Sunday, January 24, 2010
Teaching and Learning with Tech in Texas
As technology advances at an ever increasing rate it is absolutely necessary that our education system learns to the same. As educators we expect students to be open mined and to actively pursue knowledge. We must lead by example.
Student's lives our becoming increasingly integrated into a digital world. We do them disservice by attempting to apply old models of teaching and learning to their 21st century minds. In Texas less than one percent of campuses have reached the target of successfully and effectively integrating technology and its use into education. This means that a small percentage of students in this state are receiving the education they deserve.
Faculty must be willing to implement technology not only as a new means of accomplishing old task but a way of accomplishing things that have never before been possible. Blogs, wikis and essentially the entire web 2.0 movement has taught our students that they should be able to create. The want to interact with information. Failure to facilitate these interactions is a failure to educate. Interaction must become the norm and not the exception
As students move on to higher education or out into the workplace they will be expected no how to use information. They will be expected to be able to take in information and utilize it. Someone once said intelligence is not about memorizing it is about thinking. Interacting with information allows students to think about subjects in new and exciting ways.
If you think you're subject or curriculum cannot be improved by the use of technology you are deceiving yourself and hindering the development of your students.