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| Lisa Parisi |
As the subject leader for ICT or Educational Technology, you no doubt train
your colleagues in the use of the hardware and software. In this article, Lisa
provides insights about what you need to know in order to do so as successfully
as possible.
Recently, after 20+ years as a classroom teacher, I began a new chapter in my
teaching career: teaching teachers about technology. It happened slowly, the
idea percolating over time. As I learned about technology and became excited
using new tools in my classroom, I found that my colleagues starting asking me
what I was doing.
Now, I love sharing my ideas and creations, encouraging my students to
demonstrate their projects. So any time I was asked about a new tool or
application, I enthusiastically showed off. Eventually, a colleague suggested I
teach a class on how to use the SmartBoard interactive whiteboard, the latest
and greatest technology tool added to our repertoire. And so I did. In the past
six months, I have taught three computer classes, two on the SmartBoard and one
on how to turn a class website into a home/school communication tool. I am
scheduled to teach two more classes this fall: another website class and a class
on Web 2.0.
I do love to teach. But the more I teach my colleagues, the more I realize
that teaching adults has its own challenges, different perhaps from teaching
children. And I must always be aware of these challenges while working with
adults. So I have compiled this list of recommendations to remember. Hopefully,
it will assist those who, like me, love teaching teachers. And, maybe it will
help those who are learning understand the challenges they will be facing.
First, adults are not often risk-takers. This is crucial to remember.
Children will try anything. They are not concerned with destroying the computer,
losing their work, or wreaking havoc on the classroom. Adults are. So when you
introduce a new application to a child, that child will click, type, move the
mouse, click some more, and try to duplicate what everyone else is doing with
that application. Adults won’t. They wait. They ask for help. They ask
repeatedly if they are doing it “right.” Eventually they will create. But it
takes time, lots of encouragement and a great deal of reminders of just how
difficult it is to break a computer or destroy a program.
Second, adults often lack basic computer skills necessary for any
application. I was frequently surprised to find that what was holding back
the assignment wasn’t the skill I was teaching. It was the learner’s lack of
basic skills needed to complete the assignment. The teacher who sets out to
teach adult learners must make sure that the learners know how to:
- Log in to the computer
- Save a file.
- I recently spent 40 minutes with a class teaching them how to use a
flashdrive. What I thought was a simple task, turned into a huge lesson about
USB ports, drives, and how to safely remove flashdrives from a
computer.
- Navigate around the computer system, among the various drives.
- Find a file after saving.
- Copy and paste information.
- Computer users should know how to complete this task using both the taskbar
and the keyboard shortcuts.
- One must also be aware of the fact that, often when copying pictures from
the internet, a hyperlink is attached. Users need to know what a hyperlink is
and how to remove it or add it to a picture or text.
- Copyright issues must be understood.
- Do searches on the internet.
- Download applications from the internet
Just a note: While your class might not be about teaching basic computer
skills, this lack of knowledge will be a detriment to your teaching any
technological application. Spending a few moments demonstrating these skills
early in the class can save a great deal of time later when you are expecting
the class members to complete assignments in which these tasks are needed.
Third, adults need to have a rudimentary understanding of how a computer
works. There is a difference between the computer and the monitor. Just
because the computer is turned on, doesn’t mean the monitor is. And just because
the monitor is black, does not mean the computer is broken. Also, computers
require electricity to work. Whether they get plugged into the wall or run on
batteries, a source of energy is needed to have the system work. Teach your
class to check the plugs or the charge on the battery if the computer won’t turn
on.
I find teaching other teachers very rewarding. These adults are in my classes
because they are excited about new technology. They might be nervous and
uncomfortable, but they want to learn. My job, then, is to not only to teach
them how to use the technology, but to make them feel secure in their
risk-taking. And to keep my cell phone handy. Problems working independently
late at night can often drive new learners away from trying to use applications.
A quick, reassuring phone call often works to calm down the caller and get them
back into class the next day. I always like to remind them that the best way to
master any new technology is to play. And some of them actually believe me.
Lisa Parisi is an elementary school teacher, in the Herricks Union Free
School District, who loves embedding technology into her curriculum. This Long
Island, New York teacher has been teaching for over 20 years, during which time
she has taught all grades from 1st – 5th as well as worked
in various universities, training student teachers and working with college
students in reading, special education, and other areas needed in an elementary
classroom.
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