Here we go

Image via WikipediaThe professional development portion of Guam's Gateway to Technology program is about to begin.  I hope you are looking forward to your sessions with anticipation and not dread.  As educators, I'm sure you'll agree that learning is a continuous process.  I think we have plenty of worthwhile activities and discussions in store for you.  In this post, let me try to put some things in perspective for you.  Guam is facing more than one buildup in the next year.

The Gateway to Technology program is the result of a $24 million dollar grant request in 2008 to stimulate the use of technology in Guam's schools.  The grant is funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (AARA) and is meant to "encompasses the costs to acquire and support the different aspects of the plan: hardware, software, professional development and other services required to implement each strategy."  This would be a good time for me to point out that I am only involved in the professional development part of the plan.  I am an instructor contracted by the University of Guam.  I am not entirely aware of all aspects of the Gateway plan, its implementation, nor do I represent GDOE.  What I do know is that this grant is a much needed boost to bring Guam's schools into the 21st century.


You may not be aware of growing role that technology is playing in schools worldwide.  You would be mistaken if you view it simply as computer education or vocational training.  Educational technology is a progressive pedagogy that covers all subject areas and grade levels and it is spreading rapidly.  The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) currently boasts over 20,000 members who are made up of teachers, administrators, and developers from all areas of education.  A web search of "technology in education" will produce over a billion blogs, websites, news articles, and other resources.  It appears as if President Obama is on board as well.  The 2010 National Education Technology Plan "calls for applying the advanced technologies used in our daily personal and professional lives to our entire education system to improve student learning, accelerate and scale up the adoption of effective practices, and use data and information for continuous improvement."  Finally, technology plays an important part of all discussions related to education reform.

Still not convinced?  How about some statistics...  In a study released in 2010, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that the amount of time children spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically in the past 10 years.  They found that 8-18 years-olds spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes on entertainment media each day.  This includes TV, video games, music, and computer use.  They also found that "because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content in those 7 hours and 38 minutes."   They also found that 74% of the student population have profiles on a social network, and 66% own cell phones.


Michael Wesch's survey of 200 Kansas State University students found that an average college student will visit 2,300 Facebook profiles, 3,800 web pages, and will write over 900 pages of email in one school year.  Yet  the student will read only 49% of the reading assigned and will write only 42 pages for school work.  They blog, IM, podcast, and use wikis;  however, 76% of their teachers do not.  This study was done in 2007!


Without a doubt technology tools play an important role in our lives and will continue to do so.  As educators we should embrace its benefits and utilize it in meaningful ways in our classrooms.  The students are already acquainted with much of this technology and so it is for the most part the teachers (and administrators) that need instruction in its uses.  What we hope is that you will learn how to implement technology in your classroom.   In your training you will be exposed to a large number of technology resources and techniques.  It isn't necessary to learn all of them; but each session you should be able to find at least one thing you can incorporate in your teaching.  Your goal from this should be to find ways to improve your instruction and to make your methodology more timely.  This is not restricted to the classroom but in your development as a professional as well.  This is an exciting transformation and I am glad to play a part of it.

Related articles

• The Future of Computer and Internet Use in Schools (education.com)
• How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have to Do With It) (education.com)
• Technology in Special Education (proactivespeech.wordpress.com)