I wonder, though, when the smoke has cleared, what role does the teacher play in this 1:1 teaching scenario?
In a recent video on www.edweek.org, Karen Cator, the Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, says that teachers don’t need more professional development to learn how to use “new” technology in the classroom. Teachers “are tech savvy” and need to begin using the same technology they use in their personal lives in their classrooms.
Cator continues by saying that professional development should help teachers to develop new assignments that engage students and use current technology as the vehicle through which students will learn.
I couldn’t agree more!
My colleague, knowing that every one of his students has a laptop, is able to teach students to write differently using blogs. He is able to provide links to videos, podcasts, music, and books. And this is just scratching the surface.
In my own classroom, I watch my students go to the laptops and, with the click of the mouse, create dynamic presentations using research skills that they didn’t know existed. What do I do? I watch them create! For a tech savvy teacher, using the same technology I use in my own life has opened my classroom to wonderful new ways to teach my students.
So what does all this really mean? Well, I think it’s the tech savvy teacher that will find ways for his students to engage the world and learn from it. Traditional teaching will only show the students how much of the world fits on one page.
To view my colleagues blog and hear more about his 1:1 teaching, go to http://teacherstalkingshop.blogspot.com.
To view the entire Karen Cator video, go to http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/video-galleries/october05-event-edtech.html.
I love what Karen Cator says about coming up with "new assignments". So much of the work that we ask students to do in a traditional classroom can be transformed into something more relevant for them. The concept of "Backwards Design" would probably help educators go a long way towards creating more relevant and engaging assignments for our students. We need to start with what our students will need to be able to do once they leave our high school classrooms. In order to start at this point, it wouldn't hurt us to re-engage with our former students that are in college or, better yet, go visit a local college to see the kinds of digital assignments that are now commonplace at the university level. Professional development for educators should focus less on "tech tips" and dive more deeply into what we now know about motivation, communication, and the widespread availability of heretofore unavailable content that is now easily placed at our student's fingertips. We need a bit more philosophy and a little less "how-to" in our local professional development. This isn't to say that people won't need help, it's just more important to tackle the "why" before we get to the "how". Thanks for a great post that really has me thinking.
ReplyDeleteYes! Less "tech tips" is certainly true. And the idea about asking students and professors in higher education what they expect their students to be able to do and what they are doing should be considered.
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