Technology: Teachers Reluctance - Essay Example

Technology: Teachers’ Reluctance Technology entails application of logical and scientific innovations in one’s area of concern with the intention of using minimum resources for a maximum output (Gura and Percy 1). The tremendous development of technology in various aspect of the human life has made it impossible to ignore its application. Economical hardships force almost everyone to keep up with technology or lose their competitive advantage to stay ahead of the rest or maintain a comfortable life. Education just as any other field in our lives has targets that have to be met by both teachers and students. This should provide an ideal environment to fully embrace technology but it is not the case! I intend to explain why teachers resist integrating technology in their work as well as highlight some of the possible solutions that may create a lasting turnaround of this state. The inflexible educational system or people involved especially the teaching fraternity has made integration of technology in various academic curriculums slow or impossible. However, recent statistics indicate a 54% involvement of students with educational technology and a further 70% enjoy sessions that incorporate technology in traditional teaching practices (Moffett). In my opinion, the contention of integration lies in the knowledge gap between the teachers and students with regards to technology. Technology has teachers learning at the same time as the students which beats the traditional convention of teaching. The teacher has to be ahead and be the guide. Technology has reversed the situation thus making most if not all the teachers averse at one point in their career. Students in the present times are more comfortable and versatile when it comes to technological applications with constant changes than their teachers. This is enhanced by their constant connection and information sharing through social sites among other internet applications and tools. The teaching fraternity is restricted by a curriculum that sees very little changes in many years that would appreciate technology. The repetitive nature of the teachers’ training and requirement of the profession create a doctrine-like guide that perceives course requirements in only one perspective taught at teacher’s training institutions (Bell, Schrum and Thompson 12). In order to ensure a total change of heart by teachers, we need to respond to their age long question, why technology? The essence of education is to impart knowledge and skills into young ones that would be beneficial to their lives within and beyond school. A perfect teacher is the one who makes the students enjoy the learning sessions and understand the course content. Since technology is known to thrill the young generation, what more would a teacher ask for in a hyped class and excited audience who appreciate changes, especially if technology is involved. The introduction of computers in school ensured total enthusiasm and participation in class work. Lesson attendance was high as witnessed by reducing cases of absenteeism in school (Gura and Percy 5). This was because students found it thrilling to work through the personal computers than be asked to walk over to the whiteboard. Using projectors made students concentrate on what was being taught rather than a teacher putting it down on the white board, sometimes with difficult to read writing. Recorders, iPads, and audio/ visual Discs among other digital materials ensure students can get through any material intentionally or unintentionally missed in class. The internet library makes it easy and saves time spent by students looking for educational material to use on assignments. Based on the mentioned advantages, I believe teachers should be the first people to embrace technology. Scarcity of time as well as other resources especially the financial muscles has been the main reason of reluctance by the teaching force. Everyone seeks to get paid for extra hours put into work. Technological advancements and integration requires teacher to spend more time in keeping in touch with technology as well as customizing their lessons using technology. This is difficult to accept especially if no direct financial benefit is awarded to the teacher or recognition through career promotion. We should recognize the fact that the young generation already embraced technology in education long before its introduction in the curriculum (Bell, Schrum and Thompson 14). The teaching fraternity was busy confiscating the devices and demonizing them as factors that inhibited student’s concentration. This was true in some cases because the students were exposed and knew what they wanted from the gadgets but lacked discipline in application. A basic example is when academic materials are mixed with music on iPods and a student immediately after finishing an assignment, starts listening to music with the rest during morning or evening preparation studies. The student does not only cause deviation but interferes with concentration of peers willing to study. As teachers started embracing technology in school, they were on a trailing foot and had to worry about catching up with the students which is a reversal of roles. Naturally, this causes some discomfort because teachers lose control of their classes under such circumstances. The main challenge to this present day is ensuring students’ effectiveness and responsible use of technology allowed in academic institutions (Selwyn 21). This is the main reason for the snail pace administrative integration of technology in education. Teachers who were techno savvy or those who appreciated the use of technology for effective teaching in the past were not fully supported by the administration. This meant they had to use personal finances and use their private time to study educational application of technology. This raised the main dilemma for someone spending private time and resources in a training that may never be accepted in academic circles. As integration of technology slowly took centre stage, as expected, not everyone in the teaching circle met this with enthusiasm. Traditional methods inculcated in teaching made it tiresome for changeover because it required additional training for teachers and extra work in application. Some quarters saw technology as a means of cutting down on the valued teacher-student physical interaction which would ensure impact on the social connection required for quality content delivery and assessment. Teachers were