A recent article was posted in eSchool News called “Aspiring teachers ill-prepared to use ed tech effectively“. This article suggested that teacher preparation programs aren’t meeting the expectations of K-12 principals. Here are a couple of my thoughts to add.
1 – Shouldn’t the principals and administration at schools help by offering more professional development and provide tech savvy instructional technologist to support teachers in creating dynamic and engaging content. Plenty of experience teachers don’t know how to do those “new” technologies and won’t learn after being teachers for 5 years unless someone pushes with support or teaches the teachers.
2 – Schools of Education and Ed Prep programs usually rely on teachers/educator that weren’t taught those skills in their education and might now practice those skills in their current courses. It’s time to get higher education teachers, especially those teaching teachers on board with using various technologies and showcasing best practices in engaging learners. Plus almost all education programs do have a 3 credit course in technology but it could use a “Part 2″ edtech course to get through all the material needed and play with some of the latest technology available. .
This is the reason I created my blog http://professorjosh.com to help the teachers I help prep for K12 teaching learn more about other technologies that can be applied to the classroom and new ways they can engage, excite, and education students, even after they leave my classroom.
What are your thoughts?
Excellent post Josh. Sometimes we assume that our young undergrad students need little instruction in the use of technology in the classroom since they’ve been born into this digital age. Not true. Using technology for personal use and using tech as a teaching tool with students of varying learning styles are very different things. Higher Ed often has a tough time finding budget resources to purchase sample devices for pre-service teachers and I wonder if all professors (full time, adjuncts, etc.) do as good a job as you in keeping up with the changing tools and trends.