As a 21st century teacher, technology is an imperative aspect in daily lessons. So much is available for both teachers and students. Many great ideas and concepts that have the potential to enhance and transform our classrooms. Unfortunately. with the good comes the not so good. The good is clearly the technology and the ability to infuse it into seemingly "boring" or "uninteresting" topics and reactivate the minds of our students. The bad: well this takes the form of many barriers. Difficulties can begin with time consumption, network issues, inadequacies, and dealing with student responsibilities.
The barrier of time is a huge and common aspect while considering infusing technology in the classroom. Planning time. Teaching time. Student time. Time. Time. Time. All these times may have different origins, but in the end it takes precious time to prepare and even more time to make sure that ALL the students are ALL on the same site and are ALL experienced and equipped well enough to perform the task at hand.
Oh boy! The things that we are unable to control! The network...oh the network can occasionally be a barrier when trying to infuse a little technology from time to time. It can be like a temperamental two year old! You may never know when the tantrum is coming, but you know it's been too long and it is bound to be right around the corner. Networking issues can be potential barriers simply for the fact of the bandwidth being too small or limited due to the amount of usage.
A personal barrier that I struggle with is feeling inadequate to put together a meaningful technology infused lesson. I am a thinker. Most of the time I over analyze a concept to the point where I make mountains out of molehills. Many times, we can create a seemingly fantastic lesson infused with technology that is fluent and works great at home and with fellow teachers, but completely bombs in the classroom.
Student responsibilities are quite possibly the largest barrier that I could face. Our students are required to sign RUP's (responsible use policy) annually; however, this does not always ensure that pre-teens and teenagers are being responsible. Other student responsibility barriers can include not bringing their netbooks, forgetting the charger at home, or simply letting their netbooks loose all its battery. This is a huge deal since technology is becoming such an immensely intrinsic aspect of the 21st century teacher and students will face the chance of not being as prepared as they could be.
Wow Mary! You have identified 4 barriers that many teachers perceive to be major obstacles when infusing technology, and many times because of these perceptions, they want to stay with what is comfortable. Time is always questioned with any new endeavor. Just remember that you may be switching the time around by saving time later due to the infusion. Any network is going to have it's ups and downs, but also remember that many times it is not a network issue but a user issue. Many students do not know how to troubleshoot connectivity issues and this is something we will focus on next year with students. I think we all feel inadequate when we are trying something new. It scares us that we might do it wrong or not like those around us. Hang in there. If you are a thinker, then you are going to have a good plan when it comes to infusion. Remember that you have support from me as well in your planning! I will be interested to see what you find to crush these barriers in your post for Day 2.
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