By Ryan Magnuson
Technology is now a mandatory part of every child’s education, at least those we are properly preparing for the workforce in todays’ modern world. As they progress in their education, the requirement to use and implement technology increases and it essential that students are exposed to operating these software’s before the expectation is proficiency from them. While we talk about utilizing and implementing technology in the classroom, we do not often enough address the aspect of the teacher in this scenario of a technological classroom.
For one thing, not all teachers are tech-savvy. I for one am certainly not even at 31 years old, which is relatively young in the profession. While the traditional role of the teacher involves their knowledge generally far exceeding their students, especially at lower levels, in todays age many students are more evolved than the teachers are in technology use. Therefore, if the expectation is more successful technology implementation in the classroom, it is imperative that there is staff-wide ability to operate and instruct using these tools at a professional level. We cannot have the expectation that all teachers are aware how to operate and efficiently utilize all the available programs for teaching with technology, at least not if we want to have desirable outcomes
Additionally, the field of technology integration is so vast that it cannot be assumed that all teachers would instantly be able to utilize any program without any form of training. Although we are all professionals with a four-year degree, it cannot be assumed that we are proficient in a field outside our certification. The expectation is not for an ELA teacher to walk into a science class and lead the lesson as well as the normal science teacher would. We all have our specializations, and that’s what we are hired to do. When it comes to technology integration in classrooms, it cannot be assumed we are all on the same level of competency, just as it cannot be assumed the ELA teacher is equally competent in science.
Therefore, I feel that as schools and districts implement technology there needs to be better access to staff wide professional developments. If a school is making a push for technology, it needs to allocated the appropriate time for teacher trainings for quality instruction. Educators are one of the only professions that are not able to earn overtime pay, and whatever extra time we spend on our job is essentially free. It does not mean that teachers do not want to improve, we just lack properly allocated time. For instance, Misan Rewane, the co-founder of West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE), noted how enthusiastic educators were about the initiative for teacher training through Edtech. “Teachers generally want to do a good job, they just don’t have a lot of time,” (Kologrivaya & Shleifer, 2022). Having schools allocate time for teachers for these trainings during work hours would serve as a huge benefit.
Subsequently, the field of technology is a continuously growing entity in education. It feels as though each year returning from summer, we are expected to discard the tech initiatives from the previous year and place our efforts into the “new and improved” way of doing things. My personal opinion is this tends to coincide with the software the district has signed a contract with or invested the most money into, not necessarily what has found to work best for students through current research. The offerings for assistance in using these new software’s tends to be non-existent. I remember when canvas first came out, we had a staff wide professional development. The entire staff was excited of at least one element of what they had learned from the training and every teacher in the school implemented canvas that year, including myself in PE. That was the only training we have been offered during work hours in 9 years for technology implementation, and the staff has not progressed to a new software since then.
In conclusion, while we progress into the modern world of technology in classes, before the student learning takes place there needs to be an opportunity for teacher learning and professional development as well. If teachers are expected to implement software’s that best serve and prepare our students, it is imperative that teachers are adequately prepared to instruct using the software. Teachers benefit from time to share best practices in addition to taking trainings as noted by Anuradha Handa, principal of GD Goenka Public School, which is a private high school in Delhi. She stated “A space where teachers can share their methods and experiences drastically boosts educational outcomes,” (Kologrivaya & Shleifer, 2022). In the world of education, the growth of the classroom teacher is just as important as the student if we wish to continue to evolve. Technology is the future of education, and the teachers need to be prepared to serve their students. Trainings, professional developments, and collaboration for sharing best practices are essential to technology implementation in the classroom.
Kologrivaya, K., & Shleifer, E. (2022, April 15). Teachers Aren’t Getting Enough Training on Technology. It’s a Global Problem. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-04-15-teachers-aren-t-getting-enough-training-on-technology-it-s-a-global-problem