Hmm, what a question! First, let me begin by stating I am not an educator. However, I work at a state college as a transition specialist. My job is to advise college students and help them progress through their degrees. I’ve had ample opportunity to work with college educators, and I have seen the best and regrettably the worst. I think some teachers play on team convenience, while others play on team student. I am speaking from a college level point of view. So, it may be easy for some to say that adult learners are different. However, teaching values hold true at any level.
I would like to say that most teachers are invested in what’s best for their students. However, being invested and being able to actually implement new ideas and teaching methods are two different things. While most teachers would like to explore the latest technology and provide the best educational experience, hurdles exist! Factors such as limited time, training and resources coupled with high demands, make teaching extremely challenging. On the other hand, the individual teacher can be a barrier to his or her self. Keeping an “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” attitude diminishes what is best for the student.
Today’s students are digital natives. They spend more time texting and social networking than anything. In this age, we use technology for nearly everything. So, keeping traditional teaching methods would be nearly insane. What worked for past generations won’t necessarily work now!
Ultimately, it would be wonderful if we could take an ounce of convenience and blend it with a large amount of what’s best for our students to create a delicious smoothie. Still, it is very easy to vote for convenience. The greatest that we fear is what we don’t know. To some change doesn’t make sense. However, I feel an educator should meet students where they are, and bridge them to where they need to be. If we are not meeting them where they are, then convenience has already won…
I see the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it attitude" among several colleagues. Since we're in just the dawn of the Information Age, many colleagues got into the profession before the onset of the Information Age was far enough along to flood the world with digital gadgets, as it has done now. They perfected their craft through other mediums. They became good orators, gained an affection for chalk and whiteboard markers, made hundreds of transparencies, and spent hours on living room floors pasting colorful images on poster boards. Now, things have changed, but they see no reason to change what has worked for so many years. They see no reason to start over, no reason to redefine their craft through a new medium after such a successful career without it. Some teachers even seem bitter about it.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer to this question can vary from school to school and teacher to teacher. I have been teaching online for the last 7 years. Even though some might assume online education would be more progressive and less resistant to change, that is not always the case. Part of the resistance to change can be contributed to a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, but some of the resistance to change can also be related to additional factors such as cost, time and identification and utilization of the proper resources.
ReplyDeleteI also agree we need to meet our students where they are. As educators, we need to remember that our "convenient" methods aren't necessarily bad, and can be the framework for our teaching as we continue to integrate technology. Each educator should work to embrace at least some level of change and technology integration on a regular basis. We are in some ways pioneers working to bridge the gap between the digital immigrant teacher and the digital native student. This is new territory. This process will take time and continue to evolve.
I like your statement “it would be wonderful if we could take an ounce of convenience and blend it with a large amount of what’s best for our students to create a delicious smoothie.” That scenario would be a wonderful balance for any teacher. However we do live on planet earth and nothing is as balance as they should to be. I do understand your point about how teacher especially the older teachers are more likely to stick with the traditional way of teaching than to welcome the new and more innovative teaching methods, especially when it comes to incorporating technology into the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI current work for UCF and I work closely with a lot of professors and most of the older professors are still wanting to use printed Atlas, typewriters, transparencies with an overhead projectors, and for events/ deadlines to be handwritten instead of emailed or broadcast on the office tv. I find myself constantly going back and forth with these professors on how important it is to get up-to-date with the technologies that are available to us and how much more they can do for their students.
Although most college students are very in tune with the most recent off shelf gadgets, they still would be best served by having their professors using similar level of techno advancement as they are. Most professors would resort to their common excuse of “I’m too old to understand or learn to use all that technology stuff’. Keep in mind these guys are PH.D professors that are well distinguish in their field of studies and are always writing or presenting on advancements in their field. They are certainly not too old or incapable of learning new things. At the end of the day they find it convenient not to be bothered with technology or for someone else to assist them at a great length in using technology.