Catchy title, I know! Seriously though, in my opinion, students have come to expect technology in the classroom everyday AND they seem to need more to keep them engaged. In other words, because these students have experienced technology in the classroom for most of their lives they have come to expect to be "wow'ed" every day.
Using technology is great and can produce some wonderful results, but it's also very time consuming. So if i use technology once or twice a week and traditional methods the rest of the week I sometimes feel like there is a disconnect with the students. I take the time to plan fun, creative lessons and it's depressing when the students aren't as engaged as i had hoped or anticipated simply because the lesson wasn't presented in a 'technological' format.
I almost want to stand in front of the room and give them the, "Ten years ago..." speech. Of course I realize that's not the answer, but that speaks to my level of frustration. Clearly differentiation and adapting to different learning styles is key, but I still feel like the students need to be responsible for responding to ALL formats of presentation, not just the formats they find interesting.
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There are definitely different students today in terms of what they expect with regard to technology. I feel like I finally secured an in focus for my classroom last year but video clips and powerpoints seem dated to them--boring. However, many do recognize that their access to technology is rather limited due to our lack of available resources for all. Thus, they become ridiculously excited when they see the laptop cart or a BrainPop clip.
ReplyDeleteThe students were very engaged when I revealed my little video to them but I do not have the time or energy to create something new like that daily. Also, if I were to ask many of my students to utilize some of the newer technology, many would have difficulty. They may enjoy watching fast paced new technology but many have no clue how to create it.
Even when I ask them to research something, they waste countless minutes just randomly googling items. They still need to be taught how to determine if a site is reliable and if the information is relevant. Many do not want to take the time to accomplish this task.
Even though I sometimes get overwhelmed by the prospect of integrating all this technology into my classroom and making it all work with the limited time that we are given to plan it, I still find value in pieces of it as long as there is a balance. Sometimes, we need to just gather up the students and simply read a picture book to them.....I love that they still love a book that isn't being read from a Kindle....
Oops! I forgot to tag my last comment to A Miller. #i3cs21s09
ReplyDeleteOh! I've been commenting on lots of people's posts, without tagging any of them because I forgot that we were supposed to do it in the body of the comment!
ReplyDelete#i3cs21
My elementary level (fifth-grade) students still respond well to non-electronic teaching methods. They LOVE a plain old ordinary discussion of something even slightly controversial. They like almost anything "hands-on" and almost anything done with a partner. I wonder if this is more because they are a couple of years younger than some of your students, or because I haven't used tons of technology (beyond web sites and Brainpop) with them, so they don't expect it?
By analogy: Last year I allowed my students to play certain computer games at snack time, and before long that's ALL they wanted to do during snack. Those who weren't directly playing would gather around and watch. The kids would have complained loudly if I had told them mid-year that they couldn't play those games in school, any more. This year, there are no computer games in my classroom, and no one has ever brought it up. Instead, the kids pull out lots of traditional card games and board games at snack time. It feels so much more interactive -- I'm much happier with what's going on, and having never become accustomed to something else, the kids seem perfectly content.
I think you have all settled on what is key: balance in all things is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteDennis Richards
You'd think that being a technology teacher would solve this problem. However, they again expect to be wowed in class and don't want to do the things they want to. It is very hard to make spreadsheets exciting and they just don't understand this. They want to do the "fun" stuff. They expect their computer classes to be like the time they spend on the computers at home.
ReplyDelete