Expectations changing

Having worked with technology in education for over 20 years now, I am intrigued by the change in the baseline - what teachers already know (or don't know) about technology when they participate in technology workshops for teachers, such as when they join our annual Tech Seminar at Oregon State University. We used to start by talking about the parts of a computer - monitor, keyboard, disk drive. We had upgraded from Vic20s to Apple IIes, so we actually had disk drives rather than cassette tapes for storage.

As time went on, mouse training was added to the mix. Next, the exciting new element was getting teachers signed up for email. SchMOOze University, a MOO (Multi-user dimension, object-oriented) which operated in text mode, was a great way for students to interact with each other online. Internet sites used Gopher to present information, and it was in no way easy. Teachers were excited about using the word-processor to prepare their own handouts - after all, you could edit easily.

When Mosaic opened up the World Wide Web to ordinary people, there were a lot more options for teachers. Our Tech Seminars still were helping people sign up for email accounts, but a lot more time was spent in looking at different web possibilities. The early online quizzes were far from examples of good pedagogy, but students liked them because they were online. Teachers were excited about having students use the word-processor so that students would edit their own work.

With faster Internet connections available all over the world have come more audio and video options. Personal exposure online has exploded, too, with personal blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and other ways of sharing oneself online. Teachers come to the workshops with email and Web experience, almost always knowing how to use a word-processor and often familiar with presentation software like PowerPoint.

I've always been impressed by the many ways that teachers adopt and adapt technology to their purposes. As more teachers know how to use online resources, they come up with more and better ways to take advantage of what is available (mostly for free). It's even better when teachers can then share their work online with others.

I've got high hopes for this year's Tech Seminar. All 20 of the Mexican teachers who will be participating in two weeks have email addresses already. I'm busily revising plans, adding more materials development options. We'll see where we end up.