Technophobia and Transformations

That moment you reach for your phone and your fingers fumble over empty space; 

your heart drops.

Your skin begins to prickle in an almost indistinguishable cold sweat as you retrace your steps. 

When these steps turn up empty, an uncontrollable panic ensues. 

To be so dependent on something, that you have no control over your bodies physiological reaction, however small or great it may be, is scary. 

Walking into class today, I realized that I could taste the bitter tang of aversion on my tongue. 

To some degree, I was harboring Technophobia: the fear of and/or aversion to technology.

However, today I learned that technology is not something to fear, it is something to be embraced.

It is an opportunity to meet children where they are in interests and generational understanding. It is also an opportunity to differentiate instruction. 

Rather than an uncontrollable force, technology is a pertinent tool in pedagogical approaches and student learning. As teachers, we just have to know how to harness its power. We must become…

NINJA SEARCHERS!

Image by Daniel Ferencak

We must make use of Google search stealth moves, such as the "topic" site:edu and its location extensions, in order to foster a realization of a larger global community and differing perspectives.

As a teacher, we must send our students across time and space in their explorations. 

We have to ask the right questions, ones that they cannot easily Google the answers to. 

Now days, we teachers are more than facilitators, we are creators of learning experiences.

Wikipedia is no longer the taboo resource that I secretly use as a starting point in my research.

It is a source that I openly utilize and discuss with students.

We can learn the processes of research through one single platform:

- to start wide and narrow in, 

- what makes an article viable and trustworthy

- how to contribute information in a productive manner

 - to be part of something larger than ourselves

After today's class, I realized that technology, specifically Google and Wikipedia, are tools that we should confidently hang from our educator tool belts for future use in our classrooms.