Technology is changing so fast. How can we keep up? Have you ever been caught in the trap of believing that you need to stay a step ahead of your students to make sure that technology is being used to its fullest potential? I mean, if you don’t know what to tell them when they ask you a question, you look silly, right?
I have been caught in that trap, and I’ve had conversations with people who have been, too. Right after they tell me they have to be at the same level or higher regarding tech knowledge, they say they’ll never be able to keep up. It’s just too much, and it’s always changing to staying ahead is too difficult.
What if we don’t have to stay ahead? Why do we, as teachers, need to know everything about technology in order for it to make a positive impact on learning? Let’s work on the basic tenets of technology – social media, collaborative tools, learning management systems, etc. Then, instead of knowing everything, we insert students (safely) into a tech-friendly environment where discovery can happen. And I don’t mean you focus on discovering the technology. Students discover their own learning. They engage, explore, and invent. Maybe there are things to learn/know about the technology along the way, but those things only serve to enhance the discovery process and amplify the learning.
Open up to technology, but don’t make it a standard. If it serves as a standard, its rules and processes will constantly shift, and you will be caught up in the current and focused on the wrong thing. Improving learning for students is what’s important…it’s the life raft, the standard. And it will help to navigate the ever-changing waters of the world (including the current of technology).