Old ways die hard…
We in education are undergoing a mind shift. And one of our biggest challenges is convincing people that a mind shift is necessary if schools are to remain viable to 21st century kids. Over the last 10 years the focus of technology has been on equipment, with not enough, or very little, focus on how technology can actually be a benefit to the learning process. Why have we focused on the technology so long?
Maybe the answer is that we really didn’t know how to answer the question: What can technology do for learning? Technology has been responsible for many of the social and economic changes in the world we live in. In order not to be left behind, we in education took the first steps to wire schools and provide access, minimally in many cases. It is only now that we are beginning to move beyond the computer counts and connections to delve into what actually works in terms of learning.
I was in a meeting yesterday, and I can tell you that teachers are still looking at technology from an application standpoint - integrating PowerPoint or iMovie; having kids type in book reports. This is a start, but certainly not indicative of the benefits that technology has in store for learning. It’s a tough mind set to change. Not only are there those that don’t understand technology in education, but there are those that have a view that is limiting.
Take LCD projectors, or even interactive whiteboards. These are technologies that can easily be ornaments to the traditional stand-and-deliver method of teaching. And that is how I see these being used. They certainly can enhance that particular mode of teaching, but is anyone yet talking about technology uses that focus on students managing digital content to create new understandings? Neither an LCD projector nor an interactive whiteboard are high on the list of technologies that promote thinking and new understanding. What sorts of applications, such as webquests, are teachers using to develop thinking? That is our next step. And it will involve convincing our school policy makers first, getting them to see beyond the technology - LCD projectors, computers, and interactive whiteboards, to see how we can use technology to create new understandings.
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