I have delayed doing this final post, and one of the reasons was I felt was going ok with this unit, actually very well given my age and original stance towards technology; I was enjoying playing with the tools, my mind was ticking over how they could be used in the classroom, it was beginning to click for me, and then we were hit with web 3.0. Then all those concerns about technology, and us as humans, came flooding back.
For me there is always that concern that technology is stealing a little from our humanity - touch keys on ipads cannot replace the touch, finesse skill of actual piano playing, a screen can never adequately depict the depth and texture of art, pressing a button on a hand-held control is not simulating sport; all these digital representations of the real thing steals something from us. And yet I haven't always felt we are able to express this concern, that we are expect just to shrug and go this it is the price we have to pay for all these cool gadgets. For me this is a huge price, and there is great sadness in this price. Seeing virtual worlds, computer screen on contact lenses, and peoples digital data displayed with any device held up to them, I feel this concern and sadness return. And this is really why I have put this off, because I didn't really want to finish on this note, with this hesitation and sadness.
However I got around this eventually, by applying what I have gained from this unit, and that is I am not a technology lover, what I am is a teacher. And my big attitude adjustment over these months has been that technology in the classroom is not about the technology - it is about the learning. The lessons are the same - the tools are different. As a teacher my first thought is still WHAT am I going to teach these students, then I look around at all the tools I have access to and think, what tool helps me reach these students, helps me get this learning to them. Its not, I know how to do a wiki, a virtual world, how can I fit this into the classroom. This was my big breakthrough, understanding it doesn't matter how brilliant (or in my case not) at technology, it is how you use the technology to enhance the learning of the students. Once I saw that,a lot of pressure fell away from me. I am never going to be a star at keeping up with all the latest technology, at the cutting edge of all things digital, but I am always looking to teach, and looking for a way to help students love learning. I can use technology to my advantage, not feel I am used and chewed up by it. If your web 3.0 can add to the learning of students, then I will adapt. Not because I think the technology is progress, and better than the real world, but because it can help me reach and teach students.
My three technology tips,
Balance -As exciting as all these new tools are, I think technology in the classroom has to be used with balance. If every single lesson involves technology, laptops, ipads then it may become as boring as everything else. It has to be about balance and variety. Everybody gets sick of something you do all the time. I think sometimes with all things new, you can get carried away with it.
Learning - It always has to be used with the teaching and lessons in mind. If your technology is not promoting learning - then are you doing your job as a teacher - what are the students learning always has to be the first concern.
Time - a great deal of e-learning can be time consuming to set up, if something takes 3 hours to set up and is used for 15 minutes by the kids, I don't think that is a good use of teacher time. Set something up that can be used again and again. Weigh time in, versus, time used and learning.
I have enjoyed writing this blog, and if I don't continue it is not that I haven't enjoyed it, it is more that I don't think I am of enough note yet to have anything productive to say. I have always chosen the reflective path, always thinking of ways to adapt technology for classroom tasks, as that is my interest area. I always tried to keep things tight, and concise as I have have found it time consuming just reading some posts, so I always tried to make my thoughts direct and specific. And my links and embeds were always with that thought in mind of applications to the classroom, as opposed to technology definitions and theory. I am a practical person first, and that's the direction I took with my blog, my voice.
When I look at all the fantastic and really lengthy time consuming things some of my colleagues have done, I think maybe I haven't done enough - but I think of what I have achieved during this unit, and I know it is big (for me). My shift in attitude is my greatest advancement. I don't have to like every application, or device, and I don't - but I see that it doesn't steal from education, it adds to it. It is a way to reach students, to engage them and teach them the lessons they need. In a way it is like getting kids to eat their vegetable (hiding them); for the classroom you dress up the lessons you need students to learn, wrapped up with ribbons of technology. For me this is the biggest revelation - same lessons, different stage. And you don't have to be a genius technology buff - I am a teacher, now a teacher with a few new tricks.
