Technology Interviews

For my technology class, my teacher interviewed a teacher librarian, a technology coordinator, 1:1 teachers, a technology integrationist, and an AEA staff member. She posted videos of the interviews and we were to watch them all.

My goal is to be a teacher will technology in my classroom, so the role I found most interesting was the 1:1 teachers. One of them was in her 1st year of teaching so it was really cool to see how she was adjusting to a new classroom and a new technology tool. They gave great advice that I will take with my in the future.

• Take baby steps with technology
• Don't be afraid to try something new
• Ask questions
• Find technology to support your outcomes, not outcomes that support the technology
• Consider room set-up to manage classroom

After watching all 5 interviews, there were many similarities to the information discussed. I saw 2 major themes throughout all the interviews: don't be afraid of the technology and technology is not all that matters. 

Hearing from 5 different perspectives that it is important to try new things and be willing to fail was very comforting. As a new teacher, it is nerve-racking enough to plan a lesson that will go well - let alone one with technology. It is nice to hear from so many different perspectives that failing is okay. I think that is a great outlook to have when it comes to using technology, because failure will happen, but you just have to learn from your mistakes and fix them for next time.

Technology is not all that matters is very interesting to hear from people whose jobs center around technology, but I totally agree and see where they're coming from! Technology is amazing; it's a game-changer in the best way possible, but student learning is still more important. Technology may be a great way to reach student understanding, but it is not the only way. One of the 1:1 teachers stated that it is important to find technology to support your outcomes, because then the technology is supplementing your teacher and the students' learning, not just an addition.

I learned a lot from watching each video. I think it was very helpful to see multiple perspectives of people working with technology in schools. Even though I hope to be a 1:1 teacher, it was helpful for me to see the perspective of technology integrationist and coordinators because if I ever need help or have an issue with something, I know have a better understanding of what their jobs look like and realize I'm most likely not the only teacher with a problem. It was also a great professional development opportunity. I connected with educators and now have more people to follow on twitter!

Many of the people interviewed have different tools at their schools: chromebooks, macbooks, iPads, etc. It was interesting to hear why they chose the tools they did and how they are being used in classrooms. It solidified for me that the tool isn't what is important, it's how the teacher uses it to further student learning.