Consequently, the following suggestions garnered from my recent experiences will hopefully provide some general ideas and guidelines to clarify the process for reluctant teachers, so they will be motivated to embrace educational technology and all of its inherent benefits.
- Attitude: Approach the process as if you were a brand new teacher. Use year one as a time to figure out how technology can be used in your curriculum, implement a few baby steps and begin accepting the fact that this is your new reality.
Use year two to begin expanding on what
worked during year one, discarding the abysmal failures — of which there
will probably be several — and possibly experimenting with one or two
new technologies — be it a website, a strategy, an app, a means of
assessment, or a style of presentation.
During year three, expect to gain some
clarity on how you and your students can accelerate learning as you
begin to see the forest through the trees. You may even have a minor
epiphany or two.
- Pragmatism: In keeping with the “new teacher” analogy, beware of the inundation of ideas and suggestions from veteran teachers who may misguidedly try to ease your transition. Tech-savvy colleagues will be more than willing to share an inordinate amount of amazing lesson plans, ideas, strategies and technologies that have proven effective in their own classrooms
While the suggestions probably are
amazing, innovative and engaging, as promised, understand your strengths
and limitations. Along with every new aspect of technology comes a
learning curve which needs to be balanced with the day-to-day teaching
activities that have always existed.
With that in mind, catalogue the
suggestions that are intriguing but unrealistic for immediate use. I
would suggest using a site such as Diigo in order to organize and tag easily searchable resources for potential use in the future.
- Humility: With the ever-changing landscape of technology, and the daily demands of working in education, you will rarely — if ever — be ahead of the technology learning curve. By allowing students to use technology, they will have access to innumerable sources of information as well as formats in which to formulate and present information.
Furthermore, if you were to attempt to
master as many presentation formats as humanly possible, better ones
will soon emerge and previous mainstays will just as quickly become
obsolete. With that in mind, try and be aware of what is available, let
your students introduce new resources and formats to you, and join in
the learning process side-by-side with your students.
- Adaptation: Just as it takes years of experience before most teachers feel as if they are even competent in the classroom, expect to experience similar feelings in regards to using technology as a tool for increasing student engagement, creating dynamic lessons, accessing more efficient and accurate assessment tools, and providing more timely, and meaningful feedback.
In order to ease the transition, make a
plan and adapt as necessary. For instance, about two and a half years
ago, I realized the amazing potential of using Twitter as an
instructional tool that had the capability to expand student learning
beyond my classroom walls. Due to a wide variety of circumstances, not
until this current semester did I feel I could implement it as I had
originally envisioned, so I am now just beginning to use Twitter with my
students.
- Self-scaffolding: Understand the SAMR model of technology integration and use it to guide you as you increase the complexity of technology integration in your curriculum. Don’t be afraid to begin simply substituting with technology in your classroom simply to adapt to the concept of allowing students access to what was previously forbidden.
- If you try to jump straight to modification or re-definition, you will most likely create significant frustration for both yourself and your students, and will be reluctant to continue with a transition that offers significant promise.
Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @mrtessier33
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