As I mentioned in my an earlier post, our new Technology Committee surveyed each department on how technology is currently being used in our classrooms, and how would we like to see it expanded. Below is the second part of the manifesto that I submitted to my fellow committee members.
Opportunities for Expanding Technology Use in English
- Currently we English teachers have a list of texts (novels, short stories, and plays) appropriate for each grade and level, from which we can select in our course planning. We also have guidelines around the type, scope, and frequency of written assignments for different grades and levels. We could do the same for media studies and oral communication, listing the types of media to be addressed at each grade level and the kinds of multi-media assignments that students could be creating. This would help us determine our current and future technology needs.
- Access to computers in the classroom has been improving. However, those of us teaching in portables do not have the same access to computers (or to any technology in general). Also, the labs are difficult to book and cannot be used for more than 3 days in a row. This poses challenges for English courses. For example, a writing workshop intended to teach students how to draft, track changes, collaborate, insert comments, and publish work electronically would occupy about five days, and is not possible with current lab restrictions.
- The English department is seriously under-resourced in the area of technology. To begin with, we should have at least one dedicated LCD projector (with a laptop or the ability to bring a personal laptop) and at least one SmartBoard. This could begin the replacement of DVD/TV systems and overhead projectors.
- Currently our students learn how to use the Windows operating system. Opportunities to expose students to other operating systems would benefit them – particularly those who might pursue trades in online publishing, communications, or graphic design.
- The ability to bring a personal (teacher) laptop to school and connect to the Internet (wirelessly) without affecting the school network would be ideal.
- The ability for me as a teacher to remotely access the same server from home and from school would help keep course documents up-to-date, secure, and in one place.
- As more teachers develop PowerPoint or SmartBoard lectures, sharing these with one another would enable us to quickly build a large library of solid lecture resources.
- Cross-curricular teaching would help students understand how their different courses connect, and can allow us teachers to share our expertise. For example, in this year’s class, the Photography teacher helped me teach a class on camera angles and lighting, a foundational lesson enabling students to critique media texts. We are discussing how we might collaborate further: for example, on topics of blogging, wikis, and Photoshop. This collaboration allows us to focus on areas of experience and interest without feeling that we need to be experts in all of these areas.
- As other teachers use blogs, we could track lessons learned and have students look at work happening in other classrooms. We could also have students collaborating across classes via blogs – commenting on one another’s posts. Students write differently when their peers are reading their work; often their work is superior to that prepared for the teacher alone.
- As other teachers use wikis, we could collaborate across classes. For example, in 2008, another teacher and I were able to set up cross-class literature circles. I have also been invited to participate with classes run by other schools in other countries via their wikis.
- I realize that we can’t influence Board policies a great deal; however, it would be nice to see the policies around online access changed so that we can teach students how to use the Internet safely. Right now the many severe restrictions only teach students how to get around security (and they do!), rather than teaching them about the risks of being online, how to protect themselves, and how to conduct themselves as digital citizens.
- Personally, I have found that blogging about my classroom experiences has enabled me to develop a professional learning network of English teachers around the globe who are integrating technology into their courses. I have learned much from them, and would enjoy interacting with more colleagues that way.
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Image by paulo-barcelos
