course. With this brings different reporting structures and the transition to get support, but there are many steps in place. The funding available for technology is also different. I find that at a large post-secondary institution there are more avenues to get access to technology that may not be as available for others.
I’m curious as to how the role of outreach between institutions and schools can be better leveraged. This could be a nice connection to inform everyone’s practice, but I recognize that this is difficult and depends on location and funding.