Jan
23
The Demise of the Computer Teacher?
January 23, 2006 | Tagged baisnet BAISNet |
A Lower School Technology Coordinator at a K-8 school recently posted a question to BAISNet, wondering whether other independent schools still schedule regular weekly computer lab classes for K-4, or whether we are moving toward a model based on individual teacher signups as classroom projects and needs arise.
For a long time, I’ve been arguing that the days of the “computer teacher” are over, and that teachers will never become comfortable, self-sufficient or see the computer lab as anything more than another “specialty class” (like P.E., music or world languages) until tech coordinators stop enabling classroom teachers by enouraging the “come to the lab and I’ll put on a show” technique. And yet…sigh…I’m deep into my second year at MCDS and I fear that I’m guilty of setting up that exact dynamic. The majority of our weekly Mac Lab classes are planned on the fly in the cafeteria, then I scramble back to the Lab to set up a template or launch a website, and the teacher spends the first half of class in the role of another student while I teach the lesson. Stand and deliver. Despite every bone in my body telling me that it’s exactly the way NOT to teach this stuff. Sigh…
The conundrum, of course, is time. Time to meet ahead with teachers and grade level teams to plan out our projects properly. Time to work with individual teachers to help them explore, experiment and become more self-sufficient. Time to unshackle myself from the Lab and head into the classrooms with a projector, a mobile lab, a digital camera, to be where the authentic learning and natural fit for technology truly comes.
Yes…I know…there are computer skills to learn. Technology standards we want our students to meet. But when/where/how and by whom should these skills and standards be taught? How is your school doing it?
Comments
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I have been a “computer teacher” for 22 years. I feel the solution to the problem is the “Technology Integration Kit” we have created.
Instead of “reacting” to teacher requests and throwing a lesson together at the last minute we have put together a collection of “Curriculum-Based Technology Projects” which 1) meet curriuculum standards in curriculum areas and 2) expose students to a progression of technology skills.
For FREE samples visit our site http://www.k8technologyprojects.com
Sincerely,
Fred Suchy
Fred,
Thanks for the comment and thanks for the link to your product. I’ve also worked extensively with the various technology curriculum products at Teacher Created Materials, which do many of the same things. For me, though, the problem is less about having materials available ahead of time for the teachers, and more about how they want to teach technology…they want me to do it for them, and they want (and this I agree with) for it to be a dynamic, spontaneous process as class projects emerge.
Thanks for your comment,
Barbara