Instructional Technology

As we reach the end of the year, I've been doing a lot of reflection on the practice of teaching. This is part of that series. Today's topic is technology. "How have you used, or how will you use, technology in the classroom?" Since I tend to work mostly with Title I students, I've mainly worked in low-technology environments (schools where technology was either non-existent, or usually inadequate/outdated), so I haven't had much practice using the kinds of things that teachers in wealthier districts would take for granted. For example, although I have seen a Smartboard, I have never used on in my life. My current job, for instance, is teaching in a classroom that has a grand total of 2 computers for student use (1 of which malfunctions regularly), and a TV. I don't even have an overhead projector! This doesn't particularly bother me, since I don't generally do a ton of whole class instruction, and am not prone to lecturing, but there are times when I think it would be nice to have a projector of some kind. In previous jobs, I've worked in classrooms that had digital projectors, and it's a nice aid to have for whole class instruction. You can use a lot more visuals when presenting information to students in Powerpoint, than you can, for instance, by writing on a board or an old-fashioned overhead projector. In my ideal universe, I would use a laptop and projector more often. I would like to be able to use more visuals in class, and for my health class in particular, there are tons of wonderful video clips I would love to be able to show my students. There are some really wonderful online resources for educators, and it would be nice to be able to use those with my classes. So more technology would be a plus. On the other hand, I think sometimes that as wonderful as technology is, sometimes it becomes such an emphasis in and of itself, that the basics of learning can get lost in the shuffle. One teacher I met told me her district requires teachers to incorporate texting into their lesson plans! To me, that's a bit ridiculous. I also think that some forms of technology work better for some students than others. Some students find it very motivating, and others find it very distracting. My students tell me all the time that they wish they could take their standardized tests the old-fashioned way (with pencil and paper). I also don't like the fact that it sometimes creates additional problems (things not working as expected, slow networks, students getting distracted by social media options, etc). I tend to think of technology as an option in learning, but not necessarily the only option for obtaining, using, and presenting information. At the same time, I think it's important to have some access to technology, since it is expected that students would have some exposure, and if it's not present in the student's homes, school is the one place that has the potential to level the playing field in terms of access.