The NEA Today magazine for August 2009, published by the National Education Association has an article titled, "Classroom Technology That Won't Cost You a Dime!" by Cindy Long. This article discusses technologies that teachers can use in their classroom free of charge. It also includes a description of how they work and the purpose of each. The article can be viewed at www.nea.org/home/34001.htm
One of the greatest things the Internet has provided for teachers is the ability to collaborate on lessons and ideas around the world. Granted, the Internet provides information easier and more up-to-date than textbooks which is a definite benefit. However, the ability to easily share ideas and lessons has revolutionized education. A good teacher should be willing to share what they do well with their colleagues. It just doesn't make sense for every teacher to have to create each lesson, especially if it has already been created by another teacher.
Even though collaboration through the Internet is a valuable tool, it can be hard for many teachers to take advantage of the multitude of lessons available. Looking for new, innovative lessons is a time-consuming endeavor. Depending on a teacher's classload, the time necessary to search for lessons created by others may not be available. Often the pressure to have the day-to-day lessons and giving immediate feedback to students doesn't allow a teacher much time to look for new, more innovative ways to teach the same lesson.
One of the things that has been difficult for me personally is that a large part of the classes I teach are technology related. It seems like everything we do is technology-based. However, the availability of shared lessons for business is very limited. There is an abundance of shared lessons for elementary teachers and teachers of core subjects at the secondary level. Lessons for business teachers are few and far between. I am not sure why that is other than the way business teachers teach the same skills are often drastically different from teacher to teacher, area to area. Something else that contributes to this is that business skills are so broad that each school must decide what they believe are the most important skills to teach within a limited teaching staff.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am in 100% agreement with you in why reinvent the wheel in lesson planning if someone has already created an outstanding lesson. I have teachers that I work with who feel the same way when it comes to bulletin boards. However, I personally think that no matter how great your lesson plans or bulletin boards are, they still need to be updated and improved each year. If they aren’t, and you do them year after year, the excitement is lost.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that you posted the NEA magazine story because I had never heard of SchoolTube. I was just looking on YouTube today for something to share with my sixth grade students and I was disturbed by what I received from my search. It was nothing remotely close to what I was looking for. I will definitely look at SchoolTube. Thanks.
Randy,
ReplyDeleteI agree that sharing lesson plans is the best thing teachers can do for one another. When I started teaching I was lucky enough to be in a state that has a strong technology teacher association (www.getea.org). I had friends that came to my lab and helped me with everything from lesson plans to cleaning. We as teachers need to share to make teaching a more enjoyable experience. I am also a member of ITEA and by being a member online I am able to access lesson plans as well as put questions into the Idea Garden. The Idea Garden allows me to post a question that technology teachers across the United States can see. I usually get anywhere from ten to fifty responses. Teaching is the most time consuming job in the world. We are expected to teach, grade, find new lessons, coach and advise. The internet has made find new ideas so much easier.
Blaire
Randy,
ReplyDeleteLike you I have a hard time finding lessons for my area and it seems like tech ed in general isn't as organized as K-6. I don't know if it is because of what we teach or we don't like to share us much. Just kidding. I think the internet is great for finding templates and sites that allow you to build on your own lessons. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the tech ed programs.