The Old Story and the New Story

Stepping forward in my education to become a teacher seems daunting. The world we live in is changing more than ever, specifically the teaching world, and it seems as if we are being asked to jump on to a fast moving train where the destination is unknown. No longer is education stationary, but it is quickly evolving and you have to keep up with it.  The concept of the old story of education transforming into a new story makes a lot of sense to me. I have witnessed as a student the ongoing transformation; receiving a blend of the old story ways and the beginnings of the new story.

In elementary school there was very little technology within the classroom. We copied hand written notes from the chalkboard, and examples were shown on overhead projectors. The only screens in the classrooms were the TV’s for watching Bill Nye the Science Guy and the lone computer, which was usually located on the teacher’s desk. We were expected to memorize multiplication tables, spelling words and cursive writing, all which was taught through repetition. As the years went on the library evolved into a large computer lab. Classrooms had multiple computers for students use and chalkboards changed to whiteboards. No longer were projects expected to be done on bristol board, but on a computer made slide show. Teachers taught with different learning styles in mind, and the lecturing format became rare. Project based learning, videos, hands on tasks and group work became more prevalent, along with the amount of technology in the classroom. By the end of my high school experience Smart boards were in most of the math rooms, and the teachers talked about the various seminars they attended on the ways they could use technology in the classroom. While all this change was exciting and the new story of education was emerging, technology seemed to become the base of class lessons.

Now I am an advocate for technology in the classroom, as it brings wonderful new experiences, and I rely on the technology I have in my life, like cell phones and the internet. I am a part of a generation that had their early childhood without texting and Facebook, but today have a great knowledge on how technology works and its future developments. As a student it was great to be able to see various examples online or on the Smart boards, and connecting with the teachers became easier. I loved the new assignments, such as creating Facebook pages for historical figures, making videos or even blogging about a book. These used the skills most of my peers had with social media and could be fun. As a future teacher I am excited to have the ability to take education further with technology and let the students use their skills; however I worry that technology has taken over the classroom and the basics are being lost.

 Classrooms today are fully a part of twenty first century digital education and I am a little nervous to enter this fully emerged world.  I worry as a future teacher that education is becoming too heavily reliant on technology and I have witnessed when a sole reliance on technology has gone awry. In lessons often slides and links did not work and if an electronic was broken the lesson was postponed, some teachers even tried to push the envelope too far. An example of this occurred in my high school where the teacher attempted to integrate cell phones into the lesson. We were to take a quiz as a class and text our answers to the provided number and the results would appear on the Smart board. While this seemed like an interesting idea, it became a mess in the execution. The school was designed in the early 1960’s and barely had air conditioning throughout the entire building, let alone cell phone service and wireless internet. Most students could not send their answers or participate in the exercises due to lack of service, payment plans or having a cell phone available. The quiz ended up taking more time than necessary and when the activity was done it was difficult for the teacher to get the students to put their phones away. It was a new story idea that was hindered by an old story building and a lack of full understanding of the technology and the will of the students. While changes are coming to help the new story develop, examples like these turn me away from complete reliance on technology.

There are many factors to consider when using technology in the classroom, such as the socioeconomic status of the school and students, resources available, and the ability to manage the technology as well as the class. Technology adds another layer to classroom management and assessment and this can be helpful and yet hindering. As a teacher if there is not complete knowledge and control of the technology, it is easy to get caught up in fixing the problem or device and in the process you lose the classes’ attention and even respect. I am also worried that the classroom will become overrun in electronics, and skills like note taking, hand writing and critical thinking without electronic resources, will become lost.

Technology does not always mean a better education. It is about finding the balance in using technology, and ultimately it is the teacher that directs the education not the electronics. It is using the other part of the new story, like project based learning and student directed learning that should work along with technology in the classroom. This can then appeal to multiple students’ needs and opens the door for further types of differentiation such as individualization and personalization as explained in the book Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment. We should not get too caught up with trying to find the latest and greatest device to use in the classroom. It needs to be about the teacher working with and managing the technology to enhance the lessons. While technology is the largest part of the new story, and opens many doors, it is important to go back to basics and remember parts of the old story. Not the entire old story was bad, and as teachers we cannot completely let go of the basics and become overrun by the new developments. This may just be the History student side of me who enjoys reading hand written letters and studying simpler times, but as a future teacher the amount of technology that is around can be daunting and managing the classroom has a whole new side to it. And I mean what’s wrong with cursive writing anyways.