The starting point of this article is my observations and experiences. The ideas that take place here might not match the present situation in other countries. Your comments are highly appreciated as I would like to learn about the existing situation in other countires.
In Turkey, there has been growing interest in the use of technology in education for about a decade. A lot of private schools invested in technology by installing data-projectors and interactive white boards to their classrooms. Most of the schools gave in-service courses about the use of technological equipment. After teachers were introduced the concept of integrating technology into the classroom, they were all by themselves in their classrooms. Very few teachers made further attempts to learn more about technology but most of them were reluctant to use the equipment since they were quite happy with their traditional materials. In my opinion, the schools didn’t question their teachers’ attitude towards technology and they took no or very little action to help teachers overcome this anxiety. As a result of this, technological equipments couldn’t go beyond being decorative objects in most schools.
Well… If we look at the ways of using technology in the classroom, we can see the limitless potential of web technologies which is far more beyond the presence of data projectors and interactive whiteboards. Using blogs, wikis, web quests, podcasts, videos and a lot more… At this point, I would like to put forward some ideas about what schools should do if they really want to meet the needs of students by integrating web technologies into classroom.
1. Effective leadership. There should definitely be a clear emphasis on the use of technology within vision statement of schools. Schools must have strategies regarding use of technology, implementation plans, research & development units which will:
*enable systematic change in order to meet students’ needs.
*direct and guide teachers to best utilize technology in their classrooms.
2. Developing and communicating to teachers a clear policy regarding use of technology. (Rules, procedures, Internet safety issues, etc.)
3. Continuous teacher training which includes not only technical stuff but also ideas about how to implement web technologies according to students’ needs.
4. Less teaching hours. A minimum of three hours in a week should be allocated to digital work. (e.g brainstorming ideas, sharing experiences, moderating student comments, etc.)
Before I conclude my article, I would like to share a few interesting links that I came across while browsing the net.
Fluorescent lights putting pupils at the risk of headaches
World’s first, genuine anti-school website
Web 2.0 is the future of education
Hope I could convey my ideas well. Please feel free to comment. I would love to share ideas!
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Very similar thoughts and experiences in my part of the world, too. Schools invest in hardware to impress parents and attract good students, but many teachers do nothing different. Showing static PowerPoint slides on a data projector is only emperor’s new clothes compared to using the old OHP, isn’t it? There is a lot of lip service to the use of technology, but practically business goes on pretty much as usual inside the classroom.
Teacher training is essential, but also challenging. There is no one-size-fits-all formula here, since teachers start at such different levels. What I would like to see happen is for schools to employ competent and inspiring ICT facilitators to be present at school all the time and individually motivate and help teachers. Sadly, at least in my country, this sounds pure utopia. Schools are not prepared to pay for anyone who doesn’t do a required minimum number of contact teaching lessons with students, especially in the present economic situation of cut back after cut back in education.
I do totally agree, Burcu, that teachers need to be given the time to develop new practices of embedding technology, but how can we convince our administrators that this makes sense and is worth investing in?
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Burcu,
Yes, most of that fits in with the experiences I’ve had during my work and travels for work. The big issue is that schools think they have to keep up with each other in terms of the hardware they have, but they never really consider the needs of teachers in that equation.
So, if the school down the road installs interactive whiteboards then the other school has to do the same – otherwise, they reason, everyone will think the other school is much better.
What I’d like to see would be equal amounts of money spent on teacher training. So, for every 1$ spent on hardware, another 1$ is spent on the humans who are going to operate it.
What a forward-thinking centre needs to do is balance the need for hardware with the need to provide quality teacher training. And the teacher training needs to be regular and consistent, rather than one 90-minute workshop on using, as an example, IWBs.
Good posting – so many of us around the world see the logic in all this – so it still surprises me that nobody actually running a school does…
Gavin
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Love your list. Agree entirely – if schools want to invest they need to give t’s time to do this properly. Another possible consideration is how to foster maximum student involvement in how technology is utilised in the classroom. I think students should be fully involved in the consultation and implementation phases as they have much to offer us in terms of how technology is real for them in their lives. I also think teacher training is key. So often schools cut back on this area first as it is an “expense” but without effective development opportunities, how will teachers feel confident using technology in more interesting and relevant ways? At the moment if feels to me in my context that there is a huge expectation from the students and management that teachers *must* embed technology into their practice, but only tokenistic attempts at making that into a coherent policy. What do you think the next step should be?
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Well-written, Burcu
but you forgot one point in your list. All of those are important but maybe even more so is a good example of a teacher like you, who is using technology and web 2.0 tools effectively.
Schools should capitalize on teachers’ experience and reduce their workload so that they can use this extra time to help other teachers at the school get started.
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Thank you for your article. I’ve seen those teachers with expensive ‘decorations’ in their room and it frustrates me as well as saddens me.
One thing we DO do correctly is have T.I.F.s (Technology Integration Facilitators) in our building. The role of these representations is to serve as point trainings for technology within the buildling. Nonetheless, it’s still a slow and difficult process converting the masses.
I’m still dealing with firewall/blocked site issues. I get a GREAT idea at home only to find the site blocked at school–sigh. Change comes slowly.
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Dear Mary,
Thank you for your comment. We have the same blocked site issues here. However it is a bit problematic case. Middle school students might sometimes visit the video sites and view inappropriate videos whenever the teacher is not in the classroom. So we don’t have any access to video sites. However I got a special permission in order to access edublogs.tv and I upload my videos which I want to show my students at school. When the subject matter is the use of Internet in the classroom, the safety issue is critical.
I agree that change comes slowly. I hope to see more enthusiastic tech savvy teachers in my country…
All the best,
Burcu
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Dear Nergiz,
Thank you for your comment. I agree with your point. Like Mary says, change comes slowly…I hope people who manage schools will soon realize how important it is to invest not only in equipment but also teacher development in a sensible way.
All the best,
Burcu
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burcuakyol Reply:
May 31st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Dear Sinikka,
Thank you for your comment.
I think real change will start to happen when the school administrators gain better understanding of changing student profile. However it requires a closer look to the classroom and seeing what is actually happening there… I can’t say that I expect this to happen in near future:-)
All the best,
Burcu
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Hi Nergiz,
Nice to see you again:-) Burcu’s so right and so are you. One factor here in TR I think is the “egg comes to the door” factor. It’s really important to plan ahead a couple of years, not just to the next test, and also invest in technology for better education, not just to get more students than the school down the street.
Rob
I enjoyed your Etp article. Showed your pic to my roommate yesterday! “Here’s another TR girl with a DELTA” I said…
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Dear Sara,
Thanks a lot for the comment. I agree that fostering maximum student involvement is another important issue. Teachers should be brainstorming and generating ideas together regarding possibilities of using technology in the classroom in order to attract student attention.(supposing that those teachers themselves are fully involved:) Educational and fun ideas at the same time…
As for schools, I think sooner or later they will realize that they need clear policies about the use of technology and make more serious and meaningful attempts. But I’m not sure how long it will take…
All the best,
Burcu
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