My name is Colt Marshall; after working in the fitness industry, emergency medical service, sales, office administration, retail, and public recreation, education finally gave me a clear direction in life.
I have been working in the education field since 2010, specializing in language arts and special education. I started working at Simi Valley High School in 2010 as a Paraeducator in Special Education. I worked with students with moderate to severe disabilities, including but not limited to Autism, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Fragile X. I specialized in inclusive services, adapting general education course material for my student's individual needs so they could pass their general education classes despite their disability. Once I transferred to California State University Northridge to continue my education, I started working as a Supplemental English Instructor for the university's SI English Program.
As far as technology's role in education, it is a complicated topic. On the one hand, students have virtually unlimited resources to knowledge at their fingertips. They have unique opportunities to connect with real people across the globe. People have access to instantaneous news and current events from their family and friend groups and globally. It is an incredible resource. On the other hand, you receive constant judgment from peers, family, and random people across the internet.
As an educator, I think current and developing technology gives us tools never imagined to use for our students. We can access more up-to-date information faster than textbooks can be published. We can share our lessons virtually with students who do not have access to the classroom. We can virtually travel the world, which for some students will be the closest they ever get to traveling outside their immediate geographical area. Educators can turn the distraction of cell phones into teaching tools with online quizzes and encourage students to find information at a moment's notice.
However, some teachers refuse to learn new technology and, when they are forced to use it, are unable to use it properly, which can take away from the lesson. It is also worth noting this is not the same as teachers who try to learn and are simply not as proficient as they would like to be.
Some teachers use media too much, while anecdotal, I've had a teacher who relied on TED Talks or another educator's YouTube video to teach lessons and then simply field questions. Although I have no evidence of this, I think it is not out of the realm of possibility to say that wasn't or isn't the only educator to rely on this method, while in the minority or not.
Technology while in the classroom, at home, or carried in your pocket inherently brings the features and promises ensured by their ads; it will always be a double-edged sword. Every new technology will have its positives and negatives. The difference is that the pace of innovation seems to exceed our ability to adjust to it.
I completely agree with you about media being potentially overused. I'm personally a big fan of well-chosen videos in classes, for example, but if they are the majority of the lesson, I don't personally feel convinced that students in that class would really be learning. There is not necessarily any engagement in that. Students are under no pressure to think for themselves, unless the teacher is pausing or engaging in question and answer time afterwards. Perhaps we have a tendency as humans to want to make everything technology based, but sometimes there are benefits to keeping it "old school." Like you mentioned, tech is positive and negative. The research benefits of technology are huge (I cannot tell you how grateful I am that I can access millions of peer-reviewed articles from the comfort of my home, not a cold library at 11PM). But like you said, there can be negatives to that as well. Nice to have another class with you!--Kate R.
ReplyDeleteHi Colt!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your first blog post! You’re definitely a very interesting guy! It’s amazing how many jobs you’ve worked and how teaching is now your calling. Two things we have in common is that we both have belly buttons and dogs! LOL! Okay on a serious note, I give you props for earning four different degrees! It is nice to see the hard work and dedication you put into earning those Associate Degrees!
As for technology in education, I also agree with you because it is a complicated topic. Some may be for it and some may be against it. I think it has both its pros and its cons. In my post I also wrote how there are teachers who over use technology. I like how you used the terms “double edged sword” because that is the exact ways of how technology can either make or break your classroom.
Hi Colt,
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I think that technology in the classroom has two very different sides. The access to infinite information is an undeniable value to the classroom but at the same time with so much information, most of which is not credible, how do you know if the information you found on the internet is true or false. Also, like you mentioned, the teacher matters greatly when it comes to dealing with tech in the classroom. The intentions of the teacher start to matter less and less when the classroom is not giving the students useful tools for the future. When you bring technology into the mix, this lack of gain could turn into something harmful, like an addiction to having stranger's opinions matter in one's life. I think if technology is to be used in the classroom, the teacher must be proficient with navigating all aspects of tech that will appear in the classroom.
Hey Colt,
ReplyDeleteI think what you posted was a great discussion on the double edged sword that is technology and media. I believe that the discussion on such a topic has its many benefits, as it has its many disadvantages. I will say in the classroom enviorment, technology and media can have a strong positive impact on young leaeners as there is an immense amount of potential to learn with practically an infinite amount of information. There is also the fact that we can use other videos and media to teach our children where educators might have trouble, and we can learn about subjects around the globe. I would say the other side of this is the overuse of it, where we use it too much to teach our children rather than our local in person teachers. There is also the self esteem issue with media, in how kids are portayed in a "certain specific way", especially with body image. In short, I think the benefits could be used if the negatives are put down and used less often.
- Gary Thomas