Best Hopes - Worst Fears
Scenario:
Imagine a situation in which every teacher, staff member and administrator has access to technology (phone, email, Internet, presentation software, video, database tools, digital cameras, etc.) on a daily basis as an integrated tool for teaching, learning and productivity. How would this change your classroom environment? Please post a comment expressing both your best hopes and worst fears.
About this activity: Research shows that it is essential to provide adults with an opportunity to express their fears and hopes. While doing this exercise, it is possible to link the set of fears to the set of hopes. For example, a common fear is the “loss of social skills” and a common hope is the “opportunity for increased communication.” It is essential to validate people’s fears. Once the list of fears and hopes is generated, it can be used as a reference to make sure that the fears are minimized and the hopes are maximized.
A. November, Jan. 2000
Imagine a situation in which every teacher, staff member and administrator has access to technology (phone, email, Internet, presentation software, video, database tools, digital cameras, etc.) on a daily basis as an integrated tool for teaching, learning and productivity. How would this change your classroom environment? Please post a comment expressing both your best hopes and worst fears.
About this activity: Research shows that it is essential to provide adults with an opportunity to express their fears and hopes. While doing this exercise, it is possible to link the set of fears to the set of hopes. For example, a common fear is the “loss of social skills” and a common hope is the “opportunity for increased communication.” It is essential to validate people’s fears. Once the list of fears and hopes is generated, it can be used as a reference to make sure that the fears are minimized and the hopes are maximized.
A. November, Jan. 2000
posted by Lainie McGann at 11:52 AM
91 Comments:
That it will take too much time and I don't have the knowledge neded to access the needed tools.
My best hopes are that technology would make teaching easier and more effective. My worst fears are that implementing technology in the classroom will make teaching more difficult and time-consuming. I also fear that we will lose human contact and encourage children to respond only to stimuli presented on a screen.
My best hope would be to observe total inclusion, collaboration, and questioning from students and colleagues.
A worst fear is not being able to keep up with ever-changing technology demands, and/or managing time to effectively share the technology.
It would allow us to individualize more extensively to more groups . Data collection would increase, as well as the use and implementation of researched based programs.
Within the daily requirements that constantly change within the needs of the population, our biggest fear is losing the valuable time to become more effective as well as proficient in the use of technology.
Of course the worst fear is that "something unexpected will happen" and the technology will not work. That is acceptable and you move on to a more traditional approach. The best hope is that you are able to access high tech lessons, create them, and speak to the children in the tech language in which they speak. With a docureader technology would provide instant access to any realia or text in the room during that "teachable" moment.
It would be wonderful to be able to communicate more efficiently in all areas - both in and out of the classroom.
I would be worried that it would take time away from instruction of other curricular areas.
Best Hopes:
Efficient, immidiate, can take pic's of students doing the "right" thing, and show it immidiately.
Worst Fears:
People begin to expect the immediate, and may need a day or two to get back, show, whatever. Loss of social skills.
I think my kids would benefit from the extra level of instruction, and would help to keep interst in the subjects being taught. The interactive activities would be a great tool for my kids.
My worst fear would be that if I relied on the technology, one day it wouldn't work.
Best hopes: technology enhances student understanding of objectives, technology is a useful tool for teachers and students as a means to an end-learning.
Worst fear: technology use is an end in itself.
My worst fear is that students won't learn to write using proper grammar and spelling. Instead they use shortcuts to communicate disregarding language skills.
On the flip side, technology has so much to offer in regards to teaching, learning, and communicating with people all over the world instantly,
My best hope would be that there would be a lot of technical support personnel easily available. Obviously I would take training for new tech but the trouble-shooting is what worries. My worst fear is planning a lesson completely based on technology and then running into a snag that I don't know how to solve. I would hope that students would have access to individual computers. My fear with that would be the management and again, the troubleshooting.
My best hopes are that all of these wonderful technological wonders would positively affect the children's learning and social skills. Hopefully, they would be equipped to both be productive workers and humane individuals.
My worst fears are that technology will isolate children and put more emphasis on our digital world and less emphasis on getting along as a citizen of the world.
Having all the technology I could want in the classroom would be great...I find that it facilitates more impulsive activities for me, which I enjoy.
I've never thought about what I should fear, but I suppose that having a room full of technology might tempt a teacher to neglect some fundamentals, those which rely on basic skills and not technology, like handwriting.
I fear technology because of the rapid pace, but I love it because of all its capacities. It seems that as soon as I have mastered one concept, or program, or device there is another and it’s often better, faster, and cooler! Ahhhhh, the train is moving so fast and I wish I had more time to explore and practice before presenting to my own students. So even if I have all the access and tools for teaching technology it means nothing if I don't have a guru AND time to experiment.
