I read an interesting article at 8th Floor that really got me thinking. It was about an experience during a workshop that got ugly. You can read the original article here.
Being new to education, I find the negative "nellies" everywhere. Yet they jump on the bandwagon without really tapping technology. My initial reaction, well you can read it in the comments, was to think of this great article in the onion. I then remembered this article about fear and perception. I was having a real hard time empathizing with the fellow in the article. Both my civilian and military career were evolutionary careers. If you stayed stagnant for one second, you were out. Apparently, education hasn't made real leaps or bounds. At least that is my impression.
In fact it was my experience. My school back in the 70's and 80's had technology such as cassette players and Apple IIe computers, but they collected dust while my teachers used the chalkboard. While now I know training is an issue, training is available for all teachers on technology. I have been taking that training. Maybe my previous teachers didn't have the available training, and from anecdotal evidence, this was an issue, but that is not an excuse today.
I was trying to explain to my mother what a subnet is and what the benefits and limitations of subnetting are. She struggled to understand and I could not come up with a good analogy to the real world that would suffice. I did some research but I didn't find any good way to break down how the internet works at the basic OSI layers for the non technical types.
All this reminded me of a video game I'm currently playing called Red Dead Redemption. It is set in 1901 or 1902 in a fictional state in Western US. During many of the dialogue, there is much discussion between the characters about how fast technology is changing. It's an eerie mirror to our current times. I don't think that was lost on the game developers.
It all comes down to technological immigrant or technological native. I'm an immigrant compared to my students but a native compared to my peers. I've been an early adopter and worked in the computer field for over 15 years.
Do we, as immigrants, rail against the windmills or just fade quietly into that still night?
-p
Hi Paul!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your post. I vote to fight. I get why some teachers fight against change - it is simple human nature. For them, technology is a tangible advisary. I have learned to be patient with the folks who chose to come to classes ABOUT technology and get upset and resist anything new. At the basest point of nature, they are dealing with a pretty serious threat to their identity as a person and a teacher. It's freaky - really. I can't say that I haven't been there once in a while. We all have. So, again, I try to be patient and remember we are all in different places at different times.
All that being said, as you saw in my blog post, some days, I get frustrated with the frustration!
Just sharin'
Lee Anne