This will, I promise, be my last post of this nature. Though I love a good soap box as much as any other teacher, I tend to with technology, only preach the positive. But I would feel remiss not to immediately address one of the main issues I see with technology in education: availability. I am in a unique situation. I have computers for each of my students but I am the exception not the rule. When I started teaching at my school 6 years ago there were mumblings of a 1 to 1 environment. That our district would have computers for every student. Alas, 6 years later and I feel strongly teachers have less access to technology then they did when I started here.
A few years back, our district started making us include ISTE standards on our lesson plans. I was thrilled. This forced me to look at the technology I was using in a different and unique light. I was framing my lessons around actual technology standards! I remember sitting down with a teacher one day to plan out our lesson and asking her what ISTE standards she was using. In my naiveté or inability to project into other's classrooms, I had forgotten that she didn't have computers. She laughed, then responded the same one she put every week. She had developed some politically correct almost nonsensical sentence about using her ELMO.
Another teacher decided to start using text in responses in order to have something to put in her ISTE box. I was intrigued! How can I use this tool in my classroom? After observing her, I realized a harsh truth: technology when forced, without resources or training, isn't very effective. Yes, she was using it. Yes, she had something in the box. Yes, she had technology, but it wasn't effective. It didn't push her lesson and learning in a new and exciting way. It was a checked box. A "highly effective" on her evaluation. A requirement. If we are going to implement technology, especially BYOD programs, how can we train teachers to not only use this technology but use it effectively?
At the end of last year I had to make the same argument I make at the end of every year, justifying my placement in my lab. You would think this decision would be based on evaluations or learning gains, but it's not. Why then would they want to change my environment? At the end of the year, we go through our standardized testing. This process uses all 8 of our computer labs for 3 solid weeks and another 5 for 3 more. This is not even including the 3 progress monitoring assessments we have for 3 content areas across all 3 grades throughout the year that must be administered on the computers. After figuring out what to do with me and my students for 3-6 weeks as we are evicted from our classroom, my administrators are always wary of keeping me in the lab. It is simply inconvenient. I win the battle every year, but unfortunately, the trend at my school is to use our technology for testing instead of education.
My classroom is the exception. We use computers daily and integrate technology into what we do. But, at least at my school, we have less and less technology in classrooms not more. We have to function using obsolete tools. I only have one question, how do we get 21st century schools without the funding and training we need?
References:
Hrannar, I. (2014, February 26). 14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from http://ingvihrannar.com/14-things-that-are-obsolete-in-21st-century-schools/
International Society for Technology in Education (2014). ISTE Standards for Students. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf
Seminole County Public Schools (2011). Evaluation System for Instructional Personnel. Retrieved August 24, 2014 from http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/Portals/80/assets/pdf/2013-14%20SCPS%20Teacher%20Evaluation%20System%20to%20DOE--7.8.2014.pdf
Chadband, E. (2012, July 19). Should Schools Embrace "Bring Your Own Device"? NEA Today. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2012/07/19/should-schools-embrace-bring-your-own-device/
