Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade

In the article, Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade, Larry Cuban describes and argues the spread of telecommunications, in businesses, industries, and the military. Furthermore, he offers three scenarios of how teachers will use technology in the future and predicts (from an educated guess) what he believes will actually happen in the future.

The first scenario is the Technophile’s. This scenario sounded really far fetched but I could imagine some people believing that this would be a truly great step into the right educational direction. I believe that computers are definitely needed in the classroom; however, I would never want the computer to become the main force in teaching.

The second scenario is the Preservationists. In this scenario, “policy makers and administrators put computers and telecommunication technologies into schools largely to improve productivity but no to alter substantially existing ways of organizing a school for instruction.” This scenario seemed to be the most traditional and least progressive in regards to computer technology.

The third scenario is the Cautious Optimists. This scenario sounded much more realistic to what is actually happening in today’s classroom. The Cautious Optimists believe that it is “slow because schools as organizations take time for their teachers to learn how to use computers to guide student learning.” Nevertheless, I must say that I hope that the continued introduction of the technology into our school’s and classrooms do not continue to be slow.

With all that said I believe that technology is a good thing but should not be the only thing. We need teachers, books, art, music, technology, etc. to provide an all round education.

Teachers' Views of Computers as Catalysts For Changes in Their Teaching Practices

In this rapidly changing world, where employment requirements and fundamental literacy expectations are constantly changing, we as teachers need to evolve so that we may help our students meet those demands. In the article, Teachers' Views of Computers as Catalysts For Changes in Their Teaching Practices, I found myself agreeing with many of the educators and policy makers whom were spoken about in the article. They suggest that with the introduction of computer technology into the classroom, we as educators will act as facilitators “by helping student’s access information, process it, and communicate their understanding.” Therefore, computer technology must become a part of the general curriculum so students are prepared for the world ahead of them.

Many teachers now have access to computer technology in their classrooms, however, in my personal experiences of have seen very little being done on the part of the teacher to introduce technology to their students. According to the article, several aspects could help the “educational technological field by examining deeper into how it might apply theory and research on the change process and teacher development.” For example, teacher as decision maker, teachers are constantly making decisions about how they teach their experience and knowledge base also influence their decisions on what course of action they will take. Teacher as learner, “for teachers to implement any new instructional strategy they must acquire new knowledge about it and then weave this together with the demands of the curriculum, classroom management, and existing instructional skills. These are some of the few ideas that could help teachers introduce computer technology to their students more effectively.

Teachers have always been responsible for what their students learn. With the growth of the technological world teachers must also take on the added responsibility of teaching students how to use the computer as a tool as well as increase computer literacy for all students. Clearly defining expectations for the teacher is critical and I believe that with clear expectations about what a teacher should be teaching will show that teachers can be successful if they take ownership of a new instructional strategy. Additionally, allowing self reflection on all teaching methods is a sure fire way to improve teaching performance.