Week+1+Discussion+5306

The quote I selected from our week 1 readings is from the article "//Strategies to Put Instruction Ahead of Technology//". Eric Jones (2007) writes," Rather than simply learning the basics of how to use a technology tool, teachers must learn how to use the tool to improve teaching and learning in their classrooms. Training is embedded in instruction, not isolated from it, and is driven by the skills that teachers need to use the technology in the classroom, not by the technology itself." (p. 35) When I read this quote, it totally hit home with me. Being a teacher for 13 years, I know all too well the experience of sitting through a 1 day (usually just a few hours) required staff-development that has me "learning" some new technology tool where I am being taught some of the basic "ins and outs" of that particular tool. I am bombarded with all of this new information all at once, and usually very interested in learning how it works, only I get the training for a few hours and I am supposed to be proficient enough to use it in the classroom somehow. What I really want to get from my training is....**//How can I use this in my classroom to teach my students//**? I think that there is such a rush to catch up to all of the technology that is available, we get this "shot-gun splattering" of some technology tools, with no strategies on how to use them to enhance instruction, and no real understanding of how to manipulate the tools. Soon, it's lost in all of the other "stuff" us teachers have to do and the day I spent in training is completely wasted. The idea of embedding the training in instructional strategies is essential to building the infrastructure to support the technological goals of the 21st century classroom. Teachers need to be trained--**well**--and have support available by means of a school-based trainer to facilitate that training and become **comfortable** with technology rather than overwhelmed by it. Only then can we start to "ignite excitement in teaching and learning while building students' critical-thinking and problem-solving skills." (p. 37)  Works Cited: Jones, E.(2007) //Strategies to Put Instruction Ahead of Technology//, //35,36,37//.