This week I was "allowed" to teach a class on Wikis, Blogs, and Discussion Boards. It was actually the first day of a class I was able to take called AIT Beyond, with AIT being Advanced Integration Technology. This has been a good class, really for collaborating with other teachers, but also to be able to get the new 13 inch Macbook Pro as "payment" for being in the class. It has been interesting to hear some of the anti-technology sentiment, even within this class. And therein lies my question:
How do you get teachers to start embracing technology and stop complaining about it down all the time? How is it that we expect students to be prepared for a tech heavy workplace? How can we expect them to be successful in college where virtual learning platforms are the norm? Do we need to do away with all of the old school teachers? Maybe we need to adopt more alternatively certified teachers? How do we solve this problem? I hear it all the time in my building, "I don't use technology in my classroom" or "I can't use technology in the classroom". Some can use it, but choose not to. Why? Is it too time intensive? Is it because its different? Is it too scary? Is it not scary enough?
I certainly don't know the answers. I do know some of the questions, though. Anyone want to weigh in on how to get teachers comfortable with technology? Why does it have to be a bad word to some teachers? And I am talking web2.0, not just using powerpoint and video for teaching. I am talking computers in the kids hands and students adding to the body of knowledge! Project based learning via computing.
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