Week6 Fischbowl -Tech Illiterate Teacher

So much is already required of teachers who go into the profession for the sake of the children and much more on the horizon. Many feel they are there to educate and direct from some reflection of their own educational experience of enrichment or neglect. The basics are requiring new tools to accomplish or even maintain the paradigm shift around us. No longer are students sent to a separate class to learn computer operation but it's the notebook of every desk. Therefore, the rolling snowball continues to pick up the speed and pace inter winding the role of teacher as teacher and student for these knowledge leaders. The kids will either be behind, around or in front dependent on the teacher's attitude towards change.

Yet, the profession itself requires a commitment towards life long learning. Being technologically literate will embrace or drown you if one has a closed door attitude towards any endeavor. I can't help but to say, I feel that most teacher want to teach and probably more apt to learn and practice prior to being put on blast by one of their students if there is a better platform for introduction of new tools. I say this because, many times new "technology things" are charged to the geeks while the mainstream focus on getting the lesson and not the method. If a better approach to the collaboration of these practices could be introduced in a user-friendly manner, it will have our teachers eager to be tech savy, and not be deemed a geek-a-like.

I do say I find it impossible in this day and age that any teacher is under retirement that do not have some technical knowledge. Therefore the word use of "technologically illiterate" would probably qualify for me as well because I don't have the whole tech dictionary down to an art. it would probably be more appropriate to say non-tech savy. I recognize that it's virtually impossible to operate in this classroom of life and survive without the new basics (email, cellphones, ipods, flashdrive, new blackboard and the like). Teachers are held foremost as the pioneers to educate and educated with technology tools to our students who in turn take it to the parents at home and everyone has to get involved. In conclusion, I say no it's not okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher. Learning and teaching go hand in hand.

Cynthia