Am I Cut Out For This?

When I think about how technology has changed the work place, which includes my classroom, I feel overwhelmed. There is so many new technology advances out there that I haven’t even begun to learn about or even learn how to use. I am still using the overhead projector, when other teachers are bored and moving on from the SMART board and/or document camera. In a way, the students are advancing past me when it comes to technology, because they use SmartPhones, IPods, IPads, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Facebook, etc. and these are all things I am unfamiliar with.

After reading and watching this week’s resources, I’ve realized how much our society depends on technology. Businesses are having video conferences via web cam, collaborating with colleagues via blogs and/or wikis and they also have this flexible schedule. For example, the lady that spoke of her daughter and her new career. She can basically choose when she wants to work and she can work from home. She may have to get up at 5:00am to “talk” to another colleague around the world, but other than a few early mornings, nights, and weekends, the flexibility of business schedule seems wonderful. I would love to be able to wear pajamas to work, because I could work from home!

The types of changes in the common work environment have created somewhat of a disconnection between what students are learning in school and what they will need to know when they join the work force. Many schools are not utilizing technology, such as my old 1960’s style building (small exaggeration), up to its potential, so students are not gaining the knowledge on how to live/communicate in this 21^st century world. They may know how to work a cell phone, but can they chat via web cam or collaborate via wiki space? The work place is evolving (quickly) and embracing technology, while education is barely getting started.

Teachers are also affected by this disconnection. Take me and my situation, I personally feel behind in the times and my classroom (physically) is definitely behind in the technology department. Could you imagine if I had to have a video conference with a teacher in China?  They would laugh in my face! Some of you would laugh at the sight of my classroom and the lack of technology. The educational “workplace” is lagging and I think it is going to be up to the teacher (and the backing of their district) to incorporate these new and upcoming technology skills inside the classroom. Teachers, like me, can choose to start off small with a blog, as we discussed last week. Here students can start to see how to communicate with their teachers outside of the classroom. Educators need to start thinking about incorporating new practices and technology in the classroom in order to keep up and close the gap between education and the work environment students will encounter. Otherwise, why are we here?