Curriculum and Technology
The question that has directed my exploration into education is best summarized by (Hensen, 2012) “How do we create a fulfilling educational experience that will inspire, challenge, and engage students across all grade levels—as well as give teachers and educators the necessary tools to accomplish the same for their students?”
Unless the teachers and educators do not have the right tools, one cannot expect them to develop the capacity to create “…fulfilling educational experience that will inspire, challenge, and engage students…”, (Hensen, 2012)
One of the chief tools in the world today that has been
experimented and explored is Technology. My experimentation has been my Maths class at a school I worked in.
I found a number of advantages in using technology as well as a number of
challenges. For the sake of keeping, it real, I am staying with my own personal
experience to compare.
1. Self-Paced
lessons
(% and self-study using IT, 2019) gives a
precisely designed lesson that was used to learn Percentages by grade 7
students. This was a self-study lesson with broad boundaries within which the
students could pace it out themselves. Having a laptop per student with free Wi-Fi
made it possible to conduct the lesson in this way.
A self-paced lesson allows students to learn at
their pace and not at a standard pace that is set by the class run by a
teacher. It enhances their skills of independent learning, information
processing and time management. It also gives the students a chance to go as
deep as possible in learning. “Differentiation of content” is possible. (UNESCO,
2004, p.6)
2. International
collaboration
The
teachers in the aforesaid school also had a laptop and Wi-Fi that was free in
the school as well as the home (for boarding teachers). As we explored various
websites for resources that were open source, we also discovered a pool of
teachers that were international collaborators. For example, when I appreciated
a set of worksheets uploaded on a website (www.tes.co.uk),
the teacher not only sent me the whole set but also requested to give feedback
on her work. This opened the avenues of connecting with a large group of
individuals across the planet.
3. Time
management
We
used a learning management system called https://www.veracross.com/.
I used it extensively to upload daily data of marks, classwork, homework and
worksheets. I also wrote comments with grades for parents to access. I could do
away with the traditional registers, parents had quick feedback on their wards
and worksheets lost by students could be downloaded by them again from
veracross. Veracross software also did all the calculations for the final
reports once the rubric was inserted.
Systems
such as these, when used properly, go a long way to save time and energy. There
is also no worry of losing data as they kept daily backup of the files. I could
use the time in developing myself professionally.
As
with all ideas, use of technology is not without its difficulties. However, as
the following points will show, the difficulty is not in the tool itself, but in
the way it is expected to be used. "The key to
integrating technology successfully is to convince teachers that they can do
something with it that they can't do without it." (Delaney, 2011)
1. Accountability
for teachers
Using
veracross turned the entire system of grading very transparent. The parent
could see the track chart of his or her ward and also compare the use of
veracross by different teachers. Some teachers were good at managing veracross
while some were not. But due to the transparency the accountability of each was
a lot. Hence it led to a lot of stress among the teachers who were slow on the
uptake. Teacher differentiation was missing.
2. Self-management
by students
It
is a lot when a student of middle school is expected to manage a laptop,
charger, running Wi-Fi with sufficient battery back-up. Not all students are
capable of it. I would have students walking in a class based on self-study and
say, “My battery is dead” or, “My laptop is at the helpdesk” or “The Wi-Fi is
not working”. Their issues were genuine.
Finally,
they were resolved only because of the students’ love for self-study using web
based modules. But precious time was lost. I wonder if students in India are
ready for the skills of self-management?
3. Status
symbol by stake holders
“When manufacturers and developers demonstrate tools, they make it
look simple, so principals expect teachers to hit the ground running.” (Delaney,
2011)
The
school owners buy the tools of technology based on the current rage or get
swept off by marketing gimmicks. It is also at times more of a status symbol
than a genuine analyses of the needs of the curriculum. This ends up in increased
expenditure on technology, teachers unable to find fruitful use and frustrated
parents who pay for the tools by the hiked fee.
1. % and self-study using IT. (2019, September
12). Retrieved from https://humanemaths.blogspot.com/2019/09/and-self-study-using-it.html
2. Delaney,
M., Delaney, M., & Cdw. (2011, November 01). Training Teachers to Integrate
Technology. Retrieved from
https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2011/11/training-teachers-integrate-technology
3. Ellis,
B. (2017, January 30). Which comes first: the curriculum or the technology?
Technotes. Retrieved from
https://blog.tcea.org/comes-first-curriculum-technology/
4. Henson,
A. (2012, May 1). Why Technology is Essential in Curriculum and Content
Alignment. Retrieved from http://www.internetatschools.com/Articles/Editorial/Features/Why-Technology-Is-Essential-in-Curriculum-and-Content-Alignment-5bAvailable-Full-Text2c-Free5d-82253.aspx
5. UNESCO
(2004). Changing teaching practices: Using curriculum differentiation to
respond to students’ diversity. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001365/136583e.pdf
Comments