Technology And Education
Teaching has changed the way I used to learn. The technology in the field of education has been changed overtime. At the start of my teaching career, I have adopted technologies to support teaching and learning in the school. I found it difficult to use this technology in an efficient and effective manner as I was not an early adopter. But with years of experience, I used this advanced technology for preparing the digital portfolios of students, providing real-time feedback, reflecting on the performance of students, and many more. I have witnessed a number of teachers who are early adopters in this field and using the technology in a very effective and familiar way (Bajracharya, 2021). Most of the time, the smart board in the classroom was used by the maths teacher to engage the students and show and solve the problems of mathematics.
I have also used these technologies in the classroom. Social media and digital media tools like websites are used to allow the students to research and also allow the teachers to share the lesson plan, assessment data, and digital resources. The education podcasts and the other YouTube videos are also shared by other teachers over the social platforms. The principal of this school is an early adopter and also very fond of these technologies. The reading level is shared with the students and monitored via computer-based reading programs (Bernacki et al., 2020).
The sudden breakdown of the covid-19 also forced us, all the teachers, to adopt the technology or use one to teach the students. I was not much experienced in taking online classes and this was a challenge for me. As per the TPACK model, if the opportunities is not provided to the teacher then the teachers will struggle to adopt the strategies that are required to successfully integrate the same into the teaching (Katz, 2019). The school has organized a session on how to use these technologies to provide online sessions to the students. I have learned a lot about advanced technology and the use of the same in the classroom.
Moving through my career further, I have realized that the teachers who are more experienced and older than me are the best innovators. I feel that it is only the misconception that old or experienced teachers in the classroom faced difficulty in adopting the technology and using the same (Lai & Bower, 2019). I have also met the teachers who are young but still facing difficulty in adopting the technology in the classroom.
The technology has helped me in increasing the motivation level, their level of collaboration, helpful in increasing the engagement of the students, increasing the level of confidence among students, and increasing opportunities for hands-on learning. The diffusion theory of innovation has provided different patterns and speeds at which innovative practices and ideas spread. This technology is a hypothesis outlining how this advance technology spread throughout the societies and the cultures, from overview to widespread acceptance. This diffusion theory of the innovation seeks to explain how and why innovative ideas as well as the practices, with the timelines possibly spread out over the long periods (Cost et al., 2019). The way the technologies are adopted by the teachers and are communicated to the students are the subjective opinions that are associated with the new, advance, and innovative technology. A number of the years’ experience has shaped me in my career and advance the same.
Every part of the pencil describes the adopters of the technology. The model of pencil metaphor describes that the individuals who adopt the technology at the early stage are the early adopters and are usually the individuals who are enthusiastic and these are known as the leaders(Katz, 2019).
In recent years, technology has been changing very rapidly in every field or sector. This technology is continuously evolving in the education field as well. Technology is one of the powerful tools that can be useful in transforming learning (Joshua et al., 2020). This technology has also helped me in advancing my relationship with students, reinventing my teaching approaches, and seeking advanced as well as new skills and knowledge alongside students. Collaborating with the students, I am also learning new technologies like robotics, and virtual reality. Along with me, other educators or teachers are also adopting the same approaches and advancing their skills together with the students. Now, with continuous practice over the years, I have developed the confidence to use or learn these advanced technologies.
I was the first one among all the other teachers to use this approach of learning new skills and collaborating with the students. This has made me an early adopter. I am really proud that I have come this far and now I am confident enough to learn about the other technologies and test the same with the students in the classroom. With the increase in the access of the internet, the students are now becoming more interested to learn about these technologies in the classroom and by taking the other online course (Lai & Bower 2019).
The environment of technology-enabled learning allows the learners who are less experienced to participate in the communities of practice and also help them to gain some of the experiences that are required to become expert in that specific field or area (Ratheeswari, 2018). With the increased use of technology, the engagement of the students in the classroom has also increased (Joshua et al., 2020). This allows the students to explore the different fields and areas and help them to understand their true potential. The opportunities provided by the technology expand the possibilities for growth for all the students and teachers. Personalized learnings, high-quality material for learning, and use of the different tools for planning for future education provide greater opportunities to educators and teachers to increase the chances of their growth. These opportunities can also be supported by the educators to generate the blended learning prospects for their students, and also reconsider when, where, and how these students complete the different gears of a learning experience.
Having access to SAMR model would have reinforced my technology integration levels awareness to advance or transform the learnings (Muktiarni, 2021).
Every stage of this model is defining the use of educational technology. The strategies related to the substitution and augmentation use the technologies in education to enhance the learnings of the students and educators as well as add the values (Muktiarni, 2021). Whereas, the stage of the modification and redefinition harnesses the technology in education to transform the experience of learning in the classroom and also make the new things possible. I have used this model or applied the same to the students to encourage them. each stage of this model provided the more powerful learning to the students in the classroom.
I consider that the different ways should be adopted by the educators to enhance the students learning by using the different technologies, strategies, and models.
Reference
Bajracharya, J. R. (2021). Technology Integration Models and Frameworks in Teaching and Training. Journal of Training and Development, 6(01), 3-11.
Bernacki, M. L., Greene, J. A., & Crompton, H. (2020). Mobile technology, learning, and achievement: Advances in understanding and measuring the role of mobile technology in education. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101827.
Costa, C., Hammond, M., & Younie, S. (2019). Theorising technology in education: An introduction. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 28(4), 395-399.
Joshua, C. E., Eyitayo, B. A., Hammed, A. A., & Samaila, D. (2020). A Review of Instructional Models for Effective Teacher Education and Technology Integration. Sumerianz Journal of Education. Linguistics and Literature, 3(6), 86-95.
Katz, S. (2019). Applying transformative learning theory to open education. Journal of transformative learning, 6(2).
Lai, J. W., & Bower, M. (2019). How is the use of technology in education evaluated? A systematic review. Computers & Education, 133, 27-42.
Muktiarni, M. (2021). Integration of The SAMR Learning Model In Vocational Education. Media Pendidikan, Gizi, dan Kuliner, 10(1).
Ratheeswari, K. (2018). Information communication technology in education. Journal of Applied and Advanced research, 3(1), 45-47.
