As I work with teachers, the continual complaint, perhaps resistance, to Tech is just that – they are placing TECH as a hurdle, a barrier, something to avoid…..
And honestly, I think that that is our fault.
Take the time to look at some upcoming conferences and read the descriptions of many sessions. You will notice that they talk more about TECH than they do TEACHING. You will notice that the emphasis is on the tool rather than the outcome. We talk so much about the wonder OF tech that we make people wonder ABOUTtech.
And look at the names we are using…..
ISTE – The International Society for Technology in Education or CUE – Computer Using Educators. and sites like this blog host with Tech & Learning and yes, I cringe, even my own website is JenuineTech. Would people dismiss the opportunity of learning just because it seems that importance will be on tech uses only??
There has become a distinction of those using tech and those who are not……when the bottom line is, we are all teachers and should be using all options available and not putting a higher value or training emphasis on just tech?
What if we reworked and renamed based on opportunities rather than tech?
What if ISTE became the International Society for Teaching Excellently or CUE became Creative Uses in Education or even changing the name of my website to JenuineProjects?
Does a name really have that much of an impact that it can become a stumbling block for so many?? I think it does.
I very much agree with Chris Lehmann’s quote of “Technology must be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.” (http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/pennsylvania/2010/02/23/school-20-creating-the-schools-we-need-chris-lehmann/) But it seems, for many years, that we created a separate distinction, a specialness, a uniqueness towards Tech that might have been what is causing the separation now of acceptance, use, and comfortableness.
What if we decided, individually, to stop emphasizing something that does NOT need to be emphasized? What if instead of teaching a tool – such as blogs, wikis, prezi – or placing a high emphasis on gadgets – such as ipads, interactive white boards, flipcameras – we placed the importance on student learning and teaching objectives??
What if we took TECH totally out of the equation?
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As always, your comments are appreciated.
This blog post can also be read at: http://jenuinetech.com/blog/?p=1375