now restricted to being instructors, a position not recommended at initial stages of academics for the students. In a recent survey classroom interaction was actually cut down by electronics especially topical discussions (Bell, Schrum and Thompson 17). This negatively impacts on chances of teachers noticing areas of doubt and weaknesses in students thus device effective remedies. It injures opportunities to clarify any miscommunication and misunderstanding of course contents as perceived by the students. One notable experiment was carried out by Mark James, a lecturer at the University of West Florida. James completely eliminated use of technology during his lecturers and requested his class to follow suit. His analysis indicated a massive increase in students’ lecture participation that was effectively proven through evaluation and presentation of improved student grades in his final examination (Chronicle.com). Eliminating the projector and technological devices had paid off in the end. Another teaching principle is ensuring fair and equal dissemination of content to one’s students. Since teachers have no control on the level of exposure to technology by their student’s, this will naturally place some students at an advantage over their peers as well as some teachers. This is harmful in ensuring a balanced performance and some students may fall victims to technological disadvantages rather than the academic content quality. Traditional teaching had little interferences associated with technological academics. Power failures and jammed systems messed by viruses would be the least of worries as long as it was daylight and students were seated in class. Mechanical errors in machines may be beyond the grasp of the teachers and repairs may take longer than time duration for a class session (Kobayashi 41). The strained budgets may not also allow school administration boards to maintain full time technicians to attend to repairs and troubleshooting. Technology has ensured truancy and irresponsibility shifts to a higher gear in learning institutions. Electronic bullying gives truants an advantage of practicing their art beyond the reach of the school authorities for most belong an era limited in technology. Cyber bullying is one great area of concern because bullies can access their victims, right under the noses of their teachers or in the confines of their homes (Kobayashi 62). The ability to hide one’s identity and level of discreetness it allows is enough to entice even the least of bullies to take up the act. Teachers appreciate how their hands are tied in dealing with this social vice beyond the school compound thus considering eliminating use of some types of technology within the school compound. A reason to further back up the technology banning initiative is the rate of change in technology that is faster than how technological integration is being done. This costs much money yet by the time an application is fully embraced, a new version renders it obsolete and a fresh training for teachers is required. Effective integration of technology in education must ensure the teachers experience easier duties in school administration. We must ensure the integration provides adequate time for teachers to study and employ the techniques and practices in actual class sessions. One of the main problems of technology as allowing teachers to apply it in sessions yet expect them to manually go about their personal duties and preparation (Selwyn 38). This creates an inconsistency that is harmful to learning. The other point of concern is how application is more emphasized on student orientation or put into practice coinciding with the teachers training on technology. This gives little room for teachers to be at ease and confident in presentation. In my opinion, teachers need to be allowed the benefit of personal organization and preparation before introduction in class sessions. Laptops and tablets can be used to take roll calls which are instantly transmitted to a central registry without necessitating the teacher to move back and forth in between sessions. Issuing assignments online and presenting results as well would be rewarding in time management. Applying tallying software would ensure easier marking and grading of students thus ensuring efficient handling of large classrooms. Full application of a personal management program would ensure teachers can program their chores in order of priority thus ensure excellent time management and maximum productivity (Selwyn 43). After this effort, teachers will now be ready to apply applications that would be geared towards effective classroom presentation. Professional development should be development to identify the specific needs of teachers across disciplines in learning. Certification associated with this professional development would make teachers appreciate their progress in technological applications in education. This is a form of motivation that would encourage participation. In conclusion, we cannot separate technology in education in the modern times. At first there were major reservations in the teaching fraternity but recent results and trials have highlighted some level of efficiency highly undeniable by the teachers. In fact the small fraction of prevalent non-application of technology remains a question of associated costs rather than negative attitude from teachers. Modern work routines are getting more technological and teachers have no choice but to improvise suitable ways that would ensure their products meet this end. I believe we would have full automation in education that would not only make teaching a nice experience but retain all the values appreciated in the teaching profession. Works cited Bell, L., Schrum, L. and Thompson, A. Framing research on technology and student learning in the content area: implications for educators. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Pub, 2008. Print. Gura, M. and Percy, B. Recapturing technology for education: keeping tomorrow in today's classrooms. Lanham, Mar.: ScarecrowEducation, 2005. Print. Kobayashi, R. New educational technology. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2007. Print. Moffett, L. NOVA Solutions. Educause Statistics on Technology in the Classroom. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. Selwyn, N. Education and technology: key issues and debates. London; New York: Continuum International Pub. Group, 2011. Print. Young, J. College 2.0. Teachers Without Technology Strike Back. Web. 15 Aug. 2010. Read More