Modern Technology

Before there were iPads, laptops, and Al Gore invented the internet it was August of 1992 and Ben Rubey was the happiest soon to be 7th grader in the world.  Not only had he learned that day that he would be on team 7b at Jenks Central Middle School, but he would also have technology class fourth hour as one of his electives. Technology class was the most desired of all electives other than P.E. for two reasons and none of them had to do with the opportunity to be using the new technology the school had purchased.

The first reason was because technology class was taught by Mr. Allison. Mr. Allison was one of those unique individuals who probably should’ve had his own reality show and always addressed everyone by their last name. The second and most important reason was that all of the student chairs in the computer lab had rollers on them. Imagine a classroom with tile floors that was inhabited by twenty-five 7th graders that occupied chairs with rollers on them. Fred Jones would’ve had a heart attack. Now as unbelievable as this sounds, technology class is one of the few classes and Mr. Allison is one of the few teachers that I reflect back on and think how fortunate I was to experience both. As we worked creating images or writing programs, Mr. Allison used to walk around the lab and constantly say slowly, “Modern technology.” Occasionally he would say one of our names, add what we thought at the time was some crazy prediction, and then end it with “modern technology.” For example, “Rubey, one day you will be able to watch TV on your computer. Modern technology.”  “Johnson, one day you will be able to order a pizza from your computer. Modern technology.” Fast forward 20 years and just about every one of Mr. Allison’s crazy predictions has come true except computers having complete control of the kitchen. In the past few years, technology has infiltrated classrooms quicker than any other instructional tool since the chalkboard. Two questions educators are asking today is how do I effectively incorporate technology in my classroom and why do I need to incorporate technology in my classroom? The easy explanation for the why is that if we teach today the way we were taught yesterday we aren’t preparing students for tomorrow. The more difficult of the two questions is how do I effectively incorporate technology in my classroom. Unfortunately there is no one correct answer that covers every classroom. However, doesn’t this give us all a great opportunity to become learners again? Each day we ask students to enter our classrooms and become active learners. I think now it is time to repay the favor. Just as we encourage our students to explore new material, we need to explore the various digital instructional tools available to us. Speaking from experience, implementing these new strategies can be difficult and overwhelming at first, but as Hattie mentions in Visible Learning, "mistakes are evidence that learning is taking place."