Salon 6 Response

Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations

or "Why don’t teachers innovate when they are given computers?"

I decided to join this Salon session because it poses a very interesting question, "Why don't teachers innovate when they are given computers?" As a new and fairly young teacher, I stepped into this session without any answers. I grew up with technology, used it throughout college, and am now in a Master's program to learn more about it. Why don't others see the importance of technology, and embrace it when they have it available to them?
The discussion we had led me to believe that people are just mainly stuck in their ways. If education has been successful for so many years past, why change it now? The old saying, Why fix something that's not broken, pertains to this topic. However, the problem with this statement is that veteran teachers are not realizing that it's not that education needs fixing, but rather, it needs to stay updated and modern like all other things in our lives. This is where technology comes in.
The consensus that we pretty much all came up with during this session is that the answer to this question is TIME: time to learn, time to plan, time to change. Most people can perform basic operations with a computer but the key is knowing how to use the computer to benefit your students, enhance your lessons, and provide true understanding. This is where time becomes an issue because this is not necessarily something that can be learned over night. It's a continuing process which requires constant professional development and growth.
Ultimately, it's unfortunate to know that some people have access to technology but do not make any use of it while others around the world can only wish they had computers available to them. As teachers, we need to remember that our job calls us to provide our students with a sufficient amount of knowledge to succeed in their lives and in their futures. In the world we live in today, in order to fully and properly do this, we need to be exposing our students to the new technologies and advances that now surround us.

Salon 9 Response

Salon #9: Minds On Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail and Learning 2.0 (John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler)

This salon session was a really engaging conversation for me. I always struggle with the fact that we, as teachers, are expected to do so much (integrate technology into our lessons, create fun activities, interact with the students) but aren’t given the time to do it because of high-stake tests. I thought I was alone or in the minority with this feeling but apparently, most teachers across all districts are feeling this stress and pressure.
Specifically, we spoke about a “disconnect” between what we are instructed to do by administration in our buildings and what we feel that we actually can do with technology in the classroom. One specific disconnect I see is within my own district. This year, we have had a district-wide initiative for technology integration in the classroom. Hours of professional development have been devoted to ways technology can be integrated into lesson plans and everyday activities. While this sounds like a perfect and very smart plan on paper, it leaves out the part where we get 42 minutes a day (which by the time students get settled and homework and do now’s get checked turns into 35 minutes) to teach a specific topic. In math, which is my content area, we move very quickly because of the rigorous and crowded curriculum we have to cover. The problem is, math is one of the subjects that students have the most trouble with. Knowing this and fearing the results of my students in June, how can I worry about making a Jeopardy PowerPoint, or making a presentation on Geometer’s Sketchpad, or making an interactive lesson on a SmartBoard? Sometimes, it takes me more time to explain the new use of technology then it does to explain the lesson! This is when integrating technology becomes more of a frustration than reinforcement. Or what about when you’ve planned a beautiful lesson using technology and it doesn’t work for some crazy reason that you can’t figure out??? That’s another whole discussion though….!!