(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Oh, look out you rock n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time
(David Bowie)
Change. It's the one constant in life, and, by extension, in the world of education. Some changes are extrinsic, others, the ones that are more permanent and quite probably more important, are intrinsic. Institutional change is ongoing, often creating some chaos and resulting in abandoned initiatives and disaffected teachers, students, and parents. Changes in educational policy have much the same results. The most powerful change is the change that comes from a deeper understanding of what one's role is as a teacher and co-learner in both the educational setting and the personal one as well. How does this relate to technology, students, and the expectations that are set by others outside the world of the classroom? As a co-learner and mentor in the classroom, one's role is to investigate all opportunities and vehicles for learning, embracing the ones that make sense and that can make a positive contribution to the learning process for everyone involved. Some aspects of technology are "gadgets" and the things that dress up a lesson or a finished product. Others are far more useful; some management tools do, in fact, make record keeping and reporting easier (when they work!), and some educational tools are quite helpful, and support the learning process in meaningful ways. It is our job to first inspect what it is we hope to achieve with the lessons we offer to our students, and then seek out a variety of ways to support the lessons and the learning expectations. Online resources such as Purdue OWL, Wikipedia, and other forms of locating and sifting for informational texts are beneficial, while other forms of technology can be a distraction (at worst), or a novelty to engage students' interests (at best). The teacher's role is to determine what the proper tools are to bring students to the place where their best learning can take place.
Have I changed due to this short exploration of various forms of technology? I don't really think so, except that it has given me an opportunity to look at what I teach, what I want the students to learn, and consider a variety of tools and how they can best support what we are working on. Could I continue to teach with very little technology embedded? Sure I could. However, I can, and do, use technology as part of my teacher's "magic bag of tricks" to call upon to assist my students and myself. There are times and opportunities when the newest and brightest innovations bring what we are doing to a whole new level, and that is exciting and will bear good fruit. I hope, though, to never lose sight of what the true goals of education are: to read, to consider and think critically, to learn to communicate effectively, and to reflect on what one thinks. When, and if, technology can support those goals, then it's certainly a good choice to use whatever is available to us.
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