One of the great things about being an amateur teacher such as myself is that you get to experience a lot of things for the first time. Have you ever been to a big education technology conference? Well, now I have--and it was just a little weird!
From ISTE's email press release: A record 18,500+ educators and exhibit personnel attended the 30th anniversary NECC 2009 held in Washington, DC.
Picture this: over 18,000 educators...wait a second, let's look closer at that statistic provided by ISTE over 18,000 educators and exhibit personel. Still sounds like a pretty impressive number, but I was on the exhibit floor, and I might have a bit of insight. My press release would read something like this: "Over 9,000 educators and 9,000 salesmen attended the 30th anniversary NECC 2009 held in Washington, DC." I'm not kidding when I say that it was a 1:1 ratio, which might sound like a good thing, but the problem is that every single one of them knew exactly what they were talking about and they all had a t-shirt/squishy ball/pen/coffee cup/yo-yo to back it up.
There's a lot of technology for education out there. Throw out your chalk board, paper, pencils--heck, throw out your desk, chairs, even classrooms while your at it. We're moving forward people and technology is the way. If there's not electronics involved, then your 21st century students won't be able to learn.
I'm not sure I buy it. Why do we teach using technology? Why did my school throw out my chalk board? Is an internet based calculator more effective than an abacus (my dad explained to me what an abacus was). What do you think?
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ReplyDeleteAll I can say is being a teacher fits your personality....hope you kids can see how good you are
ReplyDeleteAs a journeyman teacher, I'd have to say that with too much technology, we lose our focus. And, I miss my whiteboard.
ReplyDeleteThe humanistic aspect of teaching and learning is swept under by the current tide of techno-gadgetry and buzzword-ballooning.
Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't know of any former students who, when encountered at the grocery store on a Tuesday evening, have said 'Gee, Mr. D. - I'm really glad we had digital cameras and PowerPoint!" I have, however, encountered many such former pupils who gave me a hug or handshake, and thanked me for caring about them on a personal, wetware level.
Let's face it, if you have a 5th grade reading level and can use your remote, modern society will do the rest for you. But, if you can't connect with people and form lasting relatioships, your life will remain empty. Technology is soulless, and will never be able to replace caring and supportive teachers.
As long as we live in a society that values the education of the child, and not the child's test scores, technology is just one more tool in a teacher's toolbox.
Oh, and by the way, I can show you where the abacus is on you SmartBoard . . .
Don't know how I missed this comment, but I absolutely love it. Aaron, you are seriously insightful and a great example. I miss my whiteboard too.
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