I have read several of the blogs listed under thing 2 but I was interested in #19 on the list. http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/is-it-okay-to-be-technologically.html
I was taken back a bit by the blog. When I read Terry Freedman's list of things that should happen in regards to educators not being technology literate. I was somewhat offended at first. I understand the need and the purpose of technology in the classroom and I have seen its effectiveness as well. With that said, some of the points seemed rather harsh as I read on. Terry claimed that schools and prinicpals should be held accountable for their teachers not being technology literate. To what extent then is one considered "technology literate" and are all schools having the same amount of access to technology?
I did however like the point that B. Davis made later regarding what "literate" meant. We need to define what we are looking for and we need to make sure that all schools, and classrooms are given a chance at the same resources.
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Wow! Your post really lit a fire under me this morning. I realized after I finished writing my comment, that it might come off as a bit preachy (or worse), which wasn't my intent. I thought about trying to reword it, but then I decided against that. Obviously, this post has touched on a subject that is a bit...tender if not sore for me. You've brought up some very important questions, which got me started, and it kind of grew from that. Then again, this is what I love about blogging - the conversations they can facilitate. So, off we go...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that technology literacy needs to be better defined. After Googling "technology literate", I received almost 300,000 hits, "technology literacy" had over 9 million! What makes this even more complicated is that every student(according to NCLB) must be technology literate by the end of the 8th grade. But are we supplied with criteria to determine that literacy? No! The feds left that up to the states and then that responsibility was passed down to the county level.
Generally, most people will turn to the ISTE NETS standards for students and teachers (http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS )when they need criteria for determining literacy. The standards that you will find there have been recently "refreshed" to reflect current technology practices.
Unfortunately, all schools do not have equal access to technology. I've struggled with that issue for years in my position. Is it difficult for our students to become technology literate with limited access to technology? Yes, but it isn't impossible.
Something else that I face many times is a rather defeatist mentality that if I don't have "ideal" access to technology, then why bother even trying to use it. I then have to ask, if you don't have a classroom set of books, do you then not use the 10 you have at all and abandon reading? We all have to make do with what we have and think outside the box to find a way to work around the limitations.
I can understand you being a bit offended by the blog post, but standing in the shoes that I do, I suppose I can empathize a bit more with Freedman's attitude. I found the following quote from huffenglish.com blog in a post titled "Technology Illiteracy" (another reaction post to both Terry Freedman's and Karl Fisch's posts)
"It is especially frustrating to me when educators dismiss technology — “Oh, I just don’t know how to do any of that, ha ha!” To plagiarize the same argument Karl and Terry made — would you brag like that about not being able to read?"
Unfortunately, I have met teachers who have had this very reaction. For me, being an educators means that I am a life-long learner. I retained that mentality when I taught French and I LIVE that every day in this role. I have to or I can't be effective considering how quickly technology evolves! But when I hear teachers laugh off technology and refuse to accept or even attempt to learn and integrate its use into instruction, it honestly floors and frustrates me.
Sure, I was hired to teach high school students French so they could meet the college entry requirements, but I also knew that I needed to prepare these kids for the 21st century workforce, which included technology. Did I know everything? No. Did I know enough to teach them? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. In the cases where I didn't, I found kids who did and I had them teach me, so I could teach my other students. Teaching their teacher - they loved it.
Do I think what Freedman posted was a bit harsh? Yes, however, we have to begin addressing technology literacy just as we would any other kind of literacy or we aren't enabling our students to have the skills they'll need in the future. Our primary curriculum is still our focus and with good reason, but there are other literacies that need to be addressed, which are the responsibility of every educator, not just the ones who "know" how to use technology.
Okay, stepping off of my soap box now. Thank you for inspiring me this morning :)