Technology adoption - where I fit

Prensky (2005) summarises the typical process of technology adoption as: (1) dabbling; (2) doing old things in old ways; (3) doing old things in new ways; (4) doing new things in new ways. Reflecting on my own use of technology I think I am a mix of 1, 2 and 3.

1. I like trying out new things but often it is just dabbling until I’ve got the hang of it.

2. Although I try to be creative and innovative in the classroom at times I do teach old things in old ways (e.g. co-operative learning that doesn’t use New Technologies, or going to the school library to read books). Part of the reason for this is that I believe a mixture of methodologies works best for my students – some of whom appreciate the older, slower world – and also there is a time factor. I’m sure that most of what I teach could be enhanced in some way through e-Learning but I don’t have the time to explore how.

3. An example of this is that instead of always having discussions in class and then getting students to write answers to key questions about the topic which they hand in to me to check, I will post the questions onto our class blog and the students answer them online as a comment which can then be read and responded to by other students. Because the students also have authorial rights, they can post their own questions to be answered by the rest of the class. I see this as an invaluable tool as many of the quiet students have more of an opportunity to speak their mind in this kind of forum.