Just how much do teachers need to know about technology, redux

Jim Forde over at edtechNOT <http://edtechnot.blogspot.com> sent this comment on the Just how much do teachers need to know about technology?  post from few days ago:

Here are some thoughts that rose to the surface as I read this excellent post.

1st- Educational technology staff development should be about creating better teachers. Whether or not they know the origin of the acronym "URL" is irrelevant. Will the ed tech staff development session offer them ideas that will make them better teachers, with their specific kids, in their specific setting? This should be the ultimate assessment.

2nd- Many of the frustrated reactions that teachers share via informal body language, rude comments or (in the worst case scenario) thrown objects are often the result of the disconnect of the "expert" from the classroom teacher. It isn't that they aren't organized, but it is that they really have no idea what great science, language arts, or math teaching looks or feels like...but "boy do they have a technology solution for you!" The reluctant veteran teachers are then labelled recalcitrant luddites. Poor alpha wolf. :-(

3rd- As it relates to the "omnivore's dilemma" and the depth of knowledge necessary, I don't want a great reading teacher worrying about why the ISDN line works or the origin of Spam. I want them to have the tools they need to entrance kids with wonderful lessons that encourage them to be life long learners. This is where their focus should be, not on why the tech around them is not working.

I probably just woke up on the wrong side of the lap top. Let me know what you think.

Jim Forde :-)

I'd like to agree 100%. Jim, but am not sure it is a simple and clear cut as you describe. Let's play with the idea that there are three skill levels all teachers need:

1. "Basic skills" How to open programs. How to use a mouse. How to organize files. How to trouble shoot why the the printer is not working.  This is where some of those "behind the scenes" understandings might be helpful. Does knowing the basics of IP protocol make a person a better teacher? No, but it might allow him/her to be a better teacher IF it allows that teacher to solve a problem quickly and get back to the business at hand - teaching. Some of these skills (how spam, filters and pop-ups work) might be essential to survival in this litigious age! See Teacher Guilty in Norwich Porn Case.

I might even include in this category things as mundane as knowing how to report attendance  online, keep an electronic gradebook, or e-mail a colleague. Whenever the mastered use of a technology allows a teacher to save time doing a routine task, it improves education.

2. "Personal productivity skills" A teacher knowing how to run a word processorto create instructional materials that are easy to read and quickly editable is a better teacher. A teacher who can use a search engine to locate best practices in his/her field is a better teacher.  A teacher who knows how to create a web page that informs parents of classroom activities and provides activities that can be done at home is a better teacher. My Beginning CODE 77 Rubrics were all based on the premise that a teacher can be a better teacher using technology even her/his students never touch it.

3.  "Direct instructional uses" I suspect this is where most of us would like to be offering staff development activities - how techers can use technology directly with students for greater content mastery or skill attainment. No argument. This might be a drill-and-practice program or a simulation program, but more likely it is some activity that has at its heart an information literacy skill asking for higher ordered thinking, enhanced (or even made possible) using technology. And this is as much or more about changing pedagogy as it is about technology. I tried looking at this use in my Rubrics for Restructuring.

 So yes, Jim, I definitely agree with your statement, "Educational technology staff development should be about creating better teachers."  I would only argue that we not be too narrow in thinking about what that looks like. I also worry that we are in such a rush to get to the third level of staff development and teacher use we slight the first two levels and that comes back to haunt us.

Oh, my rubrics are starting to look a little long in the tooth. Revision time approaches. What does teacher who takes advantage of the social web know how to do?

Comments

[Jim Forde]

Hi There!

Thanks for this thoughtful and respectful response. I WAS being a bit narrow in my definition and it may be due to my assumption that many teachers already have the basic skills and are chomping at the bit for level 3. I may have also seen too many level 1 and 2 workshops and not enough related to the art of teaching. This posting certainly has me thinking.

I particularly like the point you made about solving something quickly yourself and getting back to business. I also agree with you that web page creation is relevant to teachers and that it is essential that teachers know how to maintain one. I don't know if raw html or javascript skills would be necessary.(.....but would be nice to know)

Thanks for tolerating my earlier post. I hope this thread grows so I can continue to learn more from additional posts.

Jim Forde :-)
edtechnot.blogsport.com

[Jim Forde]

It is really bad when you get your own URL wrong! :-)

Jim
edtechnot.blogspot.com
(...not blogsport)

[Kenn]

The three skill levels idea works for me. I can see how it could be used to define the types of training that could be offered to teachers. Instead of offering "tech training", the courses title and syllabus could be specific, so teachers would better know what (or if) they need to attend.

I can also see how this might apply to student classes (even having students develop assignments that they could offer to their peers).

[Jim Dornberg]

Remember ACOT? Teachers learn to use technology in stages, and they can't get to the last stage until they've been through the beginning stages. As much as I would like to think teachers are ready for the third level (direct instructional uses), far too many are still at the first 2 levels. The problems start when there's a mixture of all 3 in one PD session, or someone who is a level 1 signs up for a level 3 workshop.

[Vicki A Davis]

I think that an essential skill should be setting up and using an RSS reader. Honestly, the greatest staff development has not been the 100+ hours I have sat in classes over the past four years, it has been the 15 minute a day reading of my bloglines account.

For, therein lies the key to my personal transformation as a better teacher and a meaningul contributor to this global conversation.

On an exciting note, the librarian at my school is ready to blog and I have told her to start reading yours first!