Blog #1 Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning in a new way is in order to successfully prepare our 21st Century Learners for "life in the real world". According to the 2007-2008 Campus Statewide Summary by Key Area Chart, the state of Texas as a whole is in the developing phase in this area. Students use technology individually to create their own presentation projects. Instruction is teacher led and not much collaboration exists. Technology is used in teaching the TEKS, but only minimally. Our school is at the same developing phase for teaching and learning. We have been in that phase for the last three years. I believe that in our case, teacher "buy-in" and relevancy, and student access are necessary. Many teachers have trouble catching the vision for change. There is no "buy-in" because all of the standards in place require the use of specific software a certain number of times each semester. This becomes another item on the teachers' long checklists to be completed. At this time, there is no relevancy for the teacher or student. Teachers need to be presented with the plan as a whole. How could the software be beneficial in real life? The teacher can then relay this to the student. Teachers and students need buy-ins, not requirements. Student access is often a problem as well with only one computer lab and a few library computers available. Teachers must plan their technology experiences by a calendar. This is an improvement over last year though. I believe that we are on the right path, but we still have a long journey ahead of us.