Teaching Tech-Rich in a Tech-Bound World
This semester, I'm teaching in Olscamp 207, a computer lab. All the computers are rather large, enabling students to hide behind them if they choose. The computers are in rows with aisles only on the sides, making it difficult for me to walk around the room without climbing over students. Furthermore, All the computers face the front of the room, making discussions entirely student-teacher, rather than preferred student-student. It's hard for all of us to see each other, especially for students to see other students, since they're sitting down. So I believe that in physical ways, my classroom is technology-bound. Not ill-equipped, by any means. I'm enjoying using the technology available in the lab. But when it comes time for F2F discussions, it is difficult.
I have another past experience--much worse--where I had to teach in an ill-equipped lab. It was at Perrysburg HS, and I had planned a great lesson where students would go to the lab and work on projects. However, I (the naive student teacher) had reserved the lab that everyone else knew was "the one that doesn't work." For some unknown reason, the fabulous-looking brand-new lab computers often would unexpectedly crash, usually around 6th period. There was officially supposed to be a technical consultant in the building, but they only had enough money to hire one person to serve all the computers in the district. It was incredibly frustrating to both me and the students, but all everyone else would say was "well, why did you reserve that lab?" It was definitely an ill-equipped lab, under the guise of looking high-tech.
No matter where I am, I try to teach tech-rich, but am often derailed...ah, technology.
--eliz25
I have another past experience--much worse--where I had to teach in an ill-equipped lab. It was at Perrysburg HS, and I had planned a great lesson where students would go to the lab and work on projects. However, I (the naive student teacher) had reserved the lab that everyone else knew was "the one that doesn't work." For some unknown reason, the fabulous-looking brand-new lab computers often would unexpectedly crash, usually around 6th period. There was officially supposed to be a technical consultant in the building, but they only had enough money to hire one person to serve all the computers in the district. It was incredibly frustrating to both me and the students, but all everyone else would say was "well, why did you reserve that lab?" It was definitely an ill-equipped lab, under the guise of looking high-tech.
No matter where I am, I try to teach tech-rich, but am often derailed...ah, technology.
--eliz25
posted by eliz25 at 7:04 PM
1 Comments:
I think it's very easy to be tech-bound. Technology is shiny, flashy, and new, and is very often advertised as good for its own sake. It takes a lot more reflection and pedagogical awareness to teach tech-rich. Society (if I may use such a grandiose, overly-vague ENG 111 term) seems to want more and more out of technology, and it ends up as nice and flashy, but of little content.
--eliz25
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