I know a widespread issue surrounding technology integration in general, and iPad implementation specifically, is the lack of professional development for the teachers. I think sharing within the workshop was a good first step, and I supplied a resource for iPad implementation that logically takes a teacher from learning the basics of the iPad to full integration into the classroom. You can see it here. But after presenting, I feel some common excuses abound. Before the iPads get shoved into drawers and forgotten, I would like to refute a few of the excuses I commonly hear.
Excuse #1: My current strategies work just fine.
Now, if you're okay with "fine", I can understand where you're coming from. A few years back I was on cruise control. I taught Spelling, English, Reading, and Social Studies in the sixth grade, and I had fine-tuned an efficiency standard for myself and my students. I taught well, the kids learned well, and I merely tweaked lesson plans from year to year. While I still feel I had designed above average lessons for my students that taught depth of reading and writing skills, there was something missing. The something that was missing was a focus on student learning style and strength; I relied on my strength as a teacher. Students learned the way I taught, but since then I've discovered that I need to teach the way students learn, and technology is a huge piece of that process.
credit: www.usm.edu
One thing I hate to see on my iPad is the little red notification on my app store icon that shows how many of my apps are in need of an update. The higher the number the more frustrating it is. One thing I love, though, is how simple it is for me to tap into the app store and press "update all". App developers are always looking for ways to improve their particular apps, and they listen to the critiques of their customers by using the reviews we submit. What an ideal situation for the classroom! What do our students and constituency need? What do they want from me? Am I willing to change with the times? Am I willing to ask my students or their parents what they desire? Check your current strategies and see if it's time for an update. I am willing to bet that using your iPad(s) or other tech tools will add to the students' learning.
Excuse #2: The 3 R's R all we need.
Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic. I teach the reading and the writing in my role, so you're preaching to the choir if you say these things are important, but I have two things to say about the 3 R's. First, I think we need to be careful about how we approach the 3 R's in education. Instead of a focus on the actual reading, writing, and math skills as an end, the 3 R's must be taught through discovery using critical thinking and problem solving. Second, we've got some new literacies to deal with. Since the explosion of the Internet into our culture, new purposes for reading and writing and even mathematical thinking have emerged. Students access the Internet daily and sometimes exclusively. The reading skills we need to teach students include interpreting and discerning the mass of information on the web. Information on the Internet is much more current than the textbooks we keep referring to in classrooms year after year; literacy education has changed dramatically. Students must be taught how to navigate the types of writing that appear online; it's our task to put the proper tools in students' hands in order for them to understand the world around them. Writing has also changed. I am teaching my sixth graders to blog--see my blog2buds site--for the first time this year, and their purposes for writing have expanded greatly with a chance to connect with others across the globe. Teaching proper responsibility while posting and commenting online is necessary when understanding the new literacies that result from an always connected culture. Additionally, mathematical thinking in our digital age will likely produce the computer programmers of tomorrow. Times have changed, so our teaching must as well.
Excuse #3: The technology is too overwhelming.
This one, I believe, takes a change in mindset. Do you remember when you were in college earning your education degree, or afterward earning your masters' degree or taking classes, going to workshops, perhaps earning a certain certification? I've done each of these things, and I constantly fight the temptation to achieve a letter grade and then fall back into my old routine, the one that I was so comfortable with before I was challenged within the classes I took. I have to battle the mindset that my continuing education is a series of hurdles to leap over in order to finish the race. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to finish, take a breather, and celebrate. But what if we could change our view so that we're not jumping (or stumbling) over hurdles. Instead, we could choose to see those hurdles as gateways, and with each pass, the new opportunities that abound.
When I was in school at Calvin College (Go Knights!), the catch phrase in the education department was that we were preparing to become "reflective practitioners". Instead of taking a course or workshop to earn a required credit, we must use the courses we take to carefully reflect on our current teaching and learn new strategies for quality implementation. The same is true for technology integration. You've been handed an iPad--now what? It will take time and research to figure out how to use it to the students' advantage within the classroom, but isn't it worth the work load? Have you seen the student outcomes when you try a new cutting edge technique? Have you seen the student engagement? Do you have class management issues that have disappeared? I have. The students are excited to try new things. Please continue to be a "reflective practitioner" in your teaching and don't fall into the trap of efficient routine. Energize your teaching with some engaging possibilities, including tech, and I think you will find new joy in teaching rather than focus on how overwhelming your job is.
Excuse #4: I'm too afraid to make mistakes.
I am an analytical person, and I like predictable outcomes, but this school year after completing the Innovative Educator Advanced Studies Certificate (IEASC) through Fresno Pacific University (FPU) and Computer Using Educators (CUE), as well as receiving an iPad cart in our middle school, I've chosen to let go of the reins (mostly) and allow the students to run out of the gates so that I can feel out where their strengths lie. Interestingly, I found that toward the beginning of the year many students were wary of my new approach. Though sixth grade is typically quite a transition anyway, a lot of kids still weren't prepared when I handed them a Google Apps for Education (GAfE) email, and only now they are beginning to better understand the power behind the Web 2.0 tools I've presented. It was slow-going at first, but now my students are coming up with their own solutions to problems that occur.
They and I have made mistakes along the way, and we've found that failure is a completely natural piece of the educational process. My students have seen me try to present something (with or without technology) that failed to work, only to see me make decisions to alter my approach. From there, they settle into taking their own risks with the iPads I hand to them on particular days. Similarly, I've heard stories from frustrated parents who have had tech breakthroughs at home because of the problem solving they've had to spend time on related to course work I've assigned.
Every day we ask our students to take risks and to try things that are uncomfortable for them. Why won't we?
What now?
In my previous post, I played with the phrase "failure's not an option" and instead titled it Failure's Not Optional. I just re-read the last part of it, and one of the sentences I shared about students was this: "Let them loose." I guess a related idea would be, "Let them lose." And by losing, by failing, students learn to approach the problem from another angle; isn't that what learning is?
So what about you? Have you used one of the above excuses when considering technology? Do you visit the teachers' lounge and complain about what is required of you regarding the technological nuances you face? Do you find that your established routine is paramount to your teaching? I would encourage you to step away from your comfort zone.
View the hurdles in education not as an obstacle to overcome but as a gateway toward further success. Perhaps your change in mindset will spark a movement in your classroom or school. Collaborate with your colleagues, check with your PLN on social media, and get on the cutting edge.
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