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.