Abigail Erchick

Professor Mangini
Writing with Technologies
20 April 2015
How Technology has Changed the Role of a Teacher Rough Draft
Technology through the years has gone through a drastic transformation, history and
innovation has changed the minds of the students in the classroom as well as the methods of
teaching the materials and skills that they need to know; from reading to math, to learning selfefficacy. Yet, the role the role of the teacher in the classroom has remained to be the one who
educates the minds of the students; who molds them and gives them the skills and information to
be able to figure out who they are and what they are meant to do. It is how it is done in the
classroom that has changed how the teacher plays the role, not necessarily its definition.
Reading has been taught in schools as a way to convey and understand the information
that the students are given. In the early schools, only boys were allowed to go to school to learn
while girls were taught the ways of the home, how to maintain a household. Now, it has been
found by studies that boys have less interest in reading, the fundamental way to learn. One
suggested way to create an increased interest in reading by boys is to incorporate technology. In
an article about a study done of the effect of technology and the lack of interest boys have in
reading, it was proven by the results that "...there were significant gains in reading performance
over the course of the 22-week intervention...as well as significant gains in their general selfperceptions as readers..." (Sokal). A lack of self-confidence and the belief that they can be better
readers if they try is a trait that has been observed last semester in the tutoring center when
working with a 4th grade male student who was struggling in reading and writing. Using

recordings to help him to differentiate and identify where he needed to work on in his own
fluency skills gave him agency over his own learning and the use of the computer as a research
aide in a project resulted in the highest level of work he completed last semester. Having a sense
of self efficacy in one's own abilities helps a learner to grow in the classroom. It is the teacher's
role to help to instill this in the students so that they may feel better about their own learning and
will gain more from it. It is not just the students who need to gain self-efficacy in the classroom
though, teachers do as well.
In order to maintain a good report with the students, a teacher themselves must feel
comfortable and confident in their own abilities in the classroom. When using technology,
teachers need to keep certain things in mind so they can be reassured that they know what they
are doing. In a dissertation written by Joshua DeSantis of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania,
it is quoted as stated "that a teacher equipped with a classroom set of netbooks, knowledge of
instructional techniques to integrate computers during instruction, and a positive outlook
regarding technology is likely to possess a high degree of technology self-efficacy" (DeSantis).
Teaching by example is an effective way of teaching to a classroom, modeling and using hands
on interactive experiences. If the teacher themselves is not confident in their own skills, they
cannot logically expect the students to be able to master the skills of an unsure educator. Before,
teachers were thought to be all knowing and what they said went unquestioned by their pupils as
they studied away and learned all that they could through books and written work. Now, with the
student so full of questions, and eager to soak up as much information that they can to
understand more things, the teacher's own knowledge comes in to question.
In the case of time, teachers may fall prey to the overuse of technology in their classroom
to compensate for their lack of knowledge of how to use it as a tool rather than their entire lesson

to guide and facilitate their student's learning and further development. In order to improve a
students' abilities to tackle more complex thinking patterns, they need to develop a range of
higher order thinking skills that they can use in multiple circumstances to gain a full
understanding of the materials. This used to be gained by Socratic seminars, avid discussions,
and the use of textbooks and lectures to facilitate learning. Times have changed, and so have the
dynamics of the students in the classroom. Teachers, because of this, must adapt to the times, and
change what their role as a guide and educator entails in order to make sure their students get the
best education that they can. "The teachers reported student learning in the technology-enriched
classrooms was more student-centered and less teacher/textbook driven" as stated in a
dissertation written by Natalie Nelson Summerville of George Mason University (Summerville).
Learning how to effectively integrate technology into the classroom would be a great benefit for
many teachers, which would increase their self-efficacy and would maintain a healthy, safe and
positive learning environment for the students to engage in. One of the greatest things that could
be said to have had such a great impact on the role of a teacher in the world today from then to
now is the internet. That which gives us access to so many resources in the public and private
domains that would have been beyond our reach if not for the push of a button. So much
knowledge at one's fingertips, yet so much power to hold, to bestow on the young developing
minds of the students, how much to give them access to is a struggle. Yes, teachers want to have
the self-efficacy to be able to know that they can provide the correct instruction to the students in
a fashion that they would be able to easily grasp and understand, yet at the same time is the
struggle to know when enough is enough and how to balance the old with the new.
Letting the "speaker" in the teacher, take charge instead of the "technician" teaching the
mechanics of the machines that encompass most if not all of the world known today. Though

technology is a tool widely used to help facilitate learning "...41% report a "major impact" by
requiring a more work on their part to be an effective teacher" (Buchannan). Many teachers
might find it more difficult to incorporate it into their daily lesson plans if they have been set in
their teaching patterns and styles for a longer time than others. New generations of teachers
coming in would have more ideas of how to properly incorporate technology into the classroom,
but that does not mean that these other teachers cannot also learn how to. If it requires more
work to be an effective teacher for one's students, it would make more sense to put in the extra
effort and to learn how best to reach the students through their interests. E-readers, mobile
phones, laptops, desktops, online resources and sites for research are commonly used in
classrooms to engage students learning (Buchannan). There are so many options to choose from,
why wouldn't a teacher want to use at least one method to engage the students in their learning?
One reason could be that perhaps there is a fear that surrounds this gradual change in the
education system that is happening all over the globe. A number of myths surround the idea of
the use of technology in the classroom, pushing away teachers and parents from the idea that
technology in the classroom, when used judiciously is a good thing. A common myth as stated by
a study published by the Richard R. Wiley College of Education and Leadership of Walden
University, is "Teachers who are newer to the profession and teachers who have greater access to
technology are more likely to use technology frequently for instruction than other teachers" (The
Richard R. Wiley College of Education and Leadership). Later in the study does it too address
the reluctance of veteran teachers to use technology in their classrooms at all; addressing both
sides to this myth. The study claims that veteran teachers are just as likely to used technology
and it is not the lack of access to it but that the infrequent use of specific technologies is because
it is not needed to teach their lessons. (The Richard R. Wiley College of Education and

Leadership). Thus, the teachers use what they have and what is needed to make sure their
students learn to the best of their abilities. The tools are there for those to learn how to use them
to the best of their advantage. Those new to the profession and those who have been teaching for
a long time know that a teacher must wear many different hats to make sure all the needs of their
learners are met.
Through time the lecturer, has given way to the technician. Both guide and facilitate the
learning of their students in their own ways, one through speech and written work, and one
through action and the use of hands on interactive activities and experiences to enhance the
words written upon the page. Neither though is the teacher of today. The role of the teacher has
morphed into a combination of the speaker and the technician, teaching students through their
interests using multimodal lessons and activities to engage them in all aspects of learning. It's
like Aristotle met with a time traveler and they traded notes, who knew that time could change
everything that we knew to be learned and how it was taught to us in just a matter of words
written and heard upon the page of a screen.