Before starting this course I was open to learning new technology but negative questions kept popping in my head. It was a struggle to block out the negative thoughts. One re occurring thought was about balancing screen time. Students need to connect face to face and have social interactions. If technology was used more in the classroom then I was concerned about students going home to be in front of the screen more. I think most teachers know many children who go home and are in front of the t.v. or computer. I shook this thought around in my head and realized that we need to teach these students how to use technology purposefully. As Jenny reminded me, often kids who go home from school and live on the computer are lonely or don’t have the parental support. Lets give them a reason to go home and use technology productively.
At the beginning of the course I wasn’t sure how I could really apply using technology in September. I thought twitter is the rage right now, but laughed it off thinking how is that going to be useful for my grade 2’s? The school that I worked in last year (who knows about next year) doesn’t have ipads or laptops or many of classroom computers. I have never been hesitant about learning how to use new technology, I just didn’t now how I should use it in the classroom.
I was also overwhelmed by the amount of literature there is to read online. I wanted to learn it all…yesterday! I thought I should give up reading my novel for pleasure. There simply is no time for that. Now I have chosen some really good blogs to follow such as mindshift, and know about some great authors who are barging ahead in this field. Some websites are pure treasures! I can have a balanced life and be proactive. I know how to organize websites with Diigo. I did use Diigo before starting the course but didn’t know about all that it is capable of.
Personally I use email, and facebook. I had never blogged, tweeted, or wanted to make a website. Now I am comfortable blogging. I know blogging will be very helpful in communicating with the whole school community, or teaching profession. I explored weebly and learned the basics of how to make a website. I have a twitter account, but have not used it very much since I signed up. It will only be useful if I use it, so I better get on that!
There are resources in the school, I am not focusing on the technology that I don’t have. I can make use of what I do have available. We have computers. They are older but they function like computers! I am not thinking of technology as an additive. It is not just the drizzled chocolate on top anymore. I know ways to integrate technology to assist the learning.
I have learned some lingo. No, I wont be dropping any of the BIG words like Institutional Isomorphism on teachers. They will certainly high tale it. I do know the theory behind some of the resistance. From my experiences I can have conversations with the teachers in my school to start small. I can start with one teacher. I don’t expect to get all teachers on board. If I work with one other teacher and make it a positive experience attitudes can change. I will be adamant on pro-d. I can work together with teachers from other schools or other districts. We can develop our own pro-d, and then bring what we learn back to our own school.
I was open to the idea of change but had no plan of action. Making a change now, will make it far better for students and teachers in the future. This will not be easy, put I am prepared. When challenged, I have to remember ask myself why? Why am I doing this? For my students of course.
I have remained open minded and positive which has gotten me through to today!
Tess,
I really like the question you posed in a previous post: “What are we doing that we weren’t doing three years ago?” I think if we are still doing the same things with technology that we were three years ago, we need to re-evaluate. Not to say that we should jump on the lastest bandwagon without thinking (“We are getting iPads!” “Why?” “Um….”), but technology changes so quickly that we should look at how we are using it and consider if we could be using it better. Asking ourselves “why” is so important!
I too have struggled with finding good examples of integrating technology in the classroom. I am looking at how to use technology effectively in the primary classroom. I found this wiki sigelt.iste.wikispaces.net for primary teachers integrating technology, since one of the members is giving a workshop on technology at the BC Primary Teachers conference in October. There’s not much on the site, but I did start following a couple of it’s members on twitter, so I’m hoping to get some ideas from them.
Maybe we need to make a site where teachers can share their good ideas, considering the innovation factor, not just doing the same things we were before but with technology. Your local flora ebook would be a good candidate!
I really connect with your discussion with screen time. I always find that I often feel like my friends let their kids play with their iPad too much. Yet, I am guilty of that everyday with the amount of time I spend on my laptop and social media networks. Is there really too much screen time? How would that be calculated? I agree that it is important for children to learn to use technology productively. As teacher-librarians, I think it is our role to teach them to examine what role technology plays in their life. Students should be able to decide when it would useful to use technology and when other resources might be even more useful. As I write this comment, I find that I am also reflecting how I try to find balance when using my technological devices. Sometimes, even when I eating dinner, I will be cognizant of whether I am spending too much time on my smart phone instead of conversing with those I am having dinner with. It is this balance that I think is important to be recognize when dealing with screen time.
I have a very good friend, and we don’t get to see each other very often. We both have dogs, though, and we phone each other and talk on our cellphones while we are out walking. It is a lovely way to pass the time and we are very current in each others’ lives, even though we rarely have face to face time. The field of education is changing, whether we like it or not. Teachers are either going to take up a leadership role in shaping the future of education, or it is going to be shaped for them and they are going to be put into teaching positions that were not of their design or choosing. Digital technologies can play a role in emancipating our learning, or they can be used to control and limit our learning. These questions are not simply whether we are going to use digital technology or not as a personal, individual value judgment. Our choices and uses of digital technologies are playing a role in forming our future society. The question is, what role do we, as educators, teacher librarians, and primary teachers, want to play?