Posted by Jennifer S. on 9/1/2011, 8:13 pm, in reply to "Ed Tech Study"
99.8.143.128
You make the comment that "Technology will not be easily adapted to the classroom," and I have to agree with you. The key to this is training teachers not just in how to use the technology in and of itself, but in how to use the technology with their curriculum. Technology doesn't teach students, teachers do, which means that teachers need to apply all of their knowledge of their content area as well as how students learn to the use of technology. Knowing all the technical aspects of the latest gadget doesn't do any good if we don't know how to engage students with it.
--Previous Message--
: Think of a classroom, today, opening up their
: text books and notepads; students with
: pencils gripped eager to learn and absorb
: knowledge. In this classroom, however, there
: is only a dusty chalk board a slide ruler,
: and an abacus as teaching tools. By the way,
: the class is a high school Calculus course.
: Sounds ridiculous, huh? Can you imagine what
: schools would look like if zero
: technological advancement were introduced
: into the profession? It would not be as
: successful.
:
: Larry Cuban, a Stanford professor, is
: explained in the article as advocating for
: the technological dollars to be spent
: instead on proven advancements. These
: advancements, such as documented text books
: or, in the case of the subject I teach,
: Singapore Math or something of that nature,
: are not the solution. It would be wrong to
: divest from educational technology, just
: like it was a losing idea for the German’s
: to divest from nuclear warfare during the
: Second World War. The big explosive payoff
: from technology will come. Putting the best
: and brightest on the task of making
: technology payoff in the classroom is
: something the United States can and must do.
:
: Technology will not be easily adapted to the
: classroom. Teachers, more so than their
: relatively advanced students, will be
: difficult to train. This is a serious
: constraint. However, with changes to
: credentialing requirements and with growth
: of both successful applications and
: technologically advanced means for sharing
: success, the student achievement will grow
: with renewed investment in the educational
: application of technology. With our schools
: struggling and our national competitive edge
: diminishing U.S. schools need ed-tech more
: than ever.
:
:
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