Technology vs. Convenience

Reading Reaction #1

 

The video “Did You Know” by Karl Fisch and Dr. Scott McLeod was pretty amazing.  He presented several facts about how technology is changing our lives.  I knew that technology changes the way we do things, but seeing all the data points in one presentation was incredible; from simple things like reading a newspaper or magazine to how we communicate with each other on a daily basis. Times are changing, and we as a society need to accept the change, keep up, or be left behind.

 

Dr. McLeod poses the simple question, “Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us?”  I feel I can best answer this by providing a little insight to what I had experienced as a first-year teacher, and what the experience left with me. 

 

When I graduated from college, I was offered a position teaching Algebra at the high school level.  I was fresh out of college with all these wonderful and exciting new ideas to bring into the classroom.  My mentoring teacher, who had been teaching Algebra for 15 years the exact same way, wasn’t interested in looking at anything new.  He told me, “I’ve been teaching for a long time without changing anything, and it seems to work.  So why try something different!”  I can honestly say, this didn’t sit well with me.  I did what I could, but felt pressured to go with the flow.  But, in my opinion, the old ways just weren’t working!  Technology was everywhere.  It oozed out of every pore of our lives.  But the schools seemed reluctant to bring it in.  The schools and teachers weren’t prepared when it started to enter in through the students themselves.

 

It is easy to get overwhelmed with the task of being an educator in a modern world; especially in the complex environment that the teacher is in today.  From FCAT, teaching to a standardized test, focusing on the numbers and not the individual student, to just making sure your students are getting enough to eat everyday can be exhausting by itself.  Teachers often don’t have the extra time to implement technology into their curriculum.  But that’s still no excuse.

 

Schools are slow to adopt to change due to many reasons.  They themselves get stuck in a routine, and tend to do what feels comfortable; what they know best.  It can be seen practically everywhere from resource/equipment shortages & lack of funding to conflicts with simply booking the computer lab for a project.  Add to that mix the complex interpersonal issues, such as teachers not feeling adequately prepared to bring the technology into the classroom, or not being comfortable when their students come in knowing more about the technology than they do. 

 

For these reasons, you can see how it’s easy for both the schools and the teachers to fall back into their comfort zones, where everything is best if it follows the path of least resistance.  Without proper training and guidance, this can be a recipe for disaster.  We are all human.  We tend to fall back to doing what is required; what is easiest.  But we have to resist that temptation.   

 

It’s time to be proactive!  I feel that our students and teachers need to be introduced to technology at a very early age.  But it is our duty as educators to help show them the responsible way to use it.  They need to understand the moral and ethical issues that come with technology. Too often, students are exposed to and know a little about several types of technology for their immediate gratification, but they aren’t prepared to fully utilize this technology to their long term benefit.

 

Today’s students learn differently. They are bombarded with technology in their everyday lives.  They don’t look information up in an encyclopedia or talk on the phone, they use the internet, they text their friends, or they use social networking sites to keep in touch.  Technology isn’t new to them, it is second nature.  I look at my daughters, and they have no fear of technology.  They jump in head-first without being afraid to push all the buttons to see what works.  They can multi-task with several different forms of technology and still get their homework completed at the same time.  These are the things that I was not exposed to as a child, but I am prepared to take on as an adult. 

 

We need to resist the temptation to go with the flow; to do only what is convenient for us.  We need to embrace technology, and be prepared to use every aspect of it in the classroom as a teaching tool.  It is our responsibility to help teach the next generation and prepare them to use every tool at their disposal.  Our students should be able to live and play in a connected world.

 

I will leave you with this last thought about how technology has changed our lives.  My husband and I were talking about something, and we mentioned the word “payphone”.  Our daughter, who was 8 at the time, overheard and asked, “Mommy, what is a payphone?”