After a weekend of reflection post-TCEA 2016, I feel I have
three big takeaways that really have transformed the way I view technology in
education and my role as a teacher-librarian.
Take Away #1: Education is a two-way conversation!
For learning to really occur, dialogue must be exchanged between educators,
between educators and students, and between students and students. For much too
long…like FOREVER…education’s been a one-way street with the teacher taking
center stage, delivering content that students must learn or forever be deemed
a failure in life. No longer is that the case. My role as a school librarian is
to provide spaces—physical and online—for authentic communication to happen.
Whether that’s through a blog, an ebook platform that will publish students’
works, or fun things happening in The Cube, I have to get students engaged in
conversation where they can reflect, bounce ideas off others (students and
adults), fail, and be encouraged to do it all again.
Take Away #2: Digital citizenship is EVERYBODY’S
problem and EVERYBODY should be talking about it. As technology is no longer
that room contained at the end of the hall where a class goes to type papers,
digital citizenship can no longer be addressed only by the technology
department. Technology inundates our society, and the use of technology is a
life skill. No educator thinks twice about talking to kids about physical
safety precautions—look both ways before you cross the street, don’t talk to
strangers, eat food that’s good for you, exercise, bathe regularly—we shouldn’t
be afraid to address digital citizenship throughout the day—EVERY DAY. Perhaps
you shouldn’t show that online; Facebook could make or break you; Don’t steal
from others (and yes…using that without citing the original work is STEALING!);
How does social media make you feel; If you eat a bag of chips every night
after spending three hours on social media, maybe it’s not a great thing for
you…let’s talk about alternatives. Digital citizenship includes fair use and
copyright issues, cyberbullying, body image issues, digital footprints and how
they affect students’ futures, and so much more. In a one-to-one district, this
should be an issue on every educator’s radar!
Take Away #3: Classroom instruction and technology
are no longer separate entities. In every conference session I attended, I
heard a variation of this. For us as educators to be successful 21st
century educators, we must learn to marry our curriculum with technology to
engage students. It doesn’t have to be hard or “technical” or confusing. It’s a
simple blog post, a discussion board, a Google slide for quick evaluation. It's filtering information through online learning, encouraging discussion within the classes via technology, and planning lessons with technology in mind. In our district, we have great support staff in our ITs and our Teacher-Librarians to support this proposal; just invite us to the party!
I think the most exciting aspect of TCEA for me was to see
how progressive Castleberry ISD really is. What people were presenting as
innovative and new, we are doing (or at least talking about doing) in CISD. I
came back from Austin Thursday with confidence in our leadership and
anticipation for the future of our little district, and I’m happy to be a part
of it.
