Chalk and Cheese

Observing two different teachers and their approaches to technology in their teaching was like a contrast between Google and the hardback Collins Encyclopaedia. My associate for Year 9 English mixes a lot of writing, reading and digital use. The students are studying the film War Horse which is clearly going to make use of digital media. In order to engage the students in the topic, the students were asked to research three questions about the film using the internet. This can be a potentially risky move as students could get off task or take advantage of their internet use. My associate managed this by booking a library computer room where she could observe them as they were researching. 

The students were required to save their answers in Google Docs, so that my associate could see that they had actually done their work. She was able to access the Google Docs page during the activity which meant that she was able to see who was on task and who wasn’t. Using Google Docs was certainly effective as the students’ work was saved to a secure location, the teacher could observe the task without much effort and it would help the students compile their ideas as they worked further into the unit. My associate for this class also liked to make use of the projector and PowerPoint. Her PowerPoint for the lesson showed the task at hand, and she was able to get ideas from the students and draw them on the whiteboard around the PowerPoint slide. She said she likes to incorporate a fair amount of technology in her lessons in order to accommodate for the digital students that come through her class, and also to build the computer literacy skills and research skills of the students. 

       The lesson could not be more different in terms of technology with my other associate. Where a projector was in use in the previous lesson, the whiteboard was blank and ready to take on its rightful position as technological leader… My associate made great use of it, make no mistake, what with brainstorms, listing and statements, the board looked like a colourful scatter graph of words –as colourful as black and white can be. The students used their writing and reading skills but without digital means. My associate said that as they were a Year 11 class, the focus needed to be more on preparing them for their 3 hour exam where they would have to write essays. Tapping away at a keyboard was not going to help their hand with cramping in an exam. 

The students were allowed to use phones or other devices IF they needed to research something briefly but as a whole, my associate preferred to limit that use. She also mentioned that a reason behind board writing over PowerPoints was that the students wanted to see her doing the work as well. They can potentially get resentful of taking notes from a prepared PowerPoint because they see it as the teacher not doing any work – an interesting perspective on my beloved PowerPoints (see previous blog).

Two different teachers, who have two different styles, make different uses of technology. Both have valid reasons behind their technological use which draws attention to the fact that it may be effective for particular students, but not all. It may also depend on the class, the content and the purpose or outcome of the lesson. Use it, don’t abuse it.