Fears & Hopes

Some of the fears I have are keeping up to date with all the new technology that comes out everyday. Can I remember it all, can I learn it all, can I understand it all, are some of the questions that I ask myself.

I think the easiest way to overcome fears is to understand those fears. Knowledge is a powerful tool and keeping up to date with technology is very important. This can be very hard to do since technology is always changing and new technology is developed everyday. Workshops, professional development training, and classes can help me with this problem. I thought I was very technology literate until I took this class and learned about all the new technology out there, wikis, blogs, Photo Story 3, etc. It just showed me that I was technology literate 1 year ago and things change everyday! I think that by realizing that I will have to continually search for knowledge in order to stay technology literate it will put me closer to my educational vision of using technology to enhance curriculum.

I think that teachers, staff, technology coordinators, and administratorsion need to share technology ideas and validate why these ideas and tools can be helpful in the class. For example, I share powerful technology information with my teachers as I learn it, but I am also showing how it can benefit them and why it is important. Teachers need to understand why it is better to change and use tools that they have not already been using. Sometimes teachers believe that what they are doing is working and don't understand why they would need to change. I try to explain that they are not changing just adding technology tools to enhance the curriculum they already teach. Explaining isn't enough for most teachers and they want evidence and valid ideas that they can see and use. Teachers are busy and dealing with state objectives that are always changing. It can be very overwhelming for veteran teachers as well as new teachers. I understand this and I only hope that I can help them and make their job a little easier