Friday, February 8, 2013

Can Teachers Avoid Digital Resources?

In a recent national survey of teachers, conducted by PBS Learning Media, it was found that a high percentage use digital media regularly in their teaching. The landscape of the classroom has changed from the old days of a reliance on printed books and students writing on paper. The following infographic shows the results of the survey.  Review the infographic. Where do you stand?

Do you agree educational technology motivates students?
What do you see as the benefits of educational technology?
What are the tech tools you use most often?
Consider other data available in the infographic. What is your reaction?


image Image via iStockphotosturti

On a related note, the House of Representatives is reviewing a bill to increase access to technology in schools and teachers' professional development in this area.  On Feb. 6, 2013, the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) posted this information: "Great Start for Digital Learning Policy in 113th Congress: Comprehensive Technology Bill Introduced in U.S. House of Representatives."

Overall, how do you feel about the influx of technology resources in the educational setting? Would you rather see the pace slow down, speed up, or go in another direction?

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Judy. This post highlights what I think is the great schism in most faculties today. Just yesterday a bitter fight broke out at our faculty meeting over this topic with the battle lines drawn between those teachers over the age of 50 versus the ones south of that mark. There is absolutely no avoiding putting assignments and reading resources online, using SmartBoards, and recognizing the value of technology in the educational process going forward. There are many teachers who still want to penalize students for having their iPhones out. Many of my students use them as a quick reference guide. I think I will share this posting with our Academic Dean.

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  2. Why WOULD teachers avoid technology in the classroom? It's part of our students' everyday lives, so to avoid it would be to avoid what they are most familiar with. And while I embrace the use of technology in the classroom, I don't think it would hurt anyone to slow down the influx of technology in the classroom so teachers could become more familiar with what they already have before becoming inundated by even more. With that being said, some districts do need to speed up placing technology in classrooms so teachers actually have access to it!

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