I would find this scarey and challenging.
As a first grade teacher, I have so many responsibilities, that I feel threatened by technology. If it were automatic, it would be fine, but so often, I need to spend too much time trying to perfect my skills and go quickly.
My biggest fear is the reality of time. All new ideas take time to learn and more time to integrate. When trying to integrate tech into our classroom we are given a lot of time to learn about the activity but little time to play with it and make it work in our class. There is no set time for updating websites, researching new lessons for smartboards, playing with new software for kids or setting up files for our students whether excel spreadsheets or email groups. Time given after school or during pull outs is used to update bulletin boards, grade papers, plan and prepare for lessons. And this time is not adequate to get the bare necessities done. The learning curve time is not available. Once you have mastered the skill it saves you time but I fear that the biggest difference between the tech saavy and the novice is that the saavy person does the majority of learning at home. This is not an obtion for those of us who work full time and have families to care for.
Acess to technology would change my class in some ways. First, if I had the capability of being able to contact parents on their local cell phones or long distance phone numbers, I would be able to better communicate with parents. I would not have to walk to the office to make important phone calls on a daily basis. I would also save time and it would make my day much more efficient. As for other technolgy, I would love to have endless hours to learn more of how I can serve the students better and encourage them to use technology as a learning tool.
I LOVE that I can use interactive sites in my classroom for hands on instruction. I love technology for photos and power point and united streaming. I love how is can simplified my life in terms of paperwork.
I REALLY don't like that I am losing valuable teaching minutes trouble shooting tech stuff mid- lesson. It drives me crazy and my students get restless.
The biggest thing that I do not like about the technological age is that there is a high propensity for people to isolate from the world. People may be getting smarter but socially withdrawing more and my biggest fear is the huge addictive proponant to compters, being referred to as "the new heroin."
I don't have any fears--I'm a technology genius! (Positive thinking is half the battle)
I would be able to use a computer or handheld to effortlessly observe classrooms.My calendar would be automatically updated with meetings, etc. from the district. My fears are that things that should be confidential might not be and that if I am not attuned to my needs, other people will control my schedule.
My worst fear is that students won't learn to write using proper grammar and spelling. Instead they use shortcuts to communicate disregarding language skills.
On the flip side, technology has so much to offer in regards to teaching, learning, and communicating with people all over the world instantly,
Technology offers the best hope for a fair and honest exchange of ideas, a portal of information to stimulate, engage and inspire life long learning.
Unfortunately, it also can be an infinite pit of misinformation, which can distract, poison and enflame ideas, such that they lead to the corrosion of civilization.
My best hope is that technology would help to enhance teaching and learning by making it more engaging and interesting. I think that technology allows for limitless ways to add to lessons in the classroom. My worst fear is that we(meaning staff) could not keep up with the demands of the constant changing technological advances, and that it would overwhelm teachers and support staff that already have so much to do.
To have access to unlimited technology would be amazing. I would love to have my students working within many different mediums that would help to foster specific learning styles.
Best hopes: Technology will assist students to become creative and independent learners as well as developing successful strategies for problem solving. In addition techonology will be able to engage all students with quality instruction.
Worst fears: Technology will remove the physical process of creating, or promote isolated learning instead of collaboration. Students will need the high stimulation of multimedia to become engaged with instruction.
Living in the world where teachers have access to all types of technology can both improve and hurt our strides to student success. Teachers will have direct access to acurate facts and data at their fingertips. They will also be able to show his/her students actual photographs of various objects, rather than a drawn pictures that may lead to confusion or misinterpretation.
One of our kindergarten goals this year is to bring technology into the classroom. With this goal comes both hopes and fears. My greatest hope is that as a teacher, would be able to enhance the curriculm through technology so that I may further engage my students. I would like to utilize power point presentations and other forms of media within the classroom. Also, I would like for my students to be able to log on to a computer and engage in developmentally approriate educational games. My fears, however, are equally as lofty. First, as a teacher, I am concerned about getting the tools that I need to realize my technology goals. Second, as kindergarteners are still developing fine motor skills and learning to follow multiple step directions, the task of preparing technology driven lessons is somewhat daunting. However, we are moving forward, and kindergarten is going to computer lab this year!
I would love to integrate more functional technology in my daily activities that can save time and allow more time with students. For instance, registering attendance on line, daily announcements and important dates. With the proper equiptment I could take my students to favorite authors' websites and explore space through the JPL or Nasa educational sights. I'm interested in showing other children from around the world to encourage understanding and empathy with others via other teachers' blogs and interactive websites. In a perfect world, these activities would be wonderful.
