Technology is another variable in the "learning equation." Education struggles to keep up with this fast paced variable! We must recognize technology plays a significant role in the lives of our students. Students carry a cell phone and text message while walking down the hall. They go home and participate in social networks sharing audio, videos, text messages, pictures, and weblogs. They participate in things like Blogspot, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, Skype, Ustream and Twitter.
We all wrestle with the rapid rate at which technology changes. We are expected to learn Office 2007, PowerTeacher, and more. Think back ten years ago! What technology were you using as a teacher? We were just getting comfortable with word processing on our computers and some enthusiastic users created electronic spreadsheets. We were figuring out how to do email with attachments, and we were learning about the web. Now, we expect our students to do research on the web and use a word processor to do their work. If they don't have a school email account, they certainly have their own account with Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail.
How does technology become second nature in our teaching? I believe that it only happens when we view it as a tool that has value. And, we definitely retain the technology if we can apply it to our lives in a personal fashion. We search the web to learn about the weather, what's playing at the movies, about a favorite hobby, etc. I believe that the size of our technology of knowledge circle impacts our teaching. The question you must answer is, "How big is my technology knowledge base?" And, "What new skills do I need to learn?"
Sure, we can continue to teach it like we learned it! But, "Will we be preparing students to be competitive in our communities as they seek jobs or a higher education?"
The second point I want to share is just as important! The size of the intersection of these three circles is where "best practices" for teaching with technology occurs. It is not enough to teach about technology. Our students don't need a lesson on "how to" Twitter. We need to understand what it is that draws someone into a social network like Twitter. What is it that draws millions of people around the world to Twitter? Do we understand the social value of this network? How is it used across cultures? Do we understand the drawing power of this simple tool? What is it?
It would be appropriate to use Twitter to Tweet with students in a class about a real issue that they can discuss. Consider how a session might unfold from the teacher's perspective:
- The teacher poses the issue and allows the discussion to unfold.
- A student makes a silly comment.
- Another student does the same.
- A student reminds them of their task.
- The teacher "listens" to the students' thoughts.
- Insignificant chatter dies down.
- Comments begin to flow as they try to understand the problem.
- The issues being discussed come to the surface.
- The teacher poses more questions.
- The flow of ideas continue.
