Understanding technology and its role in the classroom is the first step towards bringing our education system into the 21st century. In “The Tech Commandments,” Adam Bellow describes ten basic guidelines on using technology for education in the most effective and appropriate way. I really enjoyed this article and found myself agreeing with the points in this thought provoking article each step of the way.
The two commandments that I thought were the most powerful were about training the teachers using the technology and the fact that tech for tech’s sake can be worse than no tech at all. I have found that training is the most pressing issue regarding technology right now because without the know-how, any money spent on new technologies is simply being wasted. How is anyone going to benefit from a state of the art technology if the people who need to use it on a daily basis do not understand its full potential. It is a shameful waste that the students are being cheated out of the technological experience, the teachers are being neglected and lack the training that would improve their curriculum, and the districts are being robbed of money spent on technologies that are having no impact on education.
As you can probably tell, I believe that technology should have a role in every teacher’s curriculum at some point or another because technology can be so beneficial to a learning environment; however, I truly appreciate the author mentioning that using technology is not always the end-all-be-all of teaching. Sometimes technology is not the answer, and it is the teacher’s responsibility to recognize opportunities to enrich lessons with technology and when the use of technology is just a distraction.
Integrating technology into a curriculum or lesson should be seamless and make the learning experience better for both the students and the teacher. This is why understanding technology, its uses, and its benefits is so important. I think if we as teachers preach and practice the “The Tech Commandments,” soon enough, everyone will become a believer.
I agree that educating and training teachers is one of the most important tech commandements because without training, what good is the piece of equipment in your room? From prior classroom experience, I found that many teachers didn't even use technology simply because they did not know how to use it. If we focus on the education and training of each teacher, instruction in the classroom can become more efficient and timely.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that training the teachers is extremely important. It is a waste to have any type of technology in a school if no one knows how to use it. The children benefit from technology so much. I also agree that it is the teacher's responsibility to be able to implement technology with a purpose. The children should be learning something. Technology shouldn't just be a "time filler".
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the fact that teachers need to understand the technology before teaching it. It is very important for teachers to be trained in this. Giving a teacher a piece of technology does nothing for the students education when the teacher does not know how to use it.
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