How do we shift teaching and learning pedagogy to a 1:1 computing environment?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marianna Kiva B.Ed; M.Ed on December 7, 2010 at 8:47pm

Hi,
Alongside the learning how to use technology we must teach students about responsibility, ethics, and honesty. In my environment, we have policies, rules and regulations regarding the appropriate use of technology. However, none of them are enforced.

Permalink Reply by Debra on December 6, 2010 at 11:06am

We have been visiting (public and independent) schools who have adopted the 1;1 computing. What we hear from each of them is that the PD is the most important step. Teachers (and parents) need to know the WHY of the initiative and then they need to know the HOWs. Teachers need more than a week, they need ongoing (again, this is what we are hearing) PD, they need tech mentors. Parents and teachers need to know they still have control over the students, that it is ok to tell the studetns to turn their laptops to 45 (degree angle) when the teacher wants their attention focused elsewhere. Teachers need to modify their classroom management style, the arrangement of their room, their placement in the room, etc. Another very important point the schools have brought up is POLICY. Schools need someone (a company of lawyers) to write the policies of usage and all areas and issues need to be thought of and a policy needs to be written for it AHEAD OF TIME. Those are just some of the things we have learned from our visits.

Permalink Reply by Rich Kiker on December 14, 2010 at 8:06am

Great points, PD is the deal breaker when going 1:1 and often why these programs fail. There needs to be a pedagogy shift which is uncomfortable but necessary for student achievement. The real question is what is the opportunity cost if we do not make 1:1 mandatory? How far will children be left behind?

Permalink Reply by Steven David Pearce on December 18, 2010 at 2:05am

Having read a lot of the discussions and comments related to your first question -How do we shift teaching and learning pedagogy to a 1:1 computing environment?

I feel concerned that many are asking what is the state doing to help teachers, what PD are the schools providing for teachers.

Whereas, I feel it should be I am a teacher, what can I be doing to keep my skills up to date? How can I make sure I am employed for life, what PD can I find on my own and carry out on my own without state funds and school PD (I am not saying these are not valuable). Surely, this is what we are now asking our 21st Century Learners to do in the classroom?

I think schools need to introduce better appraisal systems which include Professional Development criteria which includes IT integration. Also when I recruit new staff, the number one skill I am looking for is how do teachers include IT in the learning environment.

Hopefully a few things to criticize or comment on here?

 

based on http://wp.me/1cQjT

 

Permalink Reply by Marianna Kiva B.Ed; M.Ed on December 6, 2010 at 10:34pm

It has become too easy, for those that are comfortable with technology, to push the school’s technology boundaries by purchasing programs, software, and hardware prior to realizing that the teachers are not ready to embrace all that techno-explosion. Careful examination of the school’s clientele and teachers’ techno-knowledge-base might help in bringing everyone to use technology responsibly and successfully.
For example, purchasing an iPad for every student and not ensuring that the teachers are trained not only in how to use them, but also in how to use them in the educational sense; is a waste of money. At the university, I teach future teachers how to construct NTeQ format lesson plans.
5 Basic Components of the NTeQ Philosophy
http://www.nteq.com/?p=model

1. Teacher is technologically competent & assumes the roles of designer, manager, and facilitator.
2. Student actively engages in the learning process, assumed the role of researcher, and becomes technologically competent.
3. Computer is used as a tool, as it is in the workplace, to enhance learning through the use of real world data to solve problems.
4. Learn is student-centered, problem-based, and authentic, and technology is an integral component.
5. Environment incorporated multiple technology-based resource-rich activities.
One of the powerful characteristics of an NTeQ lesson is that the use of computers is an integral part of the model. When teachers are unaware how to construct a lesson using technology; no amount of hardware is going to help. Most of the time teachers use computers as tools to create presentations and occasionally students use Microsoft Word to type a project. Today these methods are not acceptable.

Permalink Reply by Marianna Kiva B.Ed; M.Ed on December 7, 2010 at 8:38pm

Hi,
E-mails are great, but sometimes they fail to convey meaning and this is what occurred with the one that I have posted. I am in total agreement with your statement regarding teachers becoming comfortable with a variety of technology so that they in turn are able to excite our students in their learning environments. That excitement must translate itself into daily student participation and involvement in their learning process.
In my environment, changes to the acquisition of technology and training are varied and changing, abandoning programs that teachers did not have time to master. Yes, the question is how to affect the unwilling and the resistant teachers? As far as I am concerned, these teachers can’t refuse to teach math or English in theist schools. Similarly they are not allowed to refuse to acknowledge the acquisition of technology skills, for themselves, so that they become better equipped when teaching students. In my environment refusal to teach the curriculum is considered insubordination and is followed by loss of position. We do not have the time to placate those that are unwilling to upgrade their skills. If divisions are interested in helping teachers they must invest funds into teacher training and classroom mentoring, as a support after training.
When classroom teachers are not involved in the decision making process regarding technology, many may lose interest and feel that they have no voice; total involvement leads to commitment.