Karl Fisch's Best of 2007 Blog-September

Is it ok to be a technologically illiterate teacher?

This blog was the Edublog award winner for Most Influential Blog for 2007 and for a reason. Dr. Fisch brings up some very important issues and some great points. Teachers should be computer literate but I think to what extent? I agree that it is more than using a computer to enhance a lesson such as Internet research or power point presentations as one of the comments suggested. In many of the classrooms, the students know their way around a computer better than the teachers. How can we teach what we don't know? Maybe it's time for the teacher to go back to school. I think if we want to raise children and educate students to grow up to be successful adults, we need to give them every advantage possible. Technology is a way to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the world. Giving students a way to communicate with children and young adults in other schools, cities, states, and countries can only enhance their learning. They can find out first-hand what is being done in other schools and share with other students what they themselves are experiencing. It's like having a world-wide classroom.

I agree that to some of the older teachers, the idea of using technology in the classroom might be scary (computer phobia). I admit that when I went back to school after many years, tackling web-based assignments and using Internet tools was a bit intimidating. I learned though and am continuing to learn. This is an on-going process. The day we, as teachers, stop learning is the day we should stop teaching. We need to stay current, fresh, 21st century with our students. Where technology is concerned, there will always be something new and we as teachers owe it to our students to give them the best that we can.