As teacher candidates, we encounter a lot of these problems in our PDS experiences. With different schools having different levels of technology and knowledge of using it, some of our lessons are nearly impossible. However, I can't help but feel we aren't alone; with the 21st Century CSOs in place, current teachers often experience the same problems. Not only can this be frustrating for the educator (teacher or tutor), but the students also can achieve a level of frustration from the problems with executing the lesson's instructions.
My question is this-is technology really always the best way to get our point across to students, professors, or other facilitators? After weighing the pros and cons of using technology as well as the equipment itself, I'm curious to know if others feel the same way I do. Do other students experience the same problems I do when it comes to using the equipment at a school we only attend part-time? Do other teachers or those who have taught in public school before teaching at WVU feel the same anxiety about technology-based learning?
I believe that it is important to incorporate as much technology as possible into everyday classroom life. Technology is such an enormous part of the real world that I feel it a necessity for students to be exposed to it at a young age. Last semester my mentor teacher used almost no technology and therefore I was not very confident when using it myself. This semester, however, my mentor teacher uses technology almost every day and I can feel my confidence level rising just by watching her use it. My PDS is located in a very poor and rural area and some of the students would not be exposed to computers if it wasn't for the school day. Even though using technology can be stressful on us as educators we owe it to our students to expose them to the skills they need to know in the real world.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is important, but not the most important. As a teacher, I get frustrated when they "the school system" gives us programs to use and incorporate in our classroom, but we do not have the technology to use it. For example, they want us to teach the students a program-techSteps that is designed to help them in Office 2007, but we have computers that will only run Office 2003. Do you know how frustrating that is?? When they go home and want to create a pictograph they made at school they will not see the same thing on their computer! How frustrating!!
ReplyDeleteSarah, I definitely agree with you about the problems with technology. I am currently in a PDS school where technology is not always a tool that is readily available, which in turn makes it hard to incorporate technology as much as we may want. I believe that technology is important for students to get accustomed to, however it shouldn't always be the first idea that pops into minds when teaching a lesson. If this is the case, there won't be as much stress on us, being teachers or tutors, to make sure that the technology is working and ready for us to use. There are many times where computers, tvs, or even smart boards can fail us, leaving us as educators baffled as well as frustrated. I have experienced this many times in classes and myself as a student I get extremely annoyed. I can only imagine the students getting bored and annoyed waiting for things to happen. I feel like we should use technology in the classroom only when it fits and when we have the time, but make sure to have it in there to allow for students to get used to it.
ReplyDeleteI think that technology is one of the most important parts of progressive education. I think that all of our schools need to adapt accordingly, but as you said some schools just do not have the resources. I think that it is important to use as much technology as we can because everything in the world continues to change and adapt and use more technology. I am sure twenty years ago people did not think that we would be able to do half the things we do with technology today. I think that this is especially true for teachers. When I see a new technology tool in my PDS I'm often in awe because of how cool the program is. Hopefully schools will be able to provide students with the technology tools that they deserve for a good education
ReplyDelete