Alana Linde

Introduction:

Exploring the many topics and ideas pertaining to technology and its ties to education, a

deeper understanding of the foundation may be the best place to start. Many seem to believe that

technology is strictly limited to electronics and gadgets; however, it is much more than this. Any

tool, device, or object eases a task or makes something more feasible is a technology. It is

becoming the norm for classrooms to have technology in them. Reason being is it is adapting

students to a digital world otherwise known as the 21st century (Postman, 1985). The thought

process we must develop as future teachers is how technology can be implemented into the

classroom while still being applicable.

Technology is most often used in classes because it is something new to tie into

education. It is used because there is access to it, not because it is applicable to the content.

However, some teachers have had no other choice but to implement technology because of

administration. There is a belief that new technology will lead to good teaching practices.

Additionally, technology is often used as an entertainment aspect for students (Postman, 1985).

Postman claims, television is a curriculum (145). This is because students act in a way in

which they see things through their own eyes. Using the Sesame Street example from Postman,

students learn from the show, but it also teaches them that learning must be fun and entertaining

all of the time.

There are much more efficient and meaningful ways in which to incorporate technology

into the classroom. Technology, although required in some standards, could be a stand-alone

course that students take. Instead, there are reasons that lead teachers to the importance of using

technology in their classroom. Being a significant part of the 21st century, there is no way to

resist using technology. Even the simplest thing in a classroom can be classified as a

technologyi.e. pencils. Using technologies can make menial tasks more simplistic that enables

students to use as scaffolding for more difficult concepts. Lastly, technology is the quickest and

perhaps easiest way to connect us across the globe.

Framework:

Knowing this information is not enough to pass through the teaching world. The notion

of how frameworks can inform your teaching has assisted me in created my own framework for

teaching and using technology in the classroom. It is clear that in order to effectively teach

technology, a solid foundation must be mapped out. This framework mainly draws from TPACK

(Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge), Selber, and Nature of Technology

frameworks that all coincide with each other. The way I see these frameworks organized

together, I start with Koehler and Mishras framework of TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy, and

Content Knowledge) to incorporate them all cohesively. The three categories of TPACK dive

into specific details of what my future classroom will be like.

Technology Knowledge: The first component of TPACK is technology knowledge. There really is not clear

definition of technology because it is ever-changing (Koehler & Mishra 64). For the future

classroom, knowledge about technology is essential. The notion that conceptualizing and

understand technology does not draw and end to ones knowledge, but rather can see the

progress it has made overtime and how it remains open-ended (Mishra & Koehler 64).

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Selber Students begin with background knowledge and experience with technology and have a

deep connection with it. As Selber said, we must encourage students to become users, producers,

and questioners of technology (Selber 2). This three-part roll for computer literacy encourages

students to have the ability to shift back and forth between the different roles (Selber 2).

Perhaps having students be users of technology is the easiest component to incorporate

into the classroom. Using technology, students can collaborate with each other, and connect with

others globally. Students are accustomed to tinkering with devices and figuring out their purpose.

Using technology in the classroom depends on the accessibility and availability for students. If

teaching in a one-to-one school, there may be more collaborative projects that students can work

on in Google Docs, MindMeister, and Prezi. However, if a school only has a limited amount of

devices, there may be more class time devoted to projects and exploration. This way I can ensure

students are having questions answered and are guided while constructing the project.

However, as a teacher it is important to gear students to think more about technology.

Secondly, it is another goal to encourage students to be producers of technology. As many may

think this component is the designed and implementing of programs and such, it actually goes

beyond that. Students can become producers of technology by producing things with technology.

This could be creating a blog post, an ePortfolio, or a movie.

Lastly, and perhaps the most important, students must develop the tools to become

questioners of technology. The ability to think critically about technology may be the most

critical 21st century skill (Kruse 1). This concept of questioning technology helps students to

become critical thinkers of technology (Selber, 2004). To think about technology deeply and

draw out questions leads into the Nature of Technology framework.

