Technology is an important area of study for a modern-day teacher. In schools, a teacher is expected to become a technology leader and introduce modern teaching aids, such as video recordings, electronic tests, online lectures, and other useful functionalities as part of the educational course, to help children progress and take better note of their accomplishments. Technology started to influence my life since I was an undergraduate student.
The mass appearance of computers and smartphones revolutionized the educational process, helping me and my peers cooperate and search for information with greater efficiency. It got me interested in obtaining my master’s degree in educational technology.
In the last two years, IT changed my ways of communication dramatically. I am now capable of contacting friends, peers, and students that are many miles away, and conduct conversations as though they are right next to me. To effectively use technology in education, a teacher must be knowledgeable of all of its facets, including information systems, networks, data governance, and cybersecurity.
During my studies, I was introduced to Ackerman’s views on the efficacy of technology management. He has a very methodical approach to the introduction and implementation of IT in a school setting. One of the major points that both he and I share in regards to educational IT is that individuