It is difficult to keep up with technological advances. Our students keep up pretty well, but with one foot set firmly in the last century our generation has trouble. It is not just teachers because they are held back by school policies based on 20th century educational ideas designed to keep all the distractions out rather than bring the world in. Cell phones, video conferencing, instant messaging, and other communication tools are too disruptive to allow in. Some of the most powerful educational moments came when we empowered a teacher to bring in the outside world. She brought in a friend from Germany, then a students father from Iraq. I'm glad they weren't "blocked by a firewall." (Honeycutt, 2010)
Technology Facilitator and Leadership Standard 2: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences
I stated before, that transfer of technology skills from training settings to the classroom is where technology professional development programs tend to fail. Facilitators are responsible for the transfer stage of the professional development. I used to think that the more experienced teachers had trouble implementing technology in their classrooms because they just hadn't had much experience with technology. As time has gone by, I have noticed that younger teachers with plenty of experience using technology still don't seem to implement it in their classroom. I attribute that to teachers teaching like they were taught. These younger teachers are fully immersed in technology, but they can't teach with it. As the first chapter mentioned, teachers haven't made that transfer from knowledge to application. Training needs to include the process of planning and designing lessons that implement technology. I have designed an online course that all teachers in our district will complete during their second year in the district. That course was part of my internship and focused on how to teach and use technology for learning. I also worked with curriculum writing teams to place performance indicators from the NETS for students in the district curriculum for Language Arts. More and more teachers are using technology for presentation of instruction, which is the second level of the LoTI framework. (Williamson & Redish, 2009) There is progress being made toward levels 3 - 4B, but it takes time and support. Technology facilitators help teachers make that transfer. The training I designed is focused on getting teachers to the 5th and 6th levels of LoTI. This is where the teachers start looking beyond their classroom for opportunities for their students. Then technology ceases to be an important tool for students and becomes a natural part of everything that goes on in the classroom. You can't teach that, but my course starts the teachers in the right direction by showing them that there are resources out there for them and that technology is not the end goal, but the means of learning and doing everything that we do in this century.
Honeycutt, K. (Artist). (2010). I need my teachers to learn. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=synntqin2Ks
Williamson, J, & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards. Eugene, OR: International Society of Technology in Education.
Technology Facilitator and Leadership Standard 2: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences
I stated before, that transfer of technology skills from training settings to the classroom is where technology professional development programs tend to fail. Facilitators are responsible for the transfer stage of the professional development. I used to think that the more experienced teachers had trouble implementing technology in their classrooms because they just hadn't had much experience with technology. As time has gone by, I have noticed that younger teachers with plenty of experience using technology still don't seem to implement it in their classroom. I attribute that to teachers teaching like they were taught. These younger teachers are fully immersed in technology, but they can't teach with it. As the first chapter mentioned, teachers haven't made that transfer from knowledge to application. Training needs to include the process of planning and designing lessons that implement technology. I have designed an online course that all teachers in our district will complete during their second year in the district. That course was part of my internship and focused on how to teach and use technology for learning. I also worked with curriculum writing teams to place performance indicators from the NETS for students in the district curriculum for Language Arts. More and more teachers are using technology for presentation of instruction, which is the second level of the LoTI framework. (Williamson & Redish, 2009) There is progress being made toward levels 3 - 4B, but it takes time and support. Technology facilitators help teachers make that transfer. The training I designed is focused on getting teachers to the 5th and 6th levels of LoTI. This is where the teachers start looking beyond their classroom for opportunities for their students. Then technology ceases to be an important tool for students and becomes a natural part of everything that goes on in the classroom. You can't teach that, but my course starts the teachers in the right direction by showing them that there are resources out there for them and that technology is not the end goal, but the means of learning and doing everything that we do in this century.
Honeycutt, K. (Artist). (2010). I need my teachers to learn. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=synntqin2Ks
Williamson, J, & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards. Eugene, OR: International Society of Technology in Education.