Traditional versus Progressive
It is difficult to ignore the fact that educators are beginning to enter this profession younger and younger. It is not an anomaly to see a twenty-one year old teacher in a classroom as the lead teacher; I began my teaching career at twenty-two. Over the years, I’ve taught both primary and secondary grade levels. Currently, I am a twenty-six year old first grade teacher. As a kid who grew up in this digital age, I vividly remember having computers in my classrooms as early as kindergarten. In this ever-changing society, we must change the way we view technology as an add-on if we want to remain competitive globally.
Furthermore, I believe that teachers must constantly “reinvent themselves” in order to remain relevant to the students whom they teach. There’s an age old saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. In some cases, teachers who have earned their tenure become comfortable with doing things the way they have been doing them for years and are unwilling to implement new technology. Also, teachers must be willing to embrace change and embrace the future state of our world. Instead of rejecting technology, we must teach students how to use it in a safe manner. The more we normalize using technology, the less taboo it will become. Technology inclusion ultimately makes education more engaging for students.
Additionally, I am a huge proponent of giving older students options within the classroom. For instance, If I give a one-thousand word essay assignment, I will give students the option of using paper and pencil or typing it on the computer. This is a minor example, but for most students this is a quicker way to complete assignments while keeping track of the word count. According to the text, the most relevant power of technology includes improving student productivity, while making “more efficient use of time, money, and staff” (Garland, V. E., & Tadeja, C).
Education Equity
I often despise the phrase that we all have the same twenty-four hours. A homeless student in the inner city does not have the same twenty-four hours as a student who lives in a wealthy two parent home. As Jaime Casap discusses in his TedTalk, education is the silver bullet to escape poverty within one generation. However, I often worry about education equity as technology is integrated into classrooms because some schools will have the advantage over others. Even in the unlikely event that all schools are given the same technology, equality is not the same as equity. 2020 was the year we learned the importance of technology within education, and unfortunately, many schools were ill-prepared to handle the transition from brick and mortar to virtual learning.
I’ve had the unique opportunity of working at two schools during the pandemic.
School A, a predominantly white, suburban, high socioeconomic, nationally ranked middle school. School A, already had a virtual earning format established in the rare occurrence of a snow day. The class schedule, daily assignments and homework were readily established. Parents were also more invested in their students’ education. School B, a predominantly Somali, urban, low socioeconomic elementary/middle school. Unfortunately, at school B, we were overwhelmed with the transition to virtual learning. There were not enough laptops to distribute to students initially, so some students had to wait for a new district shipment. We also had to combat additional factors such as no internet access, broken laptops, and the establishment of a Google classroom/ Zoom meeting structure. Furthermore, most students who were not accustomed to logging onto a computer had poor attendance. Older teachers grew frustrated with the technology and it was very apparent to the students. As you can see there is an obvious difference between the two schools. As a result, School A will have the advantage, thus yielding a greater outcome.
Maturity
On the other hand, when used correctly, technology has the potential to make our world “smaller” by keeping us connected. It is amazing the way I can take a course from a school in Florida, while living anywhere in the world. Technology within the classroom will make students more responsible. For example, in the 1990’s the “baby project” was very popular among schools. Teachers would assign a doll, or even an egg to represent a baby. The purpose of the assignment was to demonstrate to students what it would be like to take full responsibility over something other than oneself. I often think of this analogy in regard to students caring for their laptop everyday.
References
Garland, V. E., & Tadeja, C. (2013). Educational Leadership and Technology : Preparing School Administrators for a Digital Age.
Casap, J. (2013) Saving the Silver Bullet [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbXgCLMl9R4