Unit Four - Technological Tools for Minds-On Learning

I was struck with two things this unit 

1.  the concept that the use of  technology in the classroom does not = meaningful learning and

2.  the hesitancy so many educators have to incorporate new tech. or web 2.0 tools in their classrooms because of their fear of the unknown.

I see both of these issues as very common, grand scale, but definitely in my school.  We have a decently-sized staff, about 150; many of whom are brilliant, top of their field, content-masters- type individuals.  However, many of them are far from youthful and are still being introduced/getting  used to the new world of technology in education.  Aside from your classic "change-haters," I think a lot of them are afraid.  They know the traditional classroom set up well; they're good at the traditional classroom set up and they know it.  They've seen changes and trends come and go in education and have come out of those waves and shifts on top.  Why would technology be any different?  Even those who are aware of the forever fundamental change technology has brought to education are afraid of these tools that they don't know how to use.  

Prime example in my school are Promethean Boards - $5,000 white boards that now, thanks to our PTA, are hanging on every classroom in our school.  Some of the older teachers fought the hanging of such a foreign object in their room; even though it can, at very least, still function the same as a traditional projector screen, they didn't want it.  It was different, a waste of money, not necessary, blah, blah, blah, but really they were afraid of it.  Here's this amazing piece of the latest educational technology, that they don't know anything about.  We just figured out how to make powerpoint presentations instead of using an overhead projector slides and Visa Vi markers and now you want us to do what?  No thanks.  Those few stubborn teachers are still today, using the $5,000 interactive white board as if it was a blank white piece of wall.  They are not willing to go into an area that they are masters of; an area that may show some vulnerability to their students and put them back into that community of learning.

However, then we have a large group of teachers who, after some prompting, put those fears aside and decided to give it a try.  Here we face another common problem in education.  These teachers now believe that anything they do, as long as it incorporates technology, is therefore better and more meaningful to the students.  Convert that old powerpoint into a Promethean flip-chart and voila! Those words are now much more meaningful and impactful to the class.  Take that text book page and place it under the document camera to show the class - bam! it means more to them now and they have learned it in a new, better way.  

So many teachers don't understand yet, that just the simple usage of technology, no matter how cool/new it is, does not make the work/lesson better.  Lessons, learning objectives, unit goals, and methodology all have to be changed or altered to integrate with the technology, just as much as the technology has to integrate with the curriculum.