For this activity, I interviewed a 9th grade
English teacher from Parsippany High School in the Parsippany-Troy Hills
District. This school has already been on its way to using technology for all
aspects of education. Although the teacher was not familiar with the specific
NETS Standards, when I gave him a copy to peruse, he did say that a lot of
these elements are incorporated into their lessons. He informed me of the
weekly meetings he has with his colleagues and supervisors and their
discussions about different ways to use technology in their classrooms. These
technology-filled lessons make the students’ learning experience a more
beneficial one through the use of technologies such as smartboards, iPads,
Wikis, and Emailing.
The teacher I interviewed gave me substantial answers as to
what types of technologies they use and how it will assist their students. They
use laptops in computer labs, have teacher-teacher, teacher-student, and
student-student interaction through email, and they use smartboards. The
smartboards are beneficial for the teachers as much as the students because
they can display their already-created lesson without wasting precious class
time writing it on the board. He also mentioned that next year, they will
attempt to incorporate the use of iPads into the curriculum. According to the
teacher, the reason why technology is so important in school is because they
can give students real world information in real time. They can provide them
with news articles, archive information, and YouTube clips. In fact, he gave me
a specific example: the day after I interviewed him, he was planning on showing
a clip of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I remember, in my
high school class, we read the speech, but now technology permits the speech to
be watched as if they were present during the event.
I was surprised to hear about the idea of iPads being
provided for students in class. They are an expensive mode of technology;
needless to say, the school would need a large budget in order to afford the
amount of tablets needed for the students to use during class. Also, it
surprised me to find out that he plans to explore Wikis for next year. The Wiki
will have the required assignments for the students, and they will be required
to submit these assignments on the Wiki instead of a hardcopy. I was shocked
because of the major changes technology has had on the school system since I
graduated from high school four years ago. The teacher said himself that the
teachers are online this year; next year, it will be the students’ turn.
By the time I become an educator and hired by a school
district, I hope that technology will already be a vast portion of the
curriculum. If not, I would express to my colleagues the importance of such
tools for the students’ learning and for the convenience of the teachers. Ideas
I got from my interviewed teacher such as Wikis, iPads, and YouTube clips are
great ideas for me to use in the future and share with my colleagues.
The teacher I interviewed also never heard of these standards, however, her school is not as fortunate. Her school does not even have enough books for the students, nevermind iPads. Also, the school recently implemented a cap on how many copies they are allowed to make, which is an inefficient way to provide education. If they were able to have ready access through iPads, like Parsippany, it would cut down on the need for copies. Pulling up "I Have a Dream" is a great deal easier than running off 75 copies, and perhaps more cost effective in the long run. Students would be able to not only read it, but allow them to experience the speech, so students could examine tone, energy, syntax etc. from other perspectives. It is really wonderful however that the students in Parsippany have access to iPads in the classroom and other technologies, right at their fingertips.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that many of the teachers that we interviewed have never heard of the NETS-T and NETS-S, yet most of them make conscious efforts to integrate technology into their curriculum anyway. For the interactivity #5 assignment, I interviewed a Paramus High School English teacher who explained to me that although she had never been informed about these standards, she is required (along with the rest of the faculty) to demonstrate and improve her use of technology for classroom instruction on a yearly basis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rebecca that the iPads are a wonderful resource for students to use for education. I worry, however, that they could become distracting to students if they are used for purposes other than those that the teacher intends. It also seems as though it might be difficult to find a healthy and effective balance between traditional classroom instruction and newer technology-based instruction.
Sad to say, many schools, particullarly the one in Newark (where I was born and raised) does not have any access at all to any forms of technology. They actually get excited when they do not have to share textbooks with the rest of their classmates. The Board of Eduction usually complains that there is not enough money and that it will be a waist of money to spend on technology. However, buying at least 1 IPad per class is alot cheaper than paying for copies of different assignments and tests for hundreds of students. So, why not contribute towards technology?
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