Technology in the classroom- depending on which teacher your speaking to, it's either the wave of the future or the bane of their existence. The reality is, no matter what school districts do, technology is here and we have no choice but to embrace it.
But where do we begin. Even the youngest teachers, who grew up with the Internet in school, are no match for the rapid pace at which technology adapts almost daily. 10 years ago, if we were using cell phones at all, they were bulky, large, analog devices with poor coverage. Now they can play music, take photos, download audio books, find restaurants, all at the speed of digital light. So how do we as teachers even know where to begin in using technology in the classroom? If there is so much to learn, where do we start?
It's simple, we begin teaching ourselves the way we teach our students. With an informal pre-assessment of our abilities. The State of Texas offers two valuable tools for teacher assessment- both of which give a fair assessment of a teachers knowledge, skills, and understanding in the technology world. Of the two, the teacher developed Technology Applications Inventory provides a great self-assessment of the abilities and vocabulary most teachers would need to know to integrate technology into almost any situation. It is a bit daunting, considering the vocabulary could make someone feel unintelligent, but it gives teachers a great start.
The much longer SETDA Teacher Survey is incredibly thorough. However, it's incredibly beneficial, and I could envision a technology minded Principal gathering great data from his staff and using it to create purposeful PD plan. Then again, that would assume that the principal is themselves willing to admit their own shortcomings when it comes to tech and learn as well.
I think these surveys are great for this main reason. These surveys prove to us that this is one area we do not know everything about - nor is it even possible for us to know everything. We are learners like the students. Unfortunately for most of us, that means we will need to swallow our pride and admit to ourselves and our students that we all have something to learn from technology. If we are going to use this to engage our students, we will have to be fearless educators, coaching from the sidelines instead of lecturing from the front.
