Week 2 - History of Education Technology

There are many issues shaping the role of technology in education.  They range from societal, educational, cultural, and legal issues.  One of the interesting issues that I saw was about the standards movement.  I am struggling with that right now.  There is such a high emphasis on passing the test that I am afraid from teaching or trying new methods.  When NCLB was passed it changed what the government and administrators saw was important.  First of all teachers must teach with a scientifically proven method and then all the focus is on the test.  There are teachers and schools that just teach to the test.  They want to meet AYP.  My school right now is all about WOW.  It is one of the latest educational fads about working on the work.  It makes sense.  We, as teachers, must provide meaningful work for our students.  Our students must be engaged.  However, I feel pulled from two different ways.  Pass the test vs. create meaningful work.  It is hard to do both.

Another issue I found interesting was the "digital divide."  I am lucky to be at the school that I am at right now.  We have a lot of technological devices that are useful in the classroom.  I have a document camera, a projector, and soon will have an active board.  I could not imagine teaching without some of these devices.  Also, in my classroom we have 15 TI-89 calculators that can be shared.  Not everyone class in the state or the country has these advantages.  However, some may have more.  The end of course test in mathematics for the state of Georgia does not allow TI-89's on the test because of equity issues.  One of the main reasons is that there is not enough monies to help buy these for all schools.

There are so many issues facing education today regarding technology.  There are some things that I think can be learned and they are mentioned in the book.  One of the main things is that the teacher is still important.  With all these new advances it is even more imperitive that the teacher be a guide for her students.  With that said, I also think that all of this new technological advances is not everything that it is made out to be.  Teacher and administrators just try to jump onto the latest fad without have realistic expectations.  I believe that the history of technology should teach me as a teacher to first find out what will work best for my students.  I need to search for what my students first need to know and then what are the best ways for them to learn that or even practice it.