Envisioning - 5 years from now

TeachThought 30 Day Blog Challenge Prompt:
September 12-How do you envision your teaching changing in 5 years?

There have been so many changes in my career, that expecting change is part of the drill (as it should be). When I look around the corner to the next five years I expect to see technology moving further and further into the background. 

When technology arrived on the scene in education, many of us saw the promise of what technology could bring. Many of us who saw that promise learned as much as we could and played and explored with many different types of technology. As we came to the conclusion that technology needed to be part of the educational landscape for all students, we started on a campaign to get other educators on board and skilled in using technology.

As more educators looked to improve their skills in using technology in teaching and learning, there were many opportunities for people like me to get involved with designing and offering technology-related professional development or take on the role of a technology integration specialist in schools.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/11683249855

But as technology becomes easier to use and more mainstream, I see some big changes in my teaching and in the role of those of us who work in the field of educational technology. Just as we no longer have specialized people in school whose primary job it is to ‘run photocopiers” or to “staff the audio visual center”, I think we will have less need for ‘technology integrationist”.

I think that it is time for those of us who believe that educational technology can transform learning, to start to articulate the ways in which it “technology” can transform learning and become specialist of that practice. For example:

If I believe that we can bring deeper inquiry in education in ways not possible without technology, I need to become an expert on inquiry learning and create professional development around inquiry learning.

If I believe that project based learning or collaborative learning are central to the way students are educated, then my role should be to create professional development with a focus on those practices where technology will be infused because of its ability for us amplify and augment that practice.

This will be an opportunity for us to really articulate the power of using technology in teaching and learning not just help colleagues build skills in the tool or share possible ideas of using this tool.

This shift will challenge me to grow as an educator and improve my practice so I can help my fellow educators improve their practice. I’m up for the challenge!