In will robinson's blog he poses a very interesting question " Should the URGENCY be all about the teachers right now " and this was because of the frenzy in getting kids urgently ready with the 21st century skills. can this be if the educatrors are not capable of teaching the skills.
One thing I know for sure is that these Net gen learners are by far ahead of some educators in the use of these skills because of the time spent with technology. As educators this should make the job easier ; instead of teaching how to use the goal is now enhancing the lesson .
That brings me to the second point, how do educators learn these tools to use then to enhance the lessons?
Some have said that faculty development is a critical component of a technology plan. Others have said that in this web application world, teachers should not need formal development, they can pick up the tools themselves - just as their students are doing.
Well I do think a bit of both is good, like we did in this course that was interesting and as educators we should not wait to be taught, but should be able to take the initiative to learn on our own, especially when there are tutorials on how to use of course there are some learners who can handle this.
However some tutorials are not easy to follow and one could benefit from some guidance available in a formal professional development . This is what Iwould implement, Iwould select a few tools and have mandatory formal training on those, of which I would like to see incorporated in the lesson.
'I would select a few tools and have mandatory formal training on those, of which I would like to see incorporated in the lesson.'
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the way to go. I agree with you wholeheartedly. We have to be careful of doing too much at any one time. We must master the skill in order to teach the skill therefore I'm all about formal training for some things. Technology is technical and many times needs some kind of hands-on face-to-face contact. Good post!
"One thing I know for sure is that these Net gen learners are by far ahead of some educators in the use of these skills because of the time spent with technology. As educators this should make the job easier; instead, of teaching how to use the goal is now enhancing the lesson."
ReplyDeleteI agree with that statement. As educators we should focus on enhancing our lesson with the hope to engage our learners via a medium that they are comfortable with.
Like the fact that you looked at the concept of teacher learning about technology from both sides. You are correct, while self teaching is good, some formal training is also need to ensure effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteYou brought out some valid point. Teacher need not depend on staff development offered by administrators only, they need to take some iniative, However, i am a strong believe that formal training is crutial to success of tech integration any school. It allows for commonality in usage among all. Very Thoughful post.
ReplyDeleteI like when you say "a bit of both is good", and when you say "tutorials are not easy to follow", here it is when we need a combination of strategies, in my case some times I get when I see a video of how to use something, some others I need a physical document, and some others I need the document very detailed so I can understand how to use, so as leaders we need to be creative in the way we present things and keep in mind that teachers as students have different ways of learning.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you in the idea that teachers need support too. They shoul be asked about the web 2.0 tools they want to learn about and depending on the poll results the four more common requests could be a guide for school administrators to train teachers on demand resources with great academic development potential. As an administrator I woul ensure this is done in such manner. Good points in this post and the video shows the actual true story of a net generation at school in our hands!
ReplyDeleteNice post...and I had not seen the Jordan School District video. I immediately tagged it to my delicious account - it is a keeper!
ReplyDeleteI like your video it is very thought provoking. I can see why its hard not to want to infuse technology in instruction. As the students we teach are digital learners. As teachers we have to cater to their educational needs.
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