Nature of Technology This framework poses six questions for students to engage in thinking critically about

technology. We have been thoroughly introduced to these ideas and how to implement them into

classroom discussion throughout the duration of this course. Understanding the NOT does not

mean that teachers must explicitly teach this, but rather implement the questions into coursework

to have students take a step back and analyze.

What is technology?

Generically speaking, technology is a wide spectrum of tools that enable a task to be

easier or more feasible. However, this is a question I would pose to future students to have them

create a definition for themselves. As Koehler and Mishra stated, a sound definition of

technology risks becoming outdated (64). Students may first think of technology as being

computers, cell phones, and other devices that are constantly at their fingertips. After probing

students to think deeply about why the previously stated object are technology, they may begin

to realize that just about anything can be classified as technology. Within the classroom they use

pencils, paper, calculators, protractors, desks, and planners. These can all be considered

technology because they enable students to do things more efficiently and effectively. Once

students have grasped this concept, they can continue on to explore other NOT ideas.

How is technology limited?

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Looking at the limitations of technology, students can come to the conclusion that using

technologies restricts, or limits, you in some particular way. For example, we discussed that

using polleverywhere.com had limitations because students could only choose from the four

options presented on the screen. Additionally, a classroom set-up can have limitations if there are

not enough computers for each student. Drawing from the socio-technological lesson plan

created, students can look at graph and see that there is limited information provided to the

viewer. They do not know all of the stipulations of the information that generated the results.

What are the biases and values of technology?

Alongside the values, there are plenty of biases that stem from using technology. Because

the internet connects people, they automatically believe it creates an environment to access more

peoples information. However, as in Kruses class, he had students research controversial topics

and write about them. Students tended to choose articles that only reinforced their opinion as

opposed to researching others ideas (Kruse 5). Encouraging students to consider what biases

there may be in a classroom set up could possibly help you realize things that you did not notice

at first. Maybe the class setup does not promoting group discussion, or not all students can see

the board when the teacher is writing on it. Additionally, this is a challenge for me to think about

some of the biases of older technology and almost reinvent it to use in a different way. This can

be done rethinking about how a whiteboard is a bias, because it forces the teacher to stand near it

if he or she is writing on it. A simple fix could be having several whiteboards all over the class.

Again, this is an old technology, but rethinking out it could be better used helps eliminate biases.

What are the trade-offs that come with technology?

It is easy to identify the positives that come from technology, but it is more of a task to

think about what is lost when using it. An example of this could be having students upload

pictures to posterous.com. Students may not realize at first that there are trade-offs that come

along with technology. By simply taking a picture and uploading, students may not pay as much

attention to detail and may not get to grasp the artistic value of the item they took a picture of.

When considering how I will teach with technology, I will consider what might be the trade-offs

with using it. If the cons outweigh the pros, I may have to look for a different idea. Selber

mentions that using technology can de-skill people (2). This brings up the notion that just

because something is available, does not mean it will be beneficial in your teaching. I do not

want to come across as being skeptical, but more so cautious with approaching new technologies.

What is the progression of technology?

It is clear that technology is much more advanced now as opposed to 20 years ago.

Postmans Amusing Ourselves to Death is a bit outdated, but his points are still relevant years

later. Running through the progression from the alphabet to television, people have become tied

to the technologies that are presented throughout their lives. There is also this idea of ubiquitous

technology that people become so accustomed to the technology they are using, that it disappears

(Greenfield). I bet most of my students will not think that the alphabet is a technology, and will

be shocked once they realize this. The progression of technology is something to consider while

teaching, because sometimes materials used in the class are just updates from the past. Thinking

of the chalkboard from my grade school days, and how it has changed as I grew to be a white

board and now Smartboards, I realize that the smart board is just an advanced chalkboard. There

may be more things that can be done with a Smartboard, but its sole purpose it the same as a

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chalkboard-- to write down thoughts, or problems, or whatever task is apparent at the time. I may

think about how technology has progressed to consider if moving to new technology is really the

right course to take for myself and my students.

