New Technology
Over the last month or so my district has supplied every teacher with Dell laptops to replace our old, completely outdated desktop machines. Many of our teachers were using computers running win98 on machines that were purchased in 1997. While it is certainly a tragedy that we have been using machines that are so old, to me it’s more of a tragedy that we have not trained our teachers on how to use the technology in the classroom. Showing students a PowerPoint in which they copy notes is not using technology in the classroom.
We were given these computers to provide us with a portable means in which to create lesson plans, enter grades and give us an updated operating system and software so we can catch up with the rest of the world. This part is awesome. I was so tired of 366 mhz Pentium II computers running win98 that froze or crashed at least once a day. Not to mention the fact that when something did break, it took our techs approximately a week to get it fixed simply because they were spread way too thin. Bottom line, this is a good thing, it gets us headed in the right direction in terms of the technology that we use in the classroom.
However, we have not sufficiently been given training to use this new technology effectively. With my background in computers and technology I learned these skills and techniques for my degree, most teachers don’t have an Instructional Technology background and are too busy with all of their other duties to explore the world of blogging and RSS. In my building I am the technology evangelist and also the person people come to when they have problems. I have been working to spread the word about how to use technology in the classroom (this blog, my student produced podcast and conversations with my collegues) with limited success so I’m curious to know how others are helping their fellow teachers enhance their classrooms through the use of technology.