Having technology as an integrated tool for teaching and learning would give me the opportunity to engage students with alterative learning strategies. It would make my teaching more interesting and challenging and keep the students engaged. Using tools that students are familiar with that they can be engaged in can help the classroom environment. It can also help in communication, both with students and parents.
A fear would be being able to utilize all of the tools, being that time can be an issue in the classroom.
I think that having a diverse amound of tech. in the classroom would allow me to differentiate my instruction further than I already do. Ideally, I could have stations in my room where students could interact with all types of technology. For example, creating I-movies (if even only recording sound), blogs, podcasts about specific topics and events.
My fear would be the amount of planning involved and the worst case sernario that the equipment wouldn't function properly, and that it wouldn't work as a learning tool.
In a perfect world a teacher would have access to all of this technology. This would be a great help to be able to integrate the technology into the teaching experience. One fear of this would be if you had this access without the knowledge of how to use it this could become a pretty big fear.
I would love to have the video and photo technology for my students to be able to put together their own websites or powerpoint presentations in class.
My best hope is that all the people involved would embrace the situation and proceed with positive feelings. My fear is that it would be considered as another time-consuming task, and that some people would choose not to participate.
I also fear that the network will not work reliably, thereby making this scenario be a huge frustration.
My best hopes would be that it would supplement my curriculum and make learning more fun and interesting for my students. It would also prepare them better for what is obviously becoming a technological world.
My worst fears is when technology doesn't work. When you rely on something so much and then it doesn't do what you want it to do, it is very hard to fix it. Then it becomes more of a hinderance than help.
This would drastically change the school environment. It would not only help the communication process between parents and the school, but the communicaiton on campus between school faculty. Parents would be able to check online and see grades and teacher comments daily.
The advent of OWA and Genesea has greatly improved preparation for IEP's in special education. We have used computers, digital cameras, and educational software to a limited extent, but with the level of my students, I'm afraid there's not that much that can be used technology-wise in instructing the cass. They need a lot of hands-on activities with functional academics and daily living skills being emphasized.
Best: improved communication within the district and greater access to souces.
Worst: less personal communication.
My best hopes are that it would enhance communication between home and school, as well as with penpals etc.
My worst fears are that we will lose the personal side of teaching and learning from each other. Most kids already spend far too much time in front of a computer/video game and not interacting with others.
Technology is a motivational tool for all students. It can open the doors for a new way of learning.
My best hope and worst fear is that the students will surpass the knowledge of the teachers faster then the teacher can acquire that knowledge.
This would be great! I would hope that teachers would be given time to learn how to use these resources without fear of being evaluated in the beginning.
Best hope would be that it would motivate the students to use the technology available. Worst fear would be that the students don't use knowledge from teacher as much.
My hopes are that I will be able to utilze technology to diversify reading instruction for students on a daily basis.
My worst fear is that I wouldn't have enough computers/equipment to implement this hope.
Once everyone is competent with the technology, it has the possibility of streamlining many procedures in education.
I definitely wouldn't have to copy as many things! I would just have things saved on the computer and use my LCD projector!!! I agree with the thought of losing social interaction and social skills! Seems this generation is already meeting people on-line instead of face-to-face!!!
Best and worst. It will make the classroom easier to manage, however , it can make it harder to keep students on task.
I think that if everyone is competent with technology, it will then be possible to focus on education.
What a wonderful fantasy this would be. My best hope is that this is possible with more funding and more organization. My worst fear is that some teachers will have these tools and others will not, creating a disparity in the dissemination of content.
My best hope is that it would open up a world of communications between teachers, students, parents, and administrators. My worst fear is that we lose the personal feelings associated with face to face contact.
My worst fear is that the equipment in the classroom/computer lab is not working correctly and students and teachers get frustrated because they can not complete an assignment.
If every teacher had access to technology and was able to integrate it into their teaching, this would be amazing. My best hope would be that students would have more access to the computers so that they could type papers or look up information. It would also be beneficial to do webquests with the students as they are more motivated when using technology. I would also hope that I could have access to browsing the internet with students or have online tests, quizes responses etc.
My fear would be damage control. With so much technology in the classroom, it is bound to stop working or the students may damage it. I also am not very good at solving computer problems so we would need staff that would be available to help with this.
My hope is that access to technology would simplify communication and increase student motivation and initiative and that they would feel empowered by their broadened access to information.
