1. How will you overcome these fears and use technology for empowerment?
I think the demand for instant response and instant gratification is one that has been developed in our society in the past decade or two and isn’t something we can change overnight. However, we can calmly circumvent it. Laying out timelines and making sure students know and understand the anticipated pace should help. If an email necessitates a delayed response we could send a quick emailing letting the student know we received their question and are working on a quality answer. The worst part of email is being left hanging and wondering if the message was even received.
Feeling of socially isolated and less active as well as loss of caring and sense of community can happen and as we have talked about already do in many of the current web classes. This can easily be fixed with chats, discussion forums, group activities, and blogs. The teacher has to actively create a sense of community and encourage/demand interactions.
Being I am in Biology I do not anticipate dependence on technology of loss of reality. Since biology is based on and dependent on wildlife, plants, animals, etc, the likelihood of being dependent on technology is slim. I am not saying it can’t happen, but only that with minimal effort it can be avoided. Class outings, use of hands on materials for learning, in field activities, and many others are ways to keep from being dependent.
The last fear listed is actually not a fear for me even though it would eliminate my desired career. Colleges becoming obsolete. Would this be that bad? If we could teach students enough material at younger ages as well as teach them how to teach themselves and have them want the information enough to actually go learn on their own without school would it be that horrible of an idea? There are many adults out there that would love to learn new things but don’t know where to find the information or are terrified of the idea of taking a college class. If we had the readily available resources to learn on our own imagine how smart our society would become and the advances that could be made in every field.
2. What barriers do you identify with as outlined on page 22 of the Romano text?
Let’s face it. A vast majority of the educators teaching today are very old school and at best know how to check their email, use the basic of Microsoft word, complete their grade book, and some can make a basic PowerPoint presentation. The teachers that do know how to use more technology are usually the younger teachers or the few who have braved learning new stuff. And most of the younger teachers have not been taught how to integrate technology into the classroom. Many of the barriers Romano listed tie into these sad facts. I personally feel I have a fairly good grasp on technology and after the first half of this class know more skills that would work great in the classroom. However prior to starting this class I had almost no clue how to use technology in my classroom. I believe the main barriers that must be overcome are awareness of what are out there, workshops to teach educators, and not allowing teachers to throw the towel in after one failed attempt.
3. How have the skills you've learned in this class contributed to realizing your fears and/or hopes?
Since I am not teaching yet I haven’t been able to realize any of my fears or hopes yet. They have changed since the start of the class. Put simply I am less fearful about crashing and burning. I feel I can apply more technology into my classroom than a simple PowerPoint presentation now. Blogs, websites, skype, interaction with parents, distant connections, and hopefully after this week interactive PowerPoint presentations. All of these things and more are easing some of my fears and increasing my hopes.
4. What changes will you make regarding shifting control, mentoring, collegiality and collaboration?
I have never wanted to be a teacher who simply lectures and then hands out assignments. I took this course in the hopes of avoiding this dull fate. I believe I have tools now to avoid it and to develop a lesson plan that allows for shifting of control and mentoring and collaboration.
Monday, March 12, 2007
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