Adapting to Change

After reading the intro to the course text, one word was on the top of my mind: change.

The story of the father moving from Greece to America and transitioning to different languages,

customs, and lifestyles really was intriguing to me. The amount of effort needed to overcome

these obstacles in order to properly integrate with American society was immense, and like the

text says, we should be better prepared to take any sort of changes in stride rather than trying to

fight against the current.

With human development comes advancements in how we operate in society. It is widely

assumed that a majority of jobs that we prepare students for likely wont exist for years to come.

An example of this is technology. While it was occasionally present in the 1970’s and 80’s, it

wasn’t prevalent in modern society until the late 90’s and early 2000’s. If you were to tell

someone in 1975 that not only would the internet be relied on by society, but that it would be

such a major market that a CEO of an internet company would become a trillionaire in Jeff

Bezos, they would likely not be able to comprehend this information. In this same way, many

people are hesitant to the natural change of the world around them. If this coronavirus outbreak

has taught people anything it is that society can turn on the flip of the dime. As such, when it

comes to teaching in the education sector, we should best be accustomed to changing with the

times.

One of these changes is the implementation of technological devices in the classroom

setting. Since I grew up on the tail-end of when technology was implemented in the classroom

setting and I attended a smaller school, we didn’t have school provided devices until my senior

year of high school. Since it was also the first year of technological implementation with

Chromebooks, the school wasn’t that well-versed in implementing the devices to the normal
classroom setting. The only time I would even use my computer was for a technology class,

doing college classes, or checking the internet in my free time. While I don’t blame my teachers

for them being inexperienced with the devices, the way in which it was implemented wasn’t

proper given the devices and resources the teachers had.

As such, what I hope to learn in this class is to properly implement different tech tools

that enhance the learning process and make up for what I lacked during my education career. As

mentioned before I was educated in a transition period, and as such I am a bit behind in having a

proper understanding of how technology can be properly implemented in the classroom setting.

Whenever I immediately think of technology being used in the classroom setting, I jump to the

app of Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Most of the time PowerPoints are only the instructor’s

words verbatim on a digital screen or minor notes that are needed to understand the general

context of a unit. While I don’t necessarily hate this approach, it isn’t very interactive with the

classroom setting, and it certainly isn’t complementary in the educational process. It’s more so

meant to be a reinforcement of the lesson rather than providing further food for thought for

students. As such, when I implement tech into the classroom setting, I want it to be performed in

a way that will further thoughts and develop a general appreciation for the core material of the

class.

In conclusion, change is needed in order for society to progress, and we as teachers

should embrace change at every opportunity rather than trying to shrug it off as if it’s nothing.