It all started this past summer – incidentally my first summer since 8th grade when I did not have anything “official” (like working, moving to a new country, going back to school, or getting married) to do – when I read Will Richardson’s book. I had an inkling that blogs were pretty interesting (I had been reading Dooce for some time, which is still one of my favorites) and I was thinking that I might be able to use them in the classroom, plus I knew there were some other cool tools out there that I should be using, but I didn’t quite know where to start.
As I’ve mentioned before, often times, as an international school teacher, you are working in isolation, PD can be limited and not always the most relevant to your specific subject, and you certainly don’t have any institutionalized structure in place to push thinking forward. So, as of last summer I was very happy with my middle/high school IT curriculum. We were doing amazing things with Photoshop, building intricate websites, creating fun movies, learning how to create animations in Flash, and solidifying PowerPoint techniques. Sounds fun, right? It was, but, after the first chapter of Will’s book I realized it was not enough. And then began my transformation to a “next generation teacher.”
Over the course of the semester, I have started to build an understanding of what it means to be an educator in the 21st century. I have struggled here and there trying to help other administration and faculty members realize how important 21st century literacy skills are, and I’ve reached quite a few over the past six months. I have realized the power of web 2.0 tools to transform my teaching, and to help me transition to a new school and meaningfully connect to other middle school technology teachers through the Tech in the Middle wiki. I have been reading, reading, reading, nonstop. I can’t get enough. My aggregator is always overflowing with information (especially now, after vacation. I don’t know how I will ever catch up). The process is endless, but so exciting.
One of the best parts about this experience has been meeting so many like minded educators. One group I am especially proud to be working with is the Next Generation Teachers. The group was founded by Chris Craft and has grown to include Jeff Utecht, Doug Belshaw, Julie Lindsay, Tom Barrett, Aaron Smith, and Justin Medved. We’ve been discussing what makes a “next generation teacher.” I think it links back to something I’ve said here before – a next generation teacher is not necessarily one who knows everything there is to know about technology (who can even claim to be that person?), or even one who’s tried everything at least once. A next generation teacher is someone who has that “next generation” mind set: the technical know-how is nowhere near as important as the willingness to learn, adapt and grow. For me, this is the future of education (for both students and teachers): learning how to find, evaluate and contribute to the world of knowledge that is very quickly becoming at our fingertips. Let’s hear it for the next generation!
A next generation teacher is someone who has that “next generation” mind set: the technical know-how is nowhere near as important as the willingness to learn, adapt and grow. For me, this is the future of education (for both students and teachers): learning how to find, evaluate and contribute to the world of knowledge that is very quickly becoming at our fingertips. Let’s hear it for the next generation!
Why? What about all those other teachers? One of the great things about being excited about a cause is that it gives you a mission. However, my experience is that in your excitement you’d better be careful not to alienate in the process. Some times when we believe we are right and see the future, we forget that the past teaches us so much regardless of how fast things are changing. One must know when to question and ask and inquire and talk and share one’s knowledge and when to sit quietly to listen to what the wind has to say. As for the technical know-how, do you really beleive that? Would you be the same if you didn’t have the digital intelligence that you have? Would you so eagerly jump into this if you didn’t have the technical background that you have? Hard to answer isn’t it? Listen to those who are speaking about this without alienating them. I enjoy the enthusiasm with which you talk about teaching, using new ideas and ways to bring the love of learning to your students. But guess what? I see teachers who don’t use the web2.0 tools who do that too. A next generation teacher is someone who has that “next generation” mind set: the technical know-how is nowhere near as important as the willingness to learn, adapt and grow. For me, this is the future of education (for both students and teachers): learning how to find, evaluate and contribute to the world of knowledge that is very quickly becoming at our fingertips. Let’s hear it for the next generation! Hmm. Let’s hear it for those teachers who touch children’s hearts, minds and souls regardless of how they do it next generation or not.
Kelly
Interesting perspective Kelly. I think you might be interested to know that I have very little tech background. If you take a look at my resume, you will see that my undergrad degree was in History and Poli Sci, my M.Ed. is in Curriculum and Instruction, and I am currently completing an Ed Leadership certificate course. Therefore, everything I know about tech has basically been self taught. That’s one of the reasons why I believe mind-set is more important than skill-set – I can see how much (and how quickly) I have learned about technology in the last 7 years, and it’s quite clear that it’s a never ending process. It can be very intimidating for some teachers, and to be honest, I quite enjoy helping them realize that it’s not as hard as it looks and that we are all capable of learning – all we need is an open mind.
In terms of educating students with technology, I believe we don’t have a choice – this is part of their future. They will need technology to learn, work and play. We ignore technology and we are ignoring communication, literacy, and productivity. If we leave that out, how are we preparing our students for their adult lives?
So, would you say that you have a digital intelligence? When begin to look at the way that people learn, it is vital that we look at their learning intelligence. Given what you describe, it seems that being able to intuitively work with various software apps is someting that comes easy to you. Having an open mind is very important, yes, but having particular intelligences is also a factor. That is why we have thousands of young hockey players who want to play pro-hockey but very few make it. Burning desire does not always do it – there are only so many Rudy’s in the world. Like you, I’ve never had a formal class in any computing yet I find it rather easy to work with all kinds of apps and given the chance can usually intuitively figure out what needs to be done. Not all people are this way. They can learn to do certain things but it is not intuitive. So in my 17 years, I have worked and helped hundreds of teachers with technology. I’ve also learned that those who do not have the intuitive ability to use the technology don’t necessarily not want to use it. It’s like reading or math or memory or a host of other intelligences. I applaud that you can work with the technologies and are willing to share this with everyone. As for education, I believe we do have a choice just as we have a choice about what subjects we teach or age groups – not everyone is a senior high English or Calculus teacher and not everyone is an elementary teacher. We can’t ignore technology but there is more than technology. We teach children not technology. I guess we may have to agree to disagree on this one. As I watch my 7 children grow, I see that for some, technology may be important but for others, they may need to use it but it won’t be what drives them as they have other intelligences. With too many stories and examples for this post, I’ll leave it at that.
Kelly
Perhaps you’re right Kelly, we may have to agree to disagree… I see technology as a tool for learning – not the end result, and I do see it as a tool that everyone will need to be able to use, even if only at a basic level – just like a using pencil or being able to read.
I certainly don’t expect every teacher to be a technology teacher, only that they have the willingness to allow the students to learn how to learn with technology (with a tech facilitators help whenever necessary) within the core classroom environment – not as the focus of their learning, but as a tool to extend their learning and reach new depths with their own inquiry, literacy, communication and productivity.
I wouldn’t consider this a driving factor, just a realistic expectation of how our students will need to grow up and function in the “real” world. I suppose we just have a different approach to technology education.
Just out of curiosity, what are the Saskatchewan standards for tech literacy? Is this something that is part of the national curriculum, or is it left up to the individual teacher to decide?