how do you teach technology?

Wow, if anyone could answer that definitively, every school district in America would be offering them a job. I’ve spent 10 years in educational technology, and I still don’t have a clear answer – I know some things that work, and that are backed up by pretty good research, but there lots of opinions and lots of disagreement.

It would take way too long to go into the breadth of Best Practices thing but here’s a VERY short list of things that I (and some pretty good reserachers) think work:

1) Use backwards design when planning the lesson – Basically, think about assessment BEFORE you designthe instruction. Ask yourself “how are my students going to demonstrate that they have learned this material?” and then move bakwards from there.

2) Make it project-based – Make learning the technology a part of producing something else. Often the best way is to tie it to another subject area, and have a clear outcome (ideally a “product” of some kind) in mind.

3) Use a Rubric for assessment – Basically, lay out an outline for the steps involved in your lesson, and specify exactly what you expect to see at each stage, and what kind of product will produce what kind of grade.

4) Allow time for technical difficulties – The fact of the matter is that tehcnology doesn’t always work… computers crash, power goes out, programs have bugs. Be aware that things WILL go wrong, it is just a matter of when… have a plan in place to deal with the interruptions (tech support standing by, additional resources if the technology is unavailable, or maybe a flexible schedule to allow for downtime)

5) And last but not least… know the technology yourself, or have an expert nearby – In my schools we’ve often teamed up teachers who are unfamiliar with the technology with teachers or technologists who are.

That’s a good starting place, in my opinion… if you are iterested in more information (probably more than you could ever sift through in a lifetime) do a web search for “technology best practices” and see what you get!

Good Luck

PS – In response to the previous poster… tehcnology can be taught, and though some people do indeed learn better on their own, many people do not – especially with regards to technology. I have persoanlly taught all of the skills you mention… successfully I might add. Bad teachers are always a waste of money… good ones are priceless.

i learned is that i teaching myself. Tech “teachers” hired by schools are a waste of money because learning things like html and different opperating systems (linux, mac) can’t be taught. u have to learn stuff like that on your own. i took a couple “tech classes in high school and they were a waste of life. Well except digital design cuz thatz kind of a art.