Week 1 Discussion

1.) What is your attitude toward integrating technology into the curriculum? What do you think is the attitude of other teachers in your building or district?

Technology is the main part of my curriculum because this is my school’s first year with a pilot program for the world language curriculum. But I am responsible for the av cart and smart board check out for the second floor that has 9 teachers who can access it. After mandatory staff training session on how to use the equipment so far this year only three teachers have taken them out. One has one full time in their room and the other two it was just for one time use.  I believe that integrating technology into the curriculum can be a valuable and useful tool when used effectively. I believe that all teachers have felt the desire to do something different, great, and innovative but lack the motivation or know how. Just think of when you go to conferences or professional development, you walk out of there all inspired but nine times out of ten you will not  implement any of those inspiring things in your classroom because of the work that it would require.

2.) According to the study, attitude is the biggest predictor of technology use. Is there any truth to this in your opinion? Does the age of the teacher ever make a difference in attitude? Is there a teacher that has surprised you with his or her attitude toward technology, either positive or negative?

I definitely believe that age is a factor in technology use many people from older generations have negative attitudes towards technology or simply have no desire to learn how to use it. But attitude is the biggest factor in technology use if people don’t want to deal with it they simply will not use it. I know how complicated some school technology can be and this really puts people off especially when they have a room full of students who don’t handle technology mishaps well.  The computer teacher at my school can be very standoffish and not very helpful when it comes to technology. She is the head of the tech team for our school but she is most often locked in her lab with the lights off. I do believe this has contributed to some of the negative sentiments that some of the teachers in the building share.

3.) What do you think the best way to change teachers’ attitude towards technology from a negative one to a positive one? Is it a long-term process or can it be a short-term one?

I believe that it is a long term process to change teachers’ attitudes towards technology. I think that only through this process of preparing teachers and getting them more comfortable with the technology will be the only way they use it more. If it were mandatory by the administration for teachers to have a certain amount of technology in the classroom something like this would force teachers to be more creative and step out of their comfort zone.