It did not take me long to figure out which way I was trying to educate children with Technology. I was probably one of the most polished technocentric educators you would ever meet. If I was going to use technology my whole lesson was planned around that first. Last Wednesday night's class was another eye opening experience for me as a teacher. Another thing I noticed though is my technocentric thinking comes from the top down in my school district. We purchase tech items and then plan what we can do with them and how they can be beneficial. Instead of planning and then deciding what tech products we'll use and where.
My class can hardly stand waiting until Friday of this week because we are writing our hero qualification stories and then putting them in the WORDLE program. Excitement is the understatement of the week.
It was rewarding and so much fun being able to respond to a class and their blogs.
I use postcards in my classroom regularly to send my newsletter via the student. The student will write what we have done and we talk about all kinds of possibilities. Some children spend a lot of time and others just get theirs done. It is kind of up to them.
I hope you have a great week!!!
Jo, TPACK was also an eye-opener for me. I truly, honestly learned a lot from last Wednesday's class. It makes sense to me that the technocentric thinking comes from "the top down". This would be another reason I would suggest workshops for schools to educate faculty on ways to use technology in the classroom, and especially TPACK.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are taking full advantage of the technology we've learned about in 556. I'm sure there will be even more ideas that you can use throughout the semester!
The majority of us have been technocentric teachers - I think there is hope if we quit focusing on the technology and keep it at a balance with content and pedagogy. I appreciate that you are trying things that we are doing with students in your class! Keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteWow, I thought I was the only one being awe-struck by the TPACK way of thinking. I feel liberated and motivated...who knew we had it wrong all the time. Usually either content or pedagogy would suffer in accommodating the technological tool, but I knew there was a middle way, balancing all three components. I am still not sure how exactly to do this everyday, but I am excited to learn more. In addition, I love your students' enthusiasm with all the activities, it really is inspiring!
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