http://hickstro.org/2010/03/06/reflections-on-transformative-technology-integration/ Integrating New Literacies into the Teaching of Writing Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:33:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://hickstro.org/2010/03/06/reflections-on-transformative-technology-integration/comment-page-1/#comment-2126 Julie Nelson Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:38:50 +0000 http://hickstro.org/?p=555#comment-2126 I do agree with you that teachers may be reluctant to admit to knowledge about technology for fear that their students may know more and then they the teachers would lose face. I think that their reluctance to advocate for their own and their students’ access to technology is a common characteristic of educators if the control lies beyond their own classroom. We are masters of our own domain but know it is very difficult to effect change beyond our borders. There is also the huge barrier and debate about acceptable usage policies. It is clear that some compromise must be struck between the extensive restrictions on internet access in schools and educators’ need to utilize the internet to further student learning. Technology is like any new teaching tool. Initial use requires intensive preparation and tentative application. Once an instructor becomes comfortable with a teaching tool, it is added to the arsenal and as you said, “they begin to just think about what they are teaching and the technology becomes a part of that conversation, not just as an after-thought or as an add-on. At that point, it is not so much about the technology, but about the literacy practices that the technologies enable.” I do agree with you that teachers may be reluctant to admit to knowledge about technology for fear that their students may know more and then they the teachers would lose face. I think that their reluctance to advocate for their own and their students’ access to technology is a common characteristic of educators if the control lies beyond their own classroom. We are masters of our own domain but know it is very difficult to effect change beyond our borders. There is also the huge barrier and debate about acceptable usage policies.
It is clear that some compromise must be struck between the extensive restrictions on internet access in schools and educators’ need to utilize the internet to further student learning.
Technology is like any new teaching tool. Initial use requires intensive preparation and tentative application. Once an instructor becomes comfortable with a teaching tool, it is added to the arsenal and as you said, “they begin to just think about what they are teaching and the technology becomes a part of that conversation, not just as an after-thought or as an add-on. At that point, it is not so much about the technology, but about the literacy practices that the technologies enable.”

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