As we finish the third class I will admit, these new technologies are taking me longer to pick up on then I thought they would. For some reason it took me a long time to see how I could use inspiration in my classes. I never thought I was out of date with technology. I'm a tech teacher, I teach technology. I should know this stuff. It is very humbling seeing how much technology is out there that I have not utilized in my classrooms.
Finally after thinking, and thinking, and thinking I started to come up with some ideas for incorporating new technology into my classroom. The more I thought about it the easier it got. I definitely have some misconceptions toward some of these new technologies that are keeping my classrooms from being the best they can be. My attitude toward blogging and twittering and face book has been negative. I saw them as the newest fad and didn't want to be associated with them. This class has started to open my eyes and let me see that I need to accept these new technologies, but not just accept them I need to use them in ways to engage my students. With this negative attitude it is a wonder I even have a TV in my house, but this class has really helped me open my eyes and let me see I am missing out not utilizing this new technologies.
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Oh I do identify with your thoughts! I can't even describe how outdated I feel sometimes. My attitude toward blogging and twittering in the school are also very negative. I have only seen them as a distraction. I as well need to accept these and figure out a way to incorporate them into the classroom for appropriate use. My biggest barrier is time - I just don't feel like I have enough time to figure it all out. I'm open to change and am now accepting that it just has to be done in baby steps. A little bit at a time, one new idea at a time. Master one and I'll move on to the next. I will tell you that I decided to open up to my students and tell them how "TechStupid" I feel and that I needed their help learning. I can't even tell you how positive they have been for me. I teach the history, the students teach me how to present the material in a whole new way. I've only done it with Inspiration, but I don't see why I can do it with Twitter as well. I was thinking of posting a class question each week on Twitter to see what their responses would be. I'll let you know how that one goes!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, there are also many "old" technologies that can be used to enhance the learning. You don't have to use Twitter and blogs just to keep up w/ the new technology. The key to blogs is reflection with a public eye/feedback/networking. However, there are other simple tools that you can use in your video production class to enhance your teaching/the students' learning and we'll be talking about that. You mentioned podcasts, which is a great place to start. If you google podcasts and education, you'll find great resources. Here is a link to a school that does a lot w/ podcasting (and vodcasting): Mabry. Also, here's another great resource from Wes Fryer!
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