Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, LA is a private K-12 educational institution that encourages the
appropriate use of technology for both teachers and students. Epsicopal’s
faculty is expected but not required to attend seminars off campus that
instruct them on utilizing technology in the classroom. The school also has on
campus training for all faculty members. The school even has an IT department
bringing in new software and technology for the teachers to use in their
classrooms. Through donations, Episcopal was able to get document cameras and
SMART Boards for almost every classroom. The teachers are not required to use
any of this technology, however it is paramount that they learn how to use it
before deciding to keep it or not. The guidelines on technology are a little
different for incoming teachers, who must attend technology-training courses.
The eight hour
training program new teachers are required to attend instructs them on the
school’s website, email, grading software, and other programs they might wish
to use in their classrooms. By the time teachers enter the classroom they are
confident and ready to show their students how valuable a resource technology
is if used properly. Episcopal is fortunate to have many different
technological assistants showing faculty the ropes. Students are required to
use technology learned in the classrooms to do various projects and
presentations. No resource goes to waste. As a college prep school, Episcopal
prepares its students for the most technologically advanced higher education
institutions out there. In fact, many students find it to be more challenging
than the colleges they attend after high school due to the vast amount of
technology they are exposed to in the classroom.
While technology
in the classroom is certainly good, there are potential downfalls with it
concerning students and teachers outside the classroom. Episcopal does address
this as well. Students can bring their laptops to class, but they are not
allowed to go on any social media websites during that time. The school has
firewalls preventing any student from logging on to these sites. Teachers have
access to laptop carts for their classrooms where they can have their students
log in to work on simulations and any other educational website. Outside the
classroom, students are not allowed to post pictures of themselves in uniform
on any social media site. They are not allowed to be friends with faculty
members online, and they are not allowed to say what school they go to online.
This keeps the school out of the students’ personal lives.
It is important
to note that not every school is like Episcopal. Many teachers fear the use of
technology in the classroom. They say it’s too hard for them to separate their
personal lives from their teaching lives (Bidwell, 2014). Teachers don’t want
to have to worry about their students finding them on social media. In this day
and age misuse of technology for teachers can cost them their jobs. This
discomfort for teachers comes from not knowing how to properly use YouTube
videos, blogs, and interactive websites in the classroom. The best way to fix
that is training, which is something Episcopal does very well. Social media is
a gift, not a right. If future teachers don’t get the proper training to use it
in the classroom, then they simply won’t use it. As a domino effect, students
will enter the real world unprepared and unfamiliar with the latest technology
for jobs everywhere.
A video that
harps on staying technologically innovative is seen in the link below. It demonstrates
how important it is for our children to stay at the same pace with technology.
The Wordle serves a similar purpose by highlighting the words ‘appropriate’ and
‘communication.’ These words are creating the goal of technology in and outside
the classroom, while also pointing out other buzzwords needed to be considered
for technological advancement. Our children’s’ education are in our hands. We
better stop focusing on ignorance and start focusing on innovation.
References
Bildwell, A.
(2014). Check out that selfie: How to use social media in the classroom. US News:A World Report. Retrieved from www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/17/check-out-that-selfie-how-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom
Gabgorilla.
(2011, October 20). Technology in the
classroom: Digital media. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbVKPhVCRFI
