In the readings from this week, I found Dorfman's (2103) descriptions of various groupings to be easily understood. In chapter one of his book, he refers to the three levels or categories of technology fluency as "the technical basin," "the practical plane," and "the pedagogical summit." As he explains, all three of these levels are important for educators in their everyday tasks.
The "technical basin" is where teachers learn about various types of available technology, such as software, and become fluent in through their study and use. I think that this is where I tend to get stuck. We have a tech person in our school district who is happy to teach people how to use all kinds of fun and interesting technologies. Unfortunately, he just skims the surface of one thing and then moves on to something else, without taking the time to help us understand the why and where we might want to include this in our teaching. I feel that this course may help me to determine when the use of technology would be appropriate in my teaching, not just how the various pieces work.
The next level that Dorfman explains is the "practical plane." This is where teachers use technology as helpful tools in the management part of teaching, but not with the students. We use Skyward in our district to keep track of attendance and grades. I personally use Class Dojo with my flute students, to stay in contact with parents more easily. (This helps when little Susie gets to concert time and can't make a sound - if parents know she's been forgetting her flute all year, they aren't surprised.) Other than those tools, I am definitely a paper and pencil girl. My seating charts, lesson plans, and master plan book are all done by hand. I do use my Smart Board with my students to listen to recordings and to share information by Power Point, but I'd really like to have the students interact with the board more often. This leads to the final level of Dorfman's technology, the "pedagogical summit."
The "pedagogical summit" is where teachers and students interact on a daily basis with technology. The student learning is much more hands-on in the technological sense, and the technology provides support within the lessons. The teacher uses technology in their classroom management tasks, but also within their teaching. The students use technology to learn, to practice, and to review what they have learned. This is the ultimate goal in educational technology. My main concern in using technology with my students is that being able to afford the pieces may be beyond the means of my district. I am hopeful that through this course, I will better understand when and how to include technology in my teaching, and perhaps even how to provide that technology for my students.
References
Dorfman, J. (2013). Theory and practice of technology-based music instruction. New York: Oxford University Press.
The "pedagogical summit" concept is great! In one of my classes I spent a the last 3 months of the year using "Schoology" to communicate content, directions, assessments, give feedback, assess the classroom climate anonymously, start ongoing discussion posts about music, etc. I feel like when we truly achieve "technotopia" that there will be no need for the teacher or students to even leave their homes or computer screens, we will teach students and interact completely vicariously through digital platforms.
ReplyDeleteYou stated that you are concerned about being able to afford not only the technology ( I believe), but also the pieces that might go beyond your district...So so so true! What happens with the most advanced and educationally rewarding technologies are only available for the rich private schools or the large public schools, and the smaller rural schools are left in the stone age?? Technological innovation in the classroom is, at this point, a privilage, not a right, and until it is readily available for all students/schools in the same depth, it is most certainly "educational leverage" for those who have access
I would add that technology (in terms of software) is not always expensive and sometime even free! As long as you have some hardware available, you can do a lot with a little. I think many people throw up affordability as a barrier rather than try to work around it. Challenge yourselves during this class to devise ways of incorporating technology with your students for no cost or low cost.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there are so many free apps and programs available - I'm the girl who doesn't buy any apps for her phone, I only get the free ones! The struggle is affording the hardware, and convincing a school board/administrators that music class is the place to spend some of those budget dollars. My goal is to learn more about using technology in music class, so that I can effectively convince the powers-that-be to spend some of those dollars for music classes!
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