What are the interactions between technology and society?

Postmans thoughts about technology have forced me to think more critically about

technology and how it affects us. This is not only because I am considering the impact it will

have in my classroom, but also how students will interact with technology outside of school. As

we shape technology, technology shapes us (Postman 1985). This is alarming and something

students may not believe at first. Because this concept is more abstract, it is important to consider

specific examples such as the correlation between ADHD cases and TV viewing (Postman

1985). Because we literally have the world at our fingertips with a computer, smartphone, tablet,

etc., we have this notion that we are experts after reading a paragraph or so about a subject

(Keen). I plan to have students become more aware of how often technology is a prominent

factor in their lives. I know that I have not changed my usage with technology, but I do think

about it in a different way than I once have.

Pedagogy Knowledge: Pedagogy is knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and

learning (Koehler & Mishra 64). Incorporating this into my classroom will allow me to

understand how students construct knowledge and acquire skills (Koehler & Mishra 64).

Utilizing my background knowledge about NOT, I will determine when technology will be most

beneficial to use in the classroom. Using these skills can also tie in how to teach NOT, as well as

teaching with technology.

The methods about how to teach the nature of technology are useful for students to grasp

the concepts I hope to address. Starting off talking about non-emotional ideas and transitioning

to emotional will help students better understand NOT ideas. If students are asked to think

critically about their cell phone, they may not fully understand what you are attempting to have

them discover. It may help to start with calculator to think about its limitations and biases before

moving onto more emotional items. It will also help students understand NOT ideas by

beginning with explicit ideas and having them transition into more reflective thinking about

technology. It may also help my students understand technology better by first using it, and then

talking about it. I addressed this idea by having students consider Twitter because it is something

they may frequently use, I could then apply some of the NOT ideas by combining it with the

topics they bring up about Twitter.

Ultimately, it is my goal to seamlessly teach my content while incorporating technology

and NOT ideas into the lessons. I feel as though with almost all learning, it helps students to

understand things best when they start off with concrete example and transition to more abstract

ideas. The same goes for teaching technology. Technology is a great way to have students

actively mentally engaged in the content as long as it is presented properly. I will have to think

things through before I allow my students to access computers for a project as they may simply

use it for entertainment. Instead, there are great tools and websites designed for students to use in

the classroom the can supplement instruction, but not alter it to entertainment. Finally, teaching

with technology does not mean I can hide behind the cool videos or presentations. The

teaching is what matters for the students knowledge and retention, not the technology.

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Content Knowledge: Lastly it is crucial, that I as a future teacher understand my content knowledge. Because

teaching math with be a challenge in itself, as many students resist it, knowledge of content is

of critical importance for teachers (Koehler & Mishra 63). This does not limit me to

understanding how to work through problem sets, or textbook examples. It is also part of my job

to understand the technology specific to math. Finding material that is useful and applicable to

the subject I am teaching, will only encourage me to use technology in useful ways. Making the

nature of technology part of my content knowledge will help my students and I reflect on how

these ideas are presented in lessons throughout the semester. I strongly believe that

understanding NOT ideas will only help me become a better teacher. I think the most important

thing I have learned is not to allow technology determine the content I teach to students.

Concluding Thoughts: As technology continues to become a more prominent factor in our lives, it is important

to acknowledge this framework as well as all of the other components discussed throughout this

course. I feel as though I understand where Huxley is coming from in Postmans Foreword. The

concluding thoughts of the text describes a world changing because we are in a race between

education and disaster (Postman 163). We are becoming so accustomed to other things that we

forget about the past times. We are not forced to stop reading, but television has given us a

concept that you do not need to spend time reading to receive information anymore (Postman

1985). Teaching is a field that is constantly making shifts because we are preparing the youth for

the future. As we have seen the progression of technology has taken us to a digital world. I am

anxious to see what advances technology makes as I am in my profession. I am also confident

that I will put some restraint on the new factor of some technology and thoroughly think

through what will be best for my students.