Every time I dust this blog off for a new class I usually get the opportunity to flex that I’m younger than everyone, but as this program drags on (in a good way) this is starting to be less of the case. However, I can safely say I am one of the newer teachers, only being in my 4th year of teaching. I graduated with my undergrad in 2021 and have been teaching since. As a result, I have been teaching entirely in the technology age. I went to school in the technology age, albeit a little more, dare I say, dated than what it was before.
(what my home monitor looked like in 2001)
I teach in the high school setting and, based on the definitions, I would definitely fall under the category of a teacher that uses blended learning. In my courses we are very regularly using different forms of technologies to aid and enhance our learnings. At my current school we have laptops that we can book out. When we do inquiry projects the students use them for resources and to make different multimedia projects to showcases what they have learned. I use visual aids to reinforce what we are learning, as well as different videos to help further our ideas or to provide practical examples.
(what my students use on the regular)
Just do do my own jobs behind the scenes I have to utilize technology to get things done. I have to track attendance in my EDSBY. I have to utilize EDSBY as platform where I post key information, resources, students missed, assignments, etc for students to be able to access at anytime and from anywhere, as long as they have an electronic device with WIFI. We mainly communicate as a staff via email too. Lastly, we don’t really have many in-print resources anymore. I typically have to make mine digitally or find them digitally. I then print them off from one of our fancy printers. Without technology, many of the different facets of my job become extremely difficult and painful.
(Edsby has grown on me)
This example has probably been used a lot during recent classes, but I sometimes find it more difficult to do my job the “old-fashioned way”. When Regina public schools experienced a hack 3 years ago many of us had to move away from technology and figure out how to do things the old school way. I was certainly uncomfortable with this because all I had ever known was technology. It lead me to think of what is really more creative- using technology or not? I had to come up with ideas for things that I never would have considered before. Both of course have their pros and cons, but the selfishness in me wants me to stay in my comfortable technology bubble. Of course knowing how to navigate without technology is vital for all of life and my VAP (Vocational Academic Program) kids I teach get mad at me when I make them do all our math without a calculator. I definitely feel that same way without technology, so maybe I need to start looking at my own practicality.
My use of technology does change depending on the subject matter I teach. I normally teach Physical Education. When I’m in the gymnasium setting I might use music, but besides that there really isn’t many forms of technology for the students to interact with, minus more primitive technology like implements. When we went online for a bit a did have to teach Phys Ed remotely and that was certainly not as fun for me or the students. I had to design workout plans/trackers for the students to fill out and submit. I provided videos for students to see skills and then they had to try and emulate them on their own. Some sent me videos back so I could see how they were progressing. Some didn’t have basic equipment, like a ball, so many things became about learning to move and control their own bodies. Like I said, it wasn’t the most fun of times, but this version of blended learning did allow for my students to have some form of physical education in a locked down world.
Lastly, during my university years I took full advantage of technology and so did my professors. From the various online classes to using URcourses. As mentioned earlier, I pretty much grew up entirely with technology and experienced school with technology. This makes me very comfortable with utilizing it in my current role, but I can’t help but wonder what the future of technology will look like as I get older. How many different things am I not going to understand and what things will I be too stubborn to give up?
What an interesting reflection! You bring up a really relatable point about how reliant we’ve become on Google and instant information. It’s true that not being able to Google something forces us to think critically and engage with our own knowledge or problem-solving skills. It makes me wonder if this reliance on search engines might be impacting our ability to retain information long-term. Do you think we should intentionally create more opportunities for “un-Googleable” challenges in education to foster deeper learning? Great read—I’ll definitely be thinking about this next time I hit a knowledge roadblock!
It’s interesting to hear about your experience as a teacher who’s grown up with technology and how it has shaped your teaching style. The way you blend technology into your lessons, like using laptops for inquiry projects or digital resources for your own planning, shows how essential tech has become in modern classrooms. I can totally relate to your discomfort when the Regina public schools hack forced a return to old-school methods – it’s crazy how dependent we’ve become on technology! Your perspective on teaching physical education online is also refreshing. It’s a tough challenge, but you found creative ways to keep students engaged. Looking ahead, I’m sure the tech landscape will continue to evolve, and like you, we’ll all need to adapt!
I’m impressed by how you described your teaching journey, even though you’ve been teaching for just four years. You’re lucky to have entered the teaching world during the technology era, which has given you more experience than me. I really like how your students use laptops to book out and work on their project assignments online, similar to what we’re doing in this class. It’s a very interesting, engaging, and interactive way of teaching, and it allows us to learn so much. We can keep up with the world if we embrace technology.
The way you track attendance using EdSpy is also fascinating. I appreciate how you incorporate technology into physical education. And yes, music during gym activities is a great way to relax the mind, so I can see why it’s effective.
I must admit that during my university classes, I also learned a lot about technology and experienced new things, like these blogs. I find it really interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Yes Greg
Can I call you a Genz teacher… Technology has really infiltrated the education system, and both teachers and students can rarely function without these tools. I know that technology aids learning, and studies have shown that students that learn with the support of technology tend to do better than those learning in the traditional format. But one thing I keep asking myself is, “What is the retention rate of students learning with technology and those learning traditionally?”
Interesting points, Greg! 🙂
I also totally remember teachers telling us “You won’t always have a calculator on you” to encourage mental math – and look where we are now! While I do believe that some degree of mental math and estimation is of benefit, I do think that it is important to use the tools we have at our fingertips (responsibly and not completely relying on them, of course!).
This makes me wonder – what will the next few decades hold? Will artificial intelligence become an everyday learning tool? Will augmented reality replace textbooks? What else?
The possibilities are endless, and as educators, we need to embrace these changes with open minds and flexible teaching strategies.
Greg,
I really enjoyed your reflection on tech. My students are always saying how cool it is to have a GenZ teacher, until I am using their language back on them, then I am not so cool anymore.
I too graduated in 2021, so hoping right into the education field in the height of Covid and blended learning really changed how I look at the different types of courses offered. I taught right after finishing my last class and spent the last two months with half the class choosing to do school at home, and the other half choosing to come back to school so that was a very interesting experience, especially when we never make it as far in class as I wanted to.
I feel like I am in the same boat when it comes to using a more blended approach in my everyday lessons, but more so in the way that we are bringing in technology and using Microsoft Teams more on a regular basis, making it an easy place for them to submit assignments and work in groups on their monthly newspaper articles.