Techy vs. Tech Savvy Teaching
Five years ago, as a fresh-faced, second year teacher I sat attentively at our pre-service PD at the start of the school year. Our topic for the day was "technology" and our building/district paid a consultant to come and teach us about various educational technology apps/programs/websites/etc. that were guaranteed to level the technological playing field between us and our 9-12th grade students. The consultant had us create a new bookmark folder and started demonstrating the sites and tech that would change our lives as teachers! By the end of the day, I had 20+ bookmarks in that folder and roughly that many new user names/accounts/passwords to remember. Everything from Edmodo and Poll Everywhere to Today's Meet and Wolfram Alpha were covered in this session and my mind was spinning thinking about using all of that in my classes. Other than the reminder emails from Edmodo and the few times I ventured into setting up a Poll Everywhere poll, that "tech" folder remained largely unused and untouched. A digital artifact of a PD session where the "tools" I received weren't actually beneficial.
Now don't get me wrong, the sites and apps we learned about that day were COOL. They were fun and interactive. But as I continued my teaching career over the next few years in a Business/Technology teacher position, it was evident that there were many issues with such a rollout of "cool, hip, new" technology for our staff. As I progressed in my career, and became a Model Teacher, and a part of our Technology Committee for my building-I realized that the sheer AMOUNT of new edutech tools available was astounding. From newcomers like Kahoot and Socrative to expansions of the Google for Education suite and various Chrome extensions, any teacher, regardless of their tech expertise, would feel overwhelmed. In many ways it feels like some sort of weird reality show competition with all the edutech sites/apps vying for the top spot. Yet what's really missing is the Simon Cowell of our field. Someone who's going to bluntly shoot down all the terrible ideas and vet the actual contenders. Bonus points for having a crisp, British accent and rude dismissive metaphors for the "losers."
As a teacher, specifically as a technology teacher, I feel that it is my duty to occupy that role. For the sake of my students and personal sanity, I need to channel my inner Simon Cowell. In this day and age, we have an unprecedented amount of technology available at our fingertips, but that doesn't mean that everything that comes out on the "digital market" is worth it. Some of the sites and apps are the Betamaxes and Zune players of the edutech world. Yet they're touted as the next best thing! Some may seem like a cool new thing to use, but the challenge is, is it really the right tool for the job?
Which brings me to the point of being techy versus tech savvy in education. To me, there are a lot of techy teachers. These are the ones that use a variety of apps, sites, etc. in their classrooms. They are the ones that used the bookmarked folder religiously to create new review quizzes and set up elaborate Edmodo classroom pages. There's nothing wrong with being a techy teacher, these are the teachers that are willing to take risks and try new things. As a student, teacher, and parent, I value those teachers that step outside the box and experiment. The tech savvy teacher, however, does a lot of evaluative work. There's a cost/benefit analysis that goes on in the mind of a tech savvy teacher. Instead of jumping on the newest bandwagon and fad, this type of teacher analyzes and experiments with a technology first before deciding whether it makes their job EASIER and allows students to engage in a newer or different way with the content material. There is a difference between using technology for the sake of using a tech tool and using technology to actually enhance the learning process.
I have been both of these teachers. As I've gained more and more experience in teaching, I've definitely shifted towards being more selective and tech savvy with the types of technology I use in my classroom. Students respond very well and are super engaged when they experience anything new. But if that tool is just a gimmick designed to superficially engage them, the law of marginal utility comes into play every subsequent time the tool is used. However, if it's something that truly enhances their learning, it engages them on a deeper level and becomes a staple in their life as a student. My job as a teacher is to sift through all the contenders and expose my students to quality tools in technology that will effectively supplement their education. Now please excuse me while I throw this blog post into a Wordle :)
Now don't get me wrong, the sites and apps we learned about that day were COOL. They were fun and interactive. But as I continued my teaching career over the next few years in a Business/Technology teacher position, it was evident that there were many issues with such a rollout of "cool, hip, new" technology for our staff. As I progressed in my career, and became a Model Teacher, and a part of our Technology Committee for my building-I realized that the sheer AMOUNT of new edutech tools available was astounding. From newcomers like Kahoot and Socrative to expansions of the Google for Education suite and various Chrome extensions, any teacher, regardless of their tech expertise, would feel overwhelmed. In many ways it feels like some sort of weird reality show competition with all the edutech sites/apps vying for the top spot. Yet what's really missing is the Simon Cowell of our field. Someone who's going to bluntly shoot down all the terrible ideas and vet the actual contenders. Bonus points for having a crisp, British accent and rude dismissive metaphors for the "losers."
As a teacher, specifically as a technology teacher, I feel that it is my duty to occupy that role. For the sake of my students and personal sanity, I need to channel my inner Simon Cowell. In this day and age, we have an unprecedented amount of technology available at our fingertips, but that doesn't mean that everything that comes out on the "digital market" is worth it. Some of the sites and apps are the Betamaxes and Zune players of the edutech world. Yet they're touted as the next best thing! Some may seem like a cool new thing to use, but the challenge is, is it really the right tool for the job?
Which brings me to the point of being techy versus tech savvy in education. To me, there are a lot of techy teachers. These are the ones that use a variety of apps, sites, etc. in their classrooms. They are the ones that used the bookmarked folder religiously to create new review quizzes and set up elaborate Edmodo classroom pages. There's nothing wrong with being a techy teacher, these are the teachers that are willing to take risks and try new things. As a student, teacher, and parent, I value those teachers that step outside the box and experiment. The tech savvy teacher, however, does a lot of evaluative work. There's a cost/benefit analysis that goes on in the mind of a tech savvy teacher. Instead of jumping on the newest bandwagon and fad, this type of teacher analyzes and experiments with a technology first before deciding whether it makes their job EASIER and allows students to engage in a newer or different way with the content material. There is a difference between using technology for the sake of using a tech tool and using technology to actually enhance the learning process.
I have been both of these teachers. As I've gained more and more experience in teaching, I've definitely shifted towards being more selective and tech savvy with the types of technology I use in my classroom. Students respond very well and are super engaged when they experience anything new. But if that tool is just a gimmick designed to superficially engage them, the law of marginal utility comes into play every subsequent time the tool is used. However, if it's something that truly enhances their learning, it engages them on a deeper level and becomes a staple in their life as a student. My job as a teacher is to sift through all the contenders and expose my students to quality tools in technology that will effectively supplement their education. Now please excuse me while I throw this blog post into a Wordle :)
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