This is a great list. I’ve taken the liberty of recopying it here.
10 Truths About Educational Technology | Amplify.
10 Truths About Educational Technology
By Randy RodgersI am one of the many educators fortunate enough to work in the space of educational technology. It’s hard for me to believe I’ve been doing it for a decade; time truly passes in a flash when you’re engaged in something you enjoy so much. To celebrate this personal milestone, I’m offering up 10 experienced-based truisms that have become the guiding principles for me in this business.
1. The learning objective comes first.
Start by understanding the abilities, preferences, and passions of the kids in the classroom, then choose the right technology to go along with that.
One of the great advantages of the variety of tech and tools is that we can now also think about what tool or technology would best support what you want to achieve.
2. No technology is perfect.
What works for one classroom might be unsuccessful, unused, and unwanted next door.
No technology is perfect. What works for one classroom might be unsuccessful, unused, and unwanted next door.
Once again, I go back to one of my favorite quotes: “(I)nstructional technology only works for some kids, with some topics, and under some conditions – but that is true of all pedagogy. There is nothing that works for every purpose, for every learner, and all the time.” (Mann, 2001)
3. Digital natives? Sort of.
Kids are generally very fast tech learners, indeed, but they don’t come to your room knowing as much as some would assert.
YES! YES! YES! I’ve talked about this a bunch of times too. [Here, Here, Here] Just because they are comfortable USING the technology doesn’t mean they actually understand anything about how it actually works. Knowing how it works is really important. If you don’t know what a technology CAN do (which you will learn when you know how it works), you are in a position to be innovative rather than simply copying what others do.
4. Make do.
Think big, but be realistic about what resources you have. Get creative and make the most of it. You’ll be surprised at how much you can do with very little.
This too requires a good working understanding of what the technology you have is capable of.
I taught a grad level online course last winter that included several synchronous sessions (using Collaborate) . In our very first session I could not get my audio to work : I could hear everything, but no-one could hear me. Here’s how I made do: I ended up getting one of the students to connect to me via Skype, which did work. He acted as my ‘interpreter’ – I could hear the questions being asked; I would give my answer to my student via Skype, and he relayed it to the rest of the class using Collaborate. It was not ideal, but it worked… AND it had the added bonus of modelling adaptability for my class – all of whom were adult professional educators.
5. You’ve got to know it to believe in it.
Teachers who routinely use tech—in the classroom and in their personal lives—know it’s important and beneficial for their students. Those who don’t won’t.
While I completely agree – I remind you that using something is not the same as knowing something. The responsibility for helping teachers understand tech lies with the teacher training programs. Sadly, many Professors teaching in Education do not themselves understand tech – even Ed Tech faculty often don’t use the tech they teach, except in the classroom. You really don’t get a sense for the pros and cons of a technology until you’ve tried to use it to accomplish something (i.e. until you’ve actually used it as a tool rather than an example.
6. Leaders have followers.
When the principal uses technology, the teachers will. Simple.
The school goes the way of the principal. Always.
7. Filtering: Not so fast.
Blocking is easy but can lead to missed opportunities. Take some time to explore sites and evaluate their possibilities, then make informed decisions.
We have done a lousy job of teaching people (teachers included) to evaluate what they see on the web, in print, on television, and elsewhere. In all fairness, we seem to do this throughout our society – protect people by keeping things away rather than teaching people how to cope. This is bound to fail in the long run.
8. Technology might not be the best tool for the job.
There are times when learning succeeds best without technology. Shut it off.
Yup. My farm reminds of that every single day.
9. Teaching and learning aren’t the same.
The technologies for each are often very different. Keep this in mind when setting priorities.
Just because you have taught it doesn’t mean they have learned it.
10. Aim high.
Technology can and should let students do things they cannot otherwise do, or do as well. Kick up the expectations.
Randy Rodgers is the director of digital learning services at the Seguin Independent School District in Texas. He writes about ed tech on his blog, The Moss-Free Stone.
This article is commissioned by Amplify Education Inc. The views expressed are the author’s own, and do not represent those of Amplify Education Inc.
Push the envelope. Don’t be afraid to try things and let your students see you struggle while finding a solution.
Really.
