I think we've probably all been in the situation where you find your self talking to someone that is so far behind the times that you actually find it a little hard to picture what their life must be like. Technology is such a quickly changing field that if you don't purposefully immerse yourself in it, you fall behind, and it happens quick! Things that are relevant information today are only going to be so for a few months or so, and then new information will come and take its place. As teachers I think it's so important to stay up on what is going on with advances in technology, and use every effort to incorporate it into the classroom. Not only is it good for educational reasons, but also because it will help you to relate to the student's in your class. Technology is involved in just about everything they deem important, and if you can't understand what they're talking about or be able to relate to them on that level, your relationship will definitely be compromised. That's why the ISTE technology standards for students AND teachers are so important. They emphasize that students need to be learning and expanding on their technology skills, but also that teachers need to put an emphasis on using it as much as possible in the classroom. Kids understand technology, they can navigate it just as well, if not better, than the roads in their hometown, and letting them use their biggest tool when working their way through the learning process is only to their benefit.
It kind of feels like a daunting task, getting technology into our mainstream classrooms, but it's a process that just at the cusp and I think before too long we will look back and wonder how we ever did education without it. I hope so anyway!
I agree Erika! Building relationships is so important! I think that technology is one of the easiest ways to build a connection with our students and grab their attention. I was a little hesitant about how to do this in a 2nd grade classroom, but watching the videos in class was very helpful in giving me ideas to built on. It is so crazy to think that maybe one day we will be old enough to say exactly what you said "how did we ever do education without technology". Great insight!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Erica too, I was talking with my father (he's very technologically challenged) yesterday, and I was tying to get him to understand what opened my eyes in the past couple of days. Things like how the younger generations know nothing but computers and smartphones. And how even something as simple as telling someone to hang up the phone was "old-school". He was hard to get to understand what is coming. I said in another post that I am having a hard time trying to figure out how to incorporate all the tech we have learned into a 3rd grade classroom. and I will need to do that to connect with the children, and I know that I have to or else my students could possibly be behind when it comes to technology. Rad!
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