My fear is that students and teachers would become dependent on technology resources for instruction and communication and that, at some point, funding for technology support would no longer be available to support the changes/growth in technology use.
--Laura Nivinskus
technology is a very powerful tool, and with training, can empower both teachers and students
My best hopes would be that it would be useful and beneficial to increase knowledge to both the educator and the student. My fear would be that it would be time consuming.
My hopes are that technology will allow me to access more information to reach all my students
My biggest fear is the that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my students. My biggest hope is that this technology will be available in all classrooms throuought the district.
My best hope for having all the technology that we would like would be that students would be able to have access to technology and use it to further their educational needs. My worst fear is that students would lose their ability to work together collaboratively and instead focus on only the screen.
It is very exciting that we have access to all of this technology at our school. I am looking forward to learning how to use it, to enhance my students' education. It is also my fear, because it seems overwhelming to have to try to add it to our huge load.
My best hopes would be that all students and teachers would not only have access to, but be comfortable with the use of all forms of technology. My worst fear would be that we would spend lots of time educating our students on the ins and outs of technology, and it could be used against them in some way. For example, kids looking to the web and internet friends instead of looking to parents or famliar individuals for insight, assistance, or emotional support..
I think technology is a wonderful tool to use in the classroom. Students are excited to use new and old software while creating projects. I am able to quickly send an email to parents and students. It is fun to learn from others, including the students if I get stuck!
Best hopes are that I will experiment with some new things like blogging and creating a web page where I can post iMovies, pics and a classroom blog just for my students.
My fear is that I won't have enough time or the tools
to achieve my goals. I'm a bit nervous about negativity on the blog or giving parents an open forum to complain.
Having all of that technology daily would open up so many new ways to differentiate my instruction to accomodate all of my students needs. This technology would help apply show how the info taught in class can be used in the "real-world" However to ensure my use of techonolgy and the info it offeres is aligned with the CA standards and curriculum would be exceptionally time consuming (to do this daily). It will require MUCH time outside my work day to explore, plan, and align.
My best hopes are that technology will make teaching easier for teachers and give students more access to information. My biggest fear is that students rely on technology too much and will lack social skills.
My best hopes are that it can streamline instruction and maximize efficiency for everyone. In other words, we can get more return (learning) for less time investment.
My fears would be having technology without good training on it, or, good training but no technology!
I think students need to be saivy with todays life skills. Technology is the way and it is exciting. Technology peaks the interested of students, even the ones that struggle. I have alot to learn to be able to be a the level I want to be. Keeping up with the new skills that will be created will be quite a job.
I love the fact that if a child can't get out into the world that with technology the world can come to the child. If I had access to, and was trained in the use of, many of the technologies used in the classroom today I would be excited to use them to address individual learning styles.
I wouldn't have any fear in this imagined scenario because if I truly had all imaginable technology at my disposal, it never malfunctioned, and I was properly trained in the usage of said materials then academically speaking "the sky would be the limit."
Technology is only as good as the person directing its use. With an overwhelming amount of data and technology tools available my biggest fear is having the technology and an overwhelming amount of information become the focus versus the curricular area being taught. How many hours have we all spent surfing the web ?
My greatest hope is that we become great miners of data and such proficient "techies" that every aspect of our job is supported and enhanced by these tools. Paperless, instant feedback, visual aids at our fingertips, documentation done digitally and the list goes on.....
The best part of this scenario is the connection it gives all students. I think of those in rural areas, hospitals, or otherwise inaccessible physically to quality education. Technology can bring them into contact with great teachers, learning resources and fellow students.
Student time is precious. These tools make students more productive, so that they can learn faster and be more productive.
The downsides include complexity. Making a high tech environment work requires sophisticated teamwork by a number of skillful people. The support need not be on site in most cases, but it must be there. No one will use an ATM that is unreliable or even just down. No one will use learning tools that don't work predictably and stay up and usable all the time.
I am so excited about using technology in my classroom. There are so many tools that I can use with my first graders to enhance their learning with technology tools. We have created one podcast and I am taking digital pictures to create a DVD of photos of events throughout the year. My fear is turning over the tools to the students. How do I ensure that everyone gets time to use the tools? How do I teach my young students all that I want them to know? I am anxious to learn to manage technology in my classroom.
My best hope is that I can learn enough, quickly enough to impact the learning of all of my students today and in the future. My worst fear is that I will encounter glitches with the technologly at the worst possible moment during a fantastic lesson and not be able to find someone with greater problem solving skills than myself to help.
CC Ordaz
There are several benefits for math students to have access to the internet and math aids in the classroom. There are several math websites that could be useful for students, and exposure to these sites at school may prompt more widespread use at home. I am sure this is similar for all subjects.
