Teachers and the education system in our country often come under fire when a crisis hits. It's easy for politicians to blame schools and educators for failing to prepare students to become globally competitive in a new economy; they're good straw men, and it draws attention away from their own failures as legislators. It's also easy to attack teachers for using antiquated, ineffective techniques: lecture-based, didactic lessons which move students into a passive, sponge-like role, in which learning equates to absorbing information. Lectures are boring. I've sat through, and planned and executed, far too many.John Dewey addressed this in the pre-PC era. In "My Pedagogic Creed," he lays out his opinions on current teaching techniques. "The child is thrown into a passive, receptive or absorbing attitude. The conditions are such that he is not permitted to follow the law of his nature; the result is friction and waste," (Dewey, 1897). Rich & Reeves (2006) took Dewey's central argument and related it back to educational technology's place in the school. Technology, they argue, has the potential to bring experience into the classroom, allowing for more interactive lessons and social activity, which Dewey touts as the key to effective instruction.
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As technology develops with increasing rapidity - there have already been six versions of the iPhone since it was introduced six years ago in 2007 - we as educators must be vigilant in our understanding of the skills needed to effectively work with and evolve these tools. It is not that smartphones and Smartboards necessarily make students smarter; I'm sure many would argue just the opposite. It's that technology is ingrained in our social and professional lives. It's something I think Dewey would argue for: bring technology into the classroom because it's now a part of the social fabric that ties students together.
And if we are to answer to the politicos' complaints that students are not prepared to compete with other tech-savvy nations, perhaps we should focus more on how to integrate technology into classroom. If tech can bring social activity, practical skills, and a more interactive energy into the classroom, we need to figure out its place without forgetting the need for that guiding light, the teacher.
Hey Mr. Pepper,
ReplyDeleteI think your interpretation of Dewey's ideas in today's society was really interesting. "It's something I think Dewey would argue for: bring technology into the classroom because it's now a part of the social fabric that ties students together."I totally agree. It's what students want to be doing in their free time, so why not bring their interests into the classroom?
As for dealing with technology, you mentioned that we as teachers need to "effectively work with and evolve these tools." Yes, but isn't that what teachers have been doing forever? Teachers are constantly bombarded with new information, new tools and unabashed opinions from outsiders about teaching strategies. They need to choose what to use and how to use it. Teachers are good at finding creative ways to integrate useful strategies in a more cookie cutter system. Being caught up seems daunting in a really quickly evolving system of technology, and the scare of robots taking over is definitely not just in your head. In my opinion, what teachers need to do is adapt to their classroom, make personal connections with their students to facilitate learning. Whether they are teaching with ipads or paper, students will learn because their teacher gives them a purpose.
Griffin!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading your Pep Talk, I had a thought. Technology is fast moving, as you say. It's constantly rendering things obsolete so that the computer someone brought to my Technology meeting which they'd bought only a year ago was deemed "old" and "slow" by the tech guys. That said, how interesting that technology is a field which is incredibly open to revision. The public wants to see new and improved versions of our technologies and in fact, we are excited by entirely novel ways of doing things. We're ready to stop reading books and start reading Kindles at the drop of a hat.
This kind of openness to change seems rare when it comes to other parts of our lives. We're certainly not so open when it comes to re-conceiving of our education system. I just wonder if teachers couldn't use technology as a model of revision for students. Thinking about what changed as the IPhone evolved. Did it become a better machine? Which qualities were kept and which were discarded? This could be an interesting way to transition into teaching how to revise a paper or a piece of writing.
Or to think more broadly, could teachers get their students to start thinking about other institutions as flexibly as they think of technology? If we want to create a world that individuals have the power to change, then technology seems to be setting a precedent.
Whew, not sure if this make sense, but you certainly inspired some thought in me. Nice post!