After reviewing the ISTE standards for educators, although I feel there are many areas that I could improve upon, I think the one area that I need to work on the most is the 2.6 Facilitator. My education was during the beginning of the technological revolution. I started out with paper and pencil, but quickly technology became more and more prevalent in my life both inside and outside of school. This was actually a blessing because I know how to learn/ function with or without technology. Naturally, I know what is appropriate technological use and what is not. However, when I first started teaching, I didn't realize that my students are not in the same position as me.
Whereas I learned with out technology first, students today are know as the " iPad" generation. Literally from the moment they were born they had access to computers, smart phones/ devices, basically a whole plethora of technology that I could not have even imagined would exist when I was their age. This might seem like a blessing because people can't argue that technology has many benefits, but it can also be a curse. Students today don't have patience for learning, because they can just ask Google and it will give them the information they need in nanoseconds. Forget checking if the info is correct, it is on the internet so it must be true.. right? I always thought that my students would be teaching me about technology, but it is actually the other way around: they simply do not know how to problem solve because they rely too heavily on technology to do the thinking for them.
To combat this " learned helplessness", I though take away the technology, make them learn from scratch. However, I quickly learned that this was a war I would never win. Technology is here and it is here to stay. For this reason, I realize I can not assume that my students just inherently know how to use technology appropriately however that doesn't mean they should be banned from using it at all. I now realize that it is very important for me to explicitly demonstrate how we can use technology appropriately to enhance "OUR" work, rather than simply turning in a computers work and claiming it as our own. My goal will be to include explicit technological instructions with different activities that we do. For example, my students will be making a presentation for their next assignment. They will have to make a presentation for it on either Canva or Google Slides. I will make sure to model and demonstrate how they use this technology source, rather than just assuming they will figure it out on their own. This is just one example, but I will know I have succeeded in teaching my students how to use technology when they use google translate less, don't rely on AI so much, and don't plagiarize.
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