I think it is exciting to know that this access to technology will happen soon. I thoroughly believe that this would enhance the collaboration amongst colleagues in the same department as well as others. More cross-curricular projects would be possible, and students would see more of a global connection to what they are studying in school.
Parents would be better informed of what is actually going on in the classroom, too.
Some concerns I have about this kind of situation are that the students will depend so much on technology that they would not know what to do without it. Email is down - does life stop?
Too much access????
My best hope is that having access to all the wonderful technology would help staff feel as if they have another set of tools to use in the planning and implementation of their curriculum. It changes my classroom environment now by allowing me more avenues for student learning.
My worst fear is that it will become overwhelming to some amazing teachers and will become more of a point of frustration. I also fear that it could replace some human contact between staff members.
I would hope that it would improve classroom and educational communication as well as assist in bringing our students up to date in our "technology" universe.
My fear would be relying heavily on technology but not having proper equipment, training, etc. which may, in effect, hinder the learning process and disrupt the classroom environment.
The best hope is that most importantly the equipment and resources will actually be used. Over the course of many years of teaching I've seen lots of technology come and go -- both hardware and software. I hope that as schools use money on technology that seriously foresee how that technology will be used to the fullest capacity!!
I want to be better than my students on getting information. Right now , most of them are better than me!
My best hope is that I am able to communicate more effectively with the teachers I work with and increase my ability to respond to teacher and student needs quickly. My fear is that not all teachers have the technlogy and I don't want to leave any teachers behind as I use email to communicate.
My worst fear is that I will be inadequate to the task required to use the many the new and wonderful technologies available to me both in private and professional life. I have come a long way in the last few years, but the learning curve has been stressful at times and I often feel overwhelmed by the everyday tasks of teaching. While I feel that my best hopes are that learning to use the technologies will actually make my job easier and student learning more successful, time to learn is always a factor.
My hope would be that using technology in the classroom will allow students the opportunity to learn in new ways and keep their attention. The students will need to be so advanced in technology as the years go on that I want to keep up with them. I hope that I become more comfortable using the materials of the 21st Century.
My fear, not really a fear, but concern would be getting the prep work done to make each lesson use technology.
My best hope would be that my students who do not have access to basic technologies at home such as a computer, the internet, etc. would be exposed to and become comfortable with these tools. As a kindergarten teacher I can already easily see which students in my class are very proficient on the computer and probably use one at home often, and those students who are absolutely terrified to move the mouse around at all.
My worst fear wtih technology in the classroom is the risk that the classroom environment might become more impersonal. While there are wonderful resources available online to use in connection with lessons that are being done, it is also important to have hands-on experiences, field trips, and realia in the classroom as well.
My worst fears are that it wouldn't work when I wanted to use it.
my worst fear is that all systems would fail and i would look like a fool.
How would this change my classroom environment?
How would it change? The fact is that it is already happening and will I miss the bus? The reality is that we have to adapt to these changes. I have been fortunate that my own children have helped propel me forward, often able to help me adapt.
I have already seen some of these changes: Easier to do certain work, increased motivation for students and better work.
My worst fear is that I won't have the time or the money to handle the adaptations.
My first fear is that it wouldn't work during a presentation.
My hopes would be that this would make my classroom more conducive to learning for all students, but my worst fears are that I am not as technological proficient as I would need to be.
My best hopes for extensive, interactive use of technology in the classroom is that students and teachers alike would incorporate this technology meaningfully into their daily lives. My fear is that it begins to take over some of the more personal aspects that are so critical to education today.
My worst fear is that I would not understand how to use the technology.
My hope is that I would be able to have the time to deal with all this technology, and my fear is that when I attempt to use it, it wouldn't work.
My best hope would be that all teachers would have the training needed to be an effective teacher and train our students for a bright and successful future.
My best hopes are that we all figure out a way to work smarter, instead of harder. I would hope it would provide stronger means of communication between staff members. My worst fear is that we no longer connect personally since we will all have electronic relationships. Also, just when you start to count on technology, it might not work for you.
Of course to me, this would be so exciting. The possibilities are endless. I envision a lot of group work, creative lessons, communicating with parents. It would also make my classroom reflect the real world outside. My worst fears are that it wouldn't work as it should or that there wouldn't be enough time to fit it all in.
My best hope would be that technology would enhance learning in the classroom in all areas. Lessons become hands on and students forget that they are learning and think they are just having fun.
My worst fear is that we will become dependent on technology and there will be less actual face to face instruction time.
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