Changes in technology have made a major impact in the business world, while leaving the slow-to-change educational field to catch up. Consumerism and the desire of the public to be able to have more for less, has propelled businesses to turn to technology to make that happen. Mr. Kirnan Datar, VP of Moxtra, points out, “Business technology such as video conferencing, social networks and virtual technology has removed workplace boundaries that previously limited business expansion. By adopting these new technologies, businesses can now target a wider customer base and grow to higher levels.” (Datar, 2014) These changes in technology are continuing to change at a fast pace and if our educational system is to remain relevant, it will need to adapt and change as well.
I have witnessed many changes in technology throughout my life. During my own path through school, it was not until I was in college that computers were beginning to become smaller and affordable to use. I remember taking a computer programming class, which involved learning the binary system and then punching a stack of cards in order to make the computer run the program you designed. Today, however, writing the code to create programs is easier than ever. For me, this transformation is amazing and always fascinated me. In the classroom, over the past fifteen years, there has been a shift towards technology as well.
Many schools have been introducing the use of technology into the classroom, with many debates as to whether it is a benefit to learning or not. Tania Lombrozo asks the question, “Is it Time to Ban Computers from Classrooms?” in her blog post. (Lombrozo, 2016) She believes that computers simply are a distraction, that in her studies, leads to decrease in test scores. Others believe that there is great benefit to the use of technology to learn. Gail Leicht and Don Goble argued that we should be using the same social media that students already use in the classroom in their blog post, “Should Teachers be using Social Media in the Classroom?” (Leicht, Goble, 2014) These types of discussions will continue as our world continues to adapt and advance the use of technology. It will be important for teachers to change their own learning habits in order to help improve our teaching abilities and stay relevant in todays world.
In my own school, which I have worked for thirteen years, there has been a move to make technology assessable to every student. Through the learning process for myself, I now see that the reasoning for this change is more of the looking for a “cure all” to low test scores, than for the ability to extend learning by our students and prepare them for what they encounter when they enter the business world. Initially, Promethean boards were placed in almost every classroom in the district. The software that came with them allowed teachers to create lessons that were interactive and could engage students. The only problem was that teachers were never adequately trained on how to use the software, and they became either an unused product, or a digital whiteboard. Our former superintendent, made it an initiative of his to lead the district into the 21st Century with a one-to-one device campaign. There was not much thought, however, on how the devices should be used, and the direction continues to be one of uncertainty. There has been an attempt to train teachers on different apps and programs that can be used, but no discussion about he pedagogy of their use. Without that, those that have no interest in learning about its use, will not embrace their use. Will Richardson discussed student engagement with a Superintendent once and stated, “Lack of student engagement is not a technology problem; it’s a curriculum and pedagogy problem.” (Richardson, 2015, p.31) This shows the need for districts to work to help teachers understand the reason why they need to become 21st Century learners first, then transfer that into their classrooms.
In my own classroom, I have tried to use technology when it has been given to me, however, with limited effectiveness. I have used a variety of apps as simply tools to assist me in easing some of the demands of teaching today. Students would use programs like Google Docs to write their papers, and then turn them in through a learning management system. Over the past year, I tried to give students more freedoms to research topics based on curriculum our district has been designing. By allowing my students the ability to collaborate and spend more time writing, I saw the power that this could have in their learning. As I begin to prepare for the upcoming year, I want to build on this shift and use the ideas that we have been learning in this class to engage my students with more technology. I now understand that creating engaging writing opportunities will not only engage my students, but allow them to become more successful lifelong learners.
As educators move forward, they must embrace the changes digital technology has made in the classroom and look for new ways to keep pace with the ever changing field. Matthew Lynch points out that there are four ways technology has already made changes over the past decade. He points out, there are four examples: “Collaboration, Information Gathering, Remote Learning and Teacher Prep.” (Lynch, 2015) I agree that we must help our students embrace the learning and collaboration that businesses have already embraced, so that they will be able to compete in the job market. It is important for them to develop their own digital identity, and it is up to us to make sure that they do so in a positive and beneficial way. By learning how business is using technology ourselves, and embracing its use, we can implement it into our method of teaching to model that use with our students. It is of utmost importance that we help be the change, that helps our students embrace the destiny of their own lives and learn how to use technology to learn what interests them the most. By doing so, we will prepare them for their futures.
References
Datar, K. (2014). How Technology has changed the Workplace and Education. Retrieved from http://electronicsmaker.com/how-technology-has-changed-the-workplace-and-education . July 11, 2016.
Lombrozo, T. (2016, July 11). Is it Time to Ban Computers from the Classroom?. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/07/11/485490818/is-it-time-to-ban-computers-from-classrooms . July 12, 2016.
Leicht, G. and Goble, D. (2014, October 1). Should Teachers be using Social Media in the Classroom?. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/social-media-valuable-tool-teachers/ . July 12, 2016.
Richardson, W. (2015). From Master Teacher to Master Learner. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Lynch, M. (2015, May 20). 4 ways digital tech has changed K-12 learning. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/05/20/4-ways-digital-tech-has-changed-k12-learning.aspx
