In the late Sixties and early Seventies, universities across the United States established programs like “African Studies” and “Women’s Literature.” At the time, many scholars expected them to be short-lived. They thought that these areas of study would become redundant as they were incorporated into mainstream study over time. One could speculate on why that didn’t occur — one side claiming attitude and prejudice, the other side pointing to a department’s determination to maintain its funding — but the fact remains that the expected seamless integration hasn’t happened.
The same can be said about technology integration in the classroom. As a profession we’ve been working with computers for at least 20 years. While some educators have accomplished amazing things in that time, the expected “seamlessness” hasn’t happened. We might point to lack of equipment, lack of training, or lack of interest — probably all three are to blame in varying degrees — but the reason almost doesn’t matter. The result does.
When I launched Web English Teacher in 2000, I thought classroom technology would become so mainstream that it would be silly to relegate it to its own page. When I found, for example, a wiki project on Henry IV, I posted it on the Henry IV page. I didn’t see a need for a separate page of wiki projects.
In the past few weeks I’ve reassessed that position, and I’m launching technology pages. I expect that these pages will include two sections: one part will feature nuts-and-bolts explanations of how a technology tool works. The other part will include models of the tool in action.
I’m also happy to announce partnership with Tom Daccord and Justin Reich of EdTechTeacher, classroom veterans who now offer technology training for educators. I’ve been working with Tom in his summer workshops for the past few years, and I’m very confident with the materials that he and Justin produce, including their book, Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology. Tom and Justin have also produced several videos that I plan to link to as online professional development.
I still have hope that classroom technology will become mainstream, just as I still have hopes for African Studies and Women’s Lit. But until that occurs, this scaffolding will have to serve.
Technology is very much in the classroom. Where I teach (LaGuardia Community College) we have ‘smart classrooms’ where we can play DVDs, projectors, TVs, Web Attendance, Web Grade, power point, excel, and anything that may be put in a computer. The old chalkboards are now slick quick erase. Even the textbooks are online.