Miller, S. (2011). Student voices for change. Learning & Leading with Technology, 38(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-june-july-2011.aspx
[NETS 1, II, III]
The best part of this article was reading about how young students affected and changed the minds of older, established, political figures. Through the use of technology they made an impact on the state legislature of Iowa. I loved how the adults were so impressed by the learning accomplishments of these elementary and junior high students that they were motivated to help them continue to expand on what they were already studying, learning, and creating at Van Meter. My optimistic thinking is that if this type of successful innovative learning can happen at one school, why can't that motivation to incorporate technology be spread in schools throughout our country? I would think a part of why this teaching hasn't spread is the teacher/faculty resistence to technology and learning new programs that might appear intimidating or feel "un-learnable" at first. (I feel this way about perfecting Prezi!) but I know that will time, effort, and persistence we can all learn to be teachers who influence and incorporate our children's learning using technology so they can become better students (and as we can see in the "Stuent Voices for Change" article, allow the student to become the teacher.)
Q#1: As a "new-to-technology" teacher, how can I find workshops and resources to learn the programs I want to incorporate in my classroom? I need to be knowledgable about programs like Skype, Prezi, and PhotoShop before I can add these tools into my lesson plans.
Answer:Just like the children learned to navigate technology, we adults and teachers hopefully have the same passion. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to start from scratch when learning something new. Being pro-active and enthusiastic about learning is a great place to start. Be on the look out via internet for local technology workshops. Many times you can find helpful workshops at community colleges or continuing education schools. If you are working at a school, check out the faculty bulletin board for any postings about upcoming workshops or ask the principal if they know of any. There also seems to be a tutorial made by somebody for almost anything on the internet! Try starting with YouTube and seeing if there are any beginner "how-to" tutorials for the program you want to learn. If you have access to the world wide web, you are only seconds away from learning! Its always a good idea to have a good layout of a program and how it works before introducing it to your students but remember, its ok not to everythiing. If your students have a question you can't answer, let them be the student and the teacher. Ask them to see if they can look up their question on the internet or work with other students to figure it out. Then allow them to help the rest of the class. That's what I consider quality learning!
Q#2: How can we convince teachers/faculty who are unenthusiastic about incorporating technology into classroom education that it can make a positive impact?
Answer: Many times teacher's use the excuse that they don't have time...time to learn the program,or time to add into the curriculum. That's really false though, because there are many simple ways to incorporate technology into our daily classroom learning. If faculty were supportive of teachers learning new technology in the summer that would be a great way to start the learning process without feeling pressure of having to incorporate it right away. For example, if a teacher wanted to learn Prezi and Photoshop they could begin to have lessons or take workshops after school let out in June. Slowly over 3 months they could get a really good grasp of the basics and be ready to start trying out in the classroom in September. Its always good to remember baby steps...it doesn't have to be overwhelming changes from one day to the next. Small inclusions over time will add up to big improvements in the long run. And remember to remind those teachers who are less then enthusiastic: Be patient, and keep trying. It will have positive impact!
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