In the article Social Justice, by Colleen Swain and David Edyburn it states, “In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS report noted that at least 80% of all jobs in the next two decades would require workers to be technologically fluent. This means if workers are not well prepared in using technology to succeed in the workplace, they will be forced to take low-paying jobs with limited potential for advancement.” This quote shows us how important it is for our students to be up to date on current technology uses. If they do not have access to advanced technology at home, it is even more important for us to use it in our schools.
This article also echo’s the Engage Me or Enrage Me article we read earlier in the term. Students yearn for their teachers to be using the newest technologies in order to engage them. This requires us to be constantly learning the newest forms of technology and not just use it as teaching tools for our content, but more importantly, teaching them how to use it. We need to get creative with our assignments; if they are doing a summative project on Huck Finn (or anything), they should be required to use technology in their presentation.
I hope to give my students time in the computer lab to work on their projects at school. I also plan to talk to representatives at our state schools and community colleges in order to find out what level they expect their students to be on as far as technology goes. We can’t have a giant disconnect between high school education and college; we need to work on creating the best possible transition for our students. That includes being proficient using the newest technologies and not being afraid of them.
My first week of undergrad, I was assigned a PowerPoint project in my Art and Human Values class. I had not learned how to do PowerPoint in high school. Although I had teachers that used it during their lectures, they did not provide me with the opportunity of creating a PowerPoint presentation myself. I felt I was at a huge technological disadvantage my first week of college and I can’t even imagine how students will feel in the future if they are behind, as technological advances rapidly.
I remember that jump between high school and college technologically was huge for me too. I used computers at home to surf the internet for research info and to write papers. But then all of a sudden in college I had to do those power point presentations, email regularly, submit assignments online and much more. If I had had a little more of an intro in high school I would have had such an easier time in college.
ReplyDeleteI guess I also view technology a little differently. I have a hard time thinking about teaching as a service to keep children entertained. I want them to be entertained but it isn't my number one goal. My goal with technology would be more educational then entertainment. Most likely though just having more technology will keep them entertained too.