For the purpose of this activity, I interviewed two separate teachers from two different school districts. One is a tenth grade modified English teacher and twelfth grade AP English teacher in Vernon while the other one is a fourth and fifth grade Special Education teacher in Wantage. Prior to interviewing them for this project, I had observed both classes, as well as helped out with their classes multiple times. Because I had done this before I knew about the technology standards, I didn’t know to look out for whether or not the districts seemed to be integrating the standards into their curriculum.
When I interviewed the English teacher based on the questions in the NETS Adoption Survey, he seemed a little bit confused about what NETS was in its entirety. He quickly introduced himself to the standards and almost immediately told me that his district has not yet introduced NETS to them. He said that the district has introduced a technology initiative but said initiative was not nearly as specific as the NETS standards. He didn’t really go into the technology that is used in the schools, but he did mention the use of SmartBoards in some of the classrooms, as well as the use of technology as a device to further lessons. Further than that, there wasn’t much else that the district did that he knew of, or spoke of.
The Special Education teacher was introduced to the NETS standards prior to talking to me, but she only really knew what they were and that was the extent of it. Since I digressed from the survey for her, she didn’t really talk about the integration of NETS into the district, but she did talk about the technology integration in her classroom. However, because she is a Special Ed teacher, her classroom and the other special needs specific classrooms, as well as the library, the computer lab, and the therapy (speech, physical, and occupational) rooms are far more technologically advanced than the general education classrooms.
As far as I could tell, the technologies at these two schools were the most basic technological integrations compared to what I was expecting in regards to the NETS standards. I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting considering I had been in the classrooms before and hadn’t noticed much other technology than the occasional SmartBoard use in Wantage and computer work in Vernon. In accordance to that, I guess I wasn’t surprised necessarily by the teachers reactions, but I was generally displeased with the integration.
As a future English and hopefully special needs educator, I would try to have the NETS standards more fully integrated because I think that they are important in this technologically advancing world that we live in. Of course, when I’m an educator the standards will probably be even different from these ones. I believe that technology in the classroom is extremely important, and in order for it to work, educators need to want it in their classrooms.
From reading your post and many other classmates, it has become very clear that these standards have not yet made their way to the public schools. Although the teachers are unaware of even the standards as a whole, I've noticed that schools have begun to meet the standards without even realizing. I wonder if schools are uneducated and as a result are only distributing these standards to the technology departments rather than the whole school. Public schools are becoming more and more involved with the world of technology in schools but because teachers lack the proper training, these initiatives go unnoticed and are ignored. I hope that teachers begin to realize that technology in the classroom does not only mean computer use. I guess the responsibility of introducing these standards have been left to us!
ReplyDeleteShelby,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up many of the same points that almost EVERYONE has mentioned. Most of our teachers that we interviewed were clueless about these standards. Some knew of them but could not say that their school, or their district for that matter, had even begun to integrate them into classrooms. The fact that they have not been fully integrated is a indicator that relies heavily upon support by our legislation, funding both privately and from the government, as well as initiative. As great as technology is as an aid to further learning targets to our students and facilitate understanding, it requires a team that many schools are not equipped to have. The funding alone to pay for technology to be present in schools and then to have a "team" to teach the teachers how to use them is just not available. With education getting the most cuts in funding, it is no wonder that teachers are unaware of these standards. Teachers are just trying to keep their jobs rather than focus on how to bring technology into the classroom. THey want their students to pass standardized tests so that they have a job come the following school year. As Katie mentioned, the integration will be more substantially present for our generation of teachers and the future of education as well. We will be responsible for these standards and how to bring them into our teaching. The future is imminent and definitely interesting. It is also very very very scary. We shall see. Great interview :0)
Shelby, I think it was great that you were able to interview two teachers that were in your desired subject areas. By interviewing both teachers, it's very easy to see where their focuses are for their students. The Special Needs educator will choose to use the technologies that best fit her class, as will the English teacher. Overall, I feel that this attitude is important to have as a teacher. Although the NETS-S are very focused and have wonderful guidelines to introduce students to, as teachers, we should stick to our convictions. If a certain method of teaching is working for our students, without the integration of technology, why change our plans? We each will have goals, and must meet the NJCCC Standards, and will have to exercise our rights as the teacher to use what is most effective for our students. From reading other posts, I can see that many teachers do not know about the NETS-S and if they do, they have not been implemented yet. Perhaps this is because there are other goals to be met, or as Girard points out in the previous comment, that the technology necessary to meet all of the NETS-S is simply too expensive. As the teacher I interviewed always tells me, "When the internet goes down, be prepared with handouts and a transparency!"
ReplyDelete