Should We Learn Technology Or Not?

A Vision of Students Today

What would the walls and desks in a classroom say if they could talk? That was one of the questions asked in the video, but we all know that this is not possible, so what would a student have to say for them? In the video, they made a document that asked, "What is it like to be a student today?", and the students replied on this document with the following responses. The average class size is 115. Only eighteen percent of teachers know our names. A student only completed 49% of their assigned reading, and only 26% of the reading was relevant to their life. A student bought a hundred dollar textbook that was never opened. Our fellow classmates pay for class, but never come. One student read 8 books this year, 2300 web pages, and 1281 Facebook profiles. One student will write 42 pages of notes for class this semester, and 500 pages of e-mail. Another student gets 7 hours of sleep each night, another watches television for 1 1/2 hours per night, another spends 3 1/2 hours on-line each day, one listens to music 2 1/2 hours each day, another spends 2 hours on their cell phone, another spends 3 hours per day in class, 2 hours eating, 3 hours studying, and another spends 2 hours at work. All of this totals 26 1/2 hours per day. It seems that students have to be multi-taskers. One student will be $20,000 in debt after graduation. Laptop computers cost more that some people in the world make in a year. When I graduate, I will probably have a job that does not exist today. Filling out scantron sheets will not get me there, or help me to deal with real life. We did not create the problems, but they became my problems. Some say technology can help us.

Schools have changed from the past. I agree a little with the class sizes being 115, but it is only in a few of the basic core classes like biology, psychology, and sociology. Then about the comment about the teachers knowing my name; in the smaller classes, the teachers were more likely to learn it, but in the larger classes it was more difficult. I do not like to complete the assigned reading because with all of my classes, it is too much. I agree completely with the comment that was made about the expense of the books; I have bought a book for a class that was over a hundred dollars, and I never needed to open the book once. Not only that, but the bookstore would not buy the book back at the end of the year because the book was copyrighted by the teacher. I have had fellow classmates not show up for class after they paid for the class, and I think that it is crazy! I think that I do have a problem with all of the activities that I do, and how the hours equal more that a day's worth of hours, so I do multi-task. I do not have the problem of being in debt because my parents are helping me, so I did not have to get a loan to pay back later. My job will exist, but I will have to continue learning to be able to teach the curriculum and education to my students. I agree with scantrons not really helping to get a job, but a teacher needs them to grade tests more easily. Then to add something to the movie, I would bring up how much money food costs while getting an education.

It's Not About the Technology

This post was about how technology was not the only solution to better education. She stated that technology is good, if you put it in the hands of a teacher that knows how to use it. A teacher needs to be a learner and want to continue to learn throughout their career. A teacher must continue to learn to keep up with the world today. She also stated that learning and teaching are not the same. You can teach something without the students learning something; if a student does not understand the concept, you may not have taught it well. She also mentioned that technology is useless without good teaching. If a teacher has technology but does not know how to use it properly, what is the point of having it in the first place? The final point that was mentioned was that a you can be a 21st century teacher without technology. A teacher needs to prepare students by giving them the capacity to be creative and innovative, so that they will be prepared to face the future. Teachers who use critical thinking skills and problem solving skills are more helpful to students rather than misusing technology as a means to facilitate learning. Teachers who communicate and collaborate with their students show them skills that they will use throughout their lives.

I agree completely with the ideas mentioned in this post. You cannot expect a teacher to show students concepts, and make them fully understand them just because you are using technology. A teacher must become a well qualified teacher by knowing that you constantly have to learn to be prepared to teach students. You have to teach until the student understands the concepts. The teacher also has to understand how to use the technology to teach the concepts with it. You cannot give a bad teacher technology and expect them to work miracles in helping the students understand. Don't get me wrong, if the teacher is well qualified and knows how to use technology, the possibilities are endless on what she can do to bring education to higher levels, and students to higher achievements.

Is It Okay To Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

He mentioned in his list of requirements for teachers that all educators must achieve a basic level of technological capability. People who do not meet the criterion of this basic level should be embarrassed. Headteachers and principals who have staff who are technologically illiterate should be held accountable for the problem. Some people think that it is okay to be technologically illiterate, and parents do not need to be bad role models by saying that they are not good at technology, so it is okay for their child/student to do the same. We use technology to communicate with others around schools and around the world. Teachers that do not strive to learn technology are like teachers who do not catch up on the essentials of their subject of expertise. He also mentioned that not learning how to use technology now is going to hurt us in the future with success in jobs and opportunities. Teachers need to strive to continue to learn how to use 21st century technology so that we can prepare our students for the age and time period that is approaching; if we do not, we cannot help our students be successful in an age that has yet to come.

I agree that we need to know about technology, and that we, teachers, do not need to be lazy and slack off on learning these technologies. Not only do the teachers need to make sure that they are technologically literate, but principals, headteachers, and parents need to learn as well. This world is not slowing down for us, so we all need to keep up. Upcoming teachers like me need to make sure that we are getting our students prepared for what the future is bringing. We need to make sure that we can show the students the basics in technology, so that they are not behind when they arrive in the real world. There is no excuse for us to not learn these concepts. The world is going to keep on spinning, whether we are with it in technology or not!

Gary's Social Media Count

The counter that we were supposed to look at shows how technology and social networks change in a few seconds. It shows that as we sit here and learn, the world is completely changing as more people are joining Twitter and Facebook. People are communicating across social networks on-line constantly. The world is not stopping; it is going to continue to change. We, as teachers, definitely have to keep up. New blogs, new uploaded videos, and new users are being added on the on-line networks every time we blink. This shows me, as an upcoming teacher, that I will need to continue to learn, because learning never stops. I do not have the ability to sit back, relax, and watch the world go by, because the world is actually flying by. The world is becoming so technologically dependent that we will have to prepare our students for this craze!