I am a millennial. As much as I hate to age myself so early on in the development of this blog, I think it helps set the stage and offer some insight into my experience with technology as a learner and an educator.
Experiences with technology as a learner
As a young person, I experienced an interesting balance of technology exposure in school. In elementary school, we used floppy discs in big beige Macs to play Number Crunchers and Oregon Trail. In middle school, I grew up with Encarta ’95 on CDs the early dial up internet with AOL. During the time that I was finishing high school, “young teachers” were using PowerPoint while others cast a shadow on the wall as they stood over an antiquated overhead projector lecturing with a clear plastic sheet and dry erase markers.
Undergraduate, graduate, and adult learning environments all felt of a similar balance, in that some teachers seemed to be in the know of the latest technologies and utilizing them seamlessly as part of instruction while others stood at a podium lecturing from notes on paper.
New insights on technology integration
Our roles as learners are different than our roles on the other side as educators, curriculum developers, administrators, etc. In general, I have always just assumed people were either tech savvy or not. While learning to view things from educators’ perspectives, I realize that there are so many more elements to consider with regards to technology in education.
Most people, whether they realize it or not, have experienced technology along its full spectrum, as Taylor details in his seminal work, The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. In our personal and professional lives, from calculators to cell phones and accounting in spreadsheets to virtual simulators, technology in all forms fit somewhere in these categories. Being able to distinguish the different types of technology and envision how they exist for learners, developers, and educators are important aspects of developing a well-rounded technology integration approach.
While I am confident in my use of technology, I acknowledge that just because I know how to use technology does not necessarily mean I know how to use technology to teach or teach the use of technology. Ertmer and Ottenbreit-Leftwich explain the important intersections of technology knowledge and use among educators. There are many explanations for why technology is not always as fully utilized in schools as they should be. For example, people may lack the time to learn new technologies, be resistant to the change required to incorporate technology into their lessons, or lack confidence in using new technologies in front of students in a classroom.
This could be for a variety of reasons. For example, technology is so commonplace in everyday life that it is assumed that everyone just knows how to use it, as evidenced in Larry Cuban’s study in which people he interviewed in an attempt to define technology integration. He also points out that schools have not made the shift from using technology to enhance aspects of education to building education with technology as the driver.
Thankfully, there seem to be different ways to bridge these gaps in technology knowledge, use, and integration in education.
One important opportunity, for example, is participating in professional learning networks (PLNs) or professional learning communities (PLCs). Within these groups, experiences range and offer members benefits that offer new learning pathways and foster continuous improvement. PLNs and PLCs offer perspective and accountability in many ways; technology can be one of the focus areas of discussion and development.
Seeing technology as a learner and using the insights to further awareness as an educator is an interesting exercise. I look forward to learning more about high level views of technology and education, my personal and professional knowledge and pursuit of technology use as a learner and an educator, and how these can contribute to technology integration and ultimately students’ learning and growth.
Resources:
- On School Reform and Classroom Practice blog by Larry Cuban
- Teacher Technology Change: How Knowledge, Confidence, Beliefs, and Culture Intersect by Peggy A. Ertmer & Anne T. Ottenbreit-Leftwich (Journal of Research on Technology in Education)
- Creating Effective Professional Learning Communities by Andrew Miller (Edutopia)
- Professional learning networks: From teacher learning to school improvement? by Rilana Prenger, Cindy L. Poortman, & Adam Handelzalt (Journal of Educational Change)
- 4 Benefits of an Active Professional Learning Community by Jennifer Serviss (ISTE)
- The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee by Robert P. Taylor, II