Reflecting on the module reading from Chapter 2 of the text Leading 21st century Schools:
Harnessing Technology For Engagement, I was drawn to the words that
educators today need to promote “flexibility, adaptability… …self-direction…
…accountability”.
For many people in my generation (the MTV generation), I find that
we struggle with the concepts of flexibility and adaptability. Is this unique to my social circles or is
this true for most of us brought up with the “new” age of Atari game systems,
and the cool remote control for cable television? We were brought up being told the
multi-tasking meant that we were not focusing, and not really putting forth the
effort any single task deserved. Being a
responsible adult involved the skills of being able to apply structure and
display an unalterable course of action.
Self-direction and accountability were desirable skills, needed for
those that wanted to excel in life.
Many students today seem to reflect the opposite traits; they are
flexible and adaptable (much more so than many teachers desire), while they
lack self-direction and accountability.
With these opposing traits, there is tension in many classrooms, a
tension that might be resolved with the integration of technology.
I am firm believer of the use of assistive technology in the
classroom, as they often allow for students to live up their potential, a
potential that might be facing obstacles due to the daily challenges of
learning difficulties. As instructors,
we should be encouraging and promoting the use of technology that might allow
our learners to encounter the joys of success in education, rather than the
pain and stigmatization of educational failure.
Allow for the use of new tools, try them, test them and evaluate
them. If a student can show that a tool
can cause more good than harm, let them use it.
Text out homework assignments, if it sends the message and gets the work
accomplished. Try an online quiz or
test. Think of all the real world uses for
technology and do your best to bridge these ideas into classwork and
assignments.
While it is overwhelming to design lessons to encompass every
learning style and methods of technology, we should aspire to have a continuously
evolving lesson plans, rewriting them with added styles and use of technologies
before and after each use. Play with
technology in school, it can’t really hurt a learner but it offers so many
opportunities to help.
In conclusion, when I think of my educational history, I smile at
the memories of specific classes and teachers.
Often, the shared combination of knowledge and stories shared by
experienced men and women made me sad to walk out of class. With our changing views on education, and
educators, it leaves me downcast to think that the revolving doors of this
profession may leave behind few experts to impart style of wisdom that inspired
my love for learning.
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