Teachers´ Attitudes towards tech- Restructuring Changes

Prepared by:

Christian Ávila & Adrián Suarez 

Early use of Technology

 

In our century, children are exposed to technology almost since they are born, such as tablets, video game consoles and even cell phones, as a result, children are much more technological adapted at a very early age than past generations.

This can be a challenge for teachers because there is a need to be in constant learning of new tech in order to be at almost the same level of students.

 

The older technology (talking about 5 years and older) used in some schools and implemented by some teachers, could be consider obsolete compared with the devices that come to the markets every day and are accessible to some families. Therefore, there is a need of updating the tools and programs used to lead the teaching process in educational institutes.

 

There are different institutions that are implementing methods that combine the use of conventional teaching strategies with the use of high technology. As it is mentioned by Chow (2015):

 

The Montessori Method is a student-driven learning environment where students placed in mixed age classrooms and given a wide range of options for hands-on learning. When incorporating technology in this method, students themselves would be allowed to choose which pieces to incorporate which engages the student in learning as they are using the items of their choice.

 

He also mentioned that even though, this is a successful method, one of the primary problems for most schools is the costs to implement the technological component, such as tablets, computers, and educational video games, since they are generally extremely expensive.

 

 

 

The use of technology in the Classroom

 

It is necessary the use of technology in the classrooms, the proper use of these tools can highly enhance the experience of learners at all levels, however, students can be often focused on      computer screens, or their cell phones and this situation can cause distractions and disengaged from the classroom activities. As per Bloomstine, (2001), “a possible downside to such heavy technology integration may result in a generation of students only focused on the virtual world instead of the real world”.

Due to this experience, it is important to create a balance between the technology environment and the regular social interaction withing students and teachers.

Teachers' Preparation Needs for Integrating Technology in the Classroom

 

One thing that many schools lack is education for the teachers about how to use new pieces of technology. Tools are only as good as its wielder and if the tool is incorrectly used, results may range from inefficiency to complete destruction of the work. The same idea can be applied to using technology in the classroom. If a teacher does not know how to use the tools, they may waste time from attempting to troubleshoot the device, or worse, completely disengage the students as they see a teacher who does not know what he or she is doing.

In Costa Rica, teachers generally need to plan for 45-minute lessons per teaching subject, this amount of time is generally not enough to allow the teacher to be proficient in new technologies, especially if there is not a previous training program on how to use the equipment. As a result, some of these tools are not quite properly used and some can be damaged in a very quick time.

As an example, at CTP Liberia there was a donation of video beams and smart screens that pretended to improve the learning experience of students, however the equipment was not used correctly and most of them are useless or simply forgotten by mentors. Part of the problem is that due to the pandemic, the equipment was not needed and the lack of use, make that the trained teachers forget about the correct implementation.

Another situation that is affecting teachers worldwide, is the resistance to the use of technology for virtual classes, in our era and due to situations like the one we are facing nowadays, it is vital for mentors to get used to technology and look always for training programs, workshops or simply watch YouTube tutorials, to train themselves and be capable to deliver more interactive and fun lessons for their students, especially because every day, the students have more access to electronic devices, that help them to communicate and performed most of their daily life tasks.

Educational technology in the classroom from the teacher's perspective

 

Major issues in Costa Rican school are related to situations where teachers are not provided with adequate instruction on how to integrate tech into their classrooms. Therefore, is important for MEP to constantly generate  training programs in the use of high tech for teachers, in order to improve the teacher’s attitude towards the use of technology, not only in the classrooms, but also in virtual sessions.

Teachers want to integrate technology into the classrooms; however, they feel that they need better training in order to fully make use of it and deliver efficient and interesting lessons to their groups.

According to Chow (2015), the following are some of the reasons for teachers to show a lack of interest in the use of technology:

·         Lack of teacher comfort with computer and technology use.

·         Belief that computers and technology are not necessary to help students.

·         Lack of adequate training and support for computer and technology use in the classroom.

·         Lack of desire for this use.

·         Lack of computer access.

 

Chow (2015) also found in his research that teachers want:

·         Affirm student diversity and support differentiated instruction.

·         Implement technology-supported authentic assessment.

·         Evaluate the effectiveness of using digital materials.

·         Collaborate with other teachers to share knowledge.

·         Communicate with others (parents, caregivers, colleagues and administrators), and

·         Model technology use in the classroom”

 

 

Why resistance? And why not?

 

Himsworth (2007) found that only 20% of the teachers interviewed are comfortable using technology in the classroom.

The main reason for this attitude towards resistance in the use of technology in classrooms was primarily because of the age: Many teachers that are close to retirement or have been working for many years in teaching, delivered their classes for decades without the use of technology because such technology simply did not exist or were so expensive that it was out of reach of these teachers.

However, age does not determine a user’s perception of technology. Some young teachers are not comfortable with the technology they use while some older teachers are very comfortable while using technology.

Teachers are far more comfortable integrating those technologies that they use in their personal lives within their classrooms.

When given a new piece of technology by the institution, training or instruction given to the teacher by the school often has little effect on the teacher’s perception of that piece of the technology.

Technology should invest in by schools as a curriculum tool, not solely invested in for the sake of appearing to be up to date with technology use.

 

Conclusions

 

Teacher’s attitudes towards technology are mostly positive and moving forward to deliver exceptional lessons to students, however, there is a huge need of training and motivation to completely encourage teachers to give the next step and start using technology in all their lessons.

One of the main reasons of why teachers do want to integrate technology in some form into their everyday classroom, is because they do not feel prepared or do not have adequate knowledge on how to implement technology into the class.

 Schools should invest in teacher’s professional development rather than just purchasing piece of technology that at the end could be useless if teachers do not know how to use it.

The use of technology is a challenging issue, therefore, teachers must self-train themselves if the institution is not investing in proper training programs for the use of new tech.

Technology is always a great ally, since it makes information more approachable and brings opportunities to travel, learn, experience, and interact with students at all levels.