The infographic that particularly caught my attention was this one:
What do parents really think about digital learning? Parents of school-aged children Speak Up about technology use
One thing that really caught my eye was the top concern reported by parents regarding tech use. They are VERY concerned that tech use varies from teacher to teacher! I share this concern, but I see no great way of addressing it. On one hand, I want all students to have equal access to tech in their educational experiences, so they have the opportunity to explore that avenue of learning and find out if it fits their individual learning needs. On the other hand, I want all teachers to have autonomy in their classrooms, so they can pick and choose the tech with which they are most comfortable and in which they find the most value. It seems to me that forcing teachers to use tech would create "equal" access on the surface of the situation, but that some teachers would be uncomfortable and would therefore have difficulty providing the same kind of instruction as a teacher who is extremely comfortable with that kind of tech.
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Would you prefer this teacher... ... or this teacher?
I was also surprised to learn that 55% of parents would prefer their child's teacher and school to communicate with them via text message! Sure, I know that text messages are easy to use. But I have a problem with sending text messages to parents because it would mean using my personal cell phone. I don't want parents to have my personal cell phone number. Maybe that's old-fashioned, but I don't like the idea of my work following me anywhere into my personal life at any time. I believe it is very important for educators to have some boundaries between personal/professional, and giving personal contact information blurs that line too much for me!
Overall, I think that educational technology research is interesting and overwhelming. It's interesting to me because it helps me understand the ever-evolving role of technology in education. It's overwhelming to me because it covers so many topics, comes from so many different sources, and changes so rapidly! I will definitely say that it was good for me to review some of the educational tech research out there... it has provided me with additional motivation to remain current with technology so I can provide students with relevant and helpful resources.
Because the classrooms of today and tomorrow look more like this...
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and less like this...
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... I've got to keep up with the research and keep up with the times!
I enjoyed exploring Project Tomorrow Speak Up too! I completely agree with your thoughts around texting. I already feel like I'm obligated to be accessible via email and would not like to have another avenue into my personal time.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the texting/personal information lines being blurred. I would prefer that teachers have school phones the same way we have iPads for all such communications.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Remind.com that we use for class could be a good solution here! It allows parents to receive short snippets of information via text yet can be set up so that it is a one-way communication- they can't text you back! Remind is free and does NOT require your personal phone number- they generate a random number for you to use.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, by the way!
DeleteI'll have to look more closely at Remind.com... I don't have a classroom of students, so most of my messages would have to be sent to one or two families at a time. I wonder if Remind is flexible enough to handle my unique position within our school? Thanks for the idea!
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