Today in our lovely little group, we discussed some of the ideas we encountered as we gathered information for our inquiry projects. One article laid out a process for integrating technology into lessons that was rather interesting. It called upon teachers first to look at their current practices, and then to think about what they wish to accomplish by incorporating a new technology. It then stated that teachers need to research a variety of options, both technological and not, keeping financial considerations and best practices in mind. Resource identification was important, as was comfort level with the new technology. The authors felt that the teacher needed to be willing to learn, redesign content, and prepare a plan of implementation.
This article hit at the heart of some of what I’ve been considering. It is important not to adopt technology for the sake of technology. Technologies come, go, change, adapt. Instead, we need to consider why we’re using something. How will it benefit our students? How does it improve what I’m doing as an educator? How does it expand the thoughts of my students, the exposure of my students? Can I use it to create a connection that didn’t previously exist? As stated today, we are the sum of our experiences. If I can use technology to expand the experiences of my students, fantastic. If I’m using it to do the same old, same old, such as posting stories on a blog but not actually connecting an audience to that blog, what’s the point
The discussion today combined with my visit to Bard on the Beach and Elizabeth Rex created a most interesting image in my mind. While making the note of needing to expand thoughts through exposure, the bear from the play popped into my head. Elizabeth is immediately frightened by the bear, based on her personal knowledge and experiences. However, the bear turns out to be friendly and rather cuddly. Flipping this, if this experience is all one ever had of a bear, it might make for a rather dangerous reaction the next time one met a bear and tried to give it a cuddle.
As humans, we need to grow, to expand. If not, what is the point of our existence?
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What an interesting train of thought! Is it a well-socialized cuddle bear or a ferocious grizzly mama bear protecting her cubs? How does our autopoietic interpretation and response influence the attitude and behaviour of the bear? Similarly, when we are working with technology in education, how are we assessing our cognitive, cultural, and technological conditions? What beliefs and attitudes are we drawing from to interpret our experiences? What relationships have we formed to support our learning? When we encounter the inevitable difficulties of using ICT in schools – because the systems that are provided have not been sufficiently informed by our own needs and interests – how are we going to respond? What does it mean to emancipate the profession of teaching by utilizing digital technologies to improve teaching conditions? What does it mean to emancipate learning by utilizing digital technologies to improve learning conditions? Our uses of technology are essential to our human existence because they amplify our human efforts – in what ways might we consider this amplification? In our lives as educators’? In our lives as citizens of the knowledge era? I argue that this is the depth of inquiry that teachers need to adopt when they are bringing digital technologies into practice. Otherwise, it is just too difficult and it doesn’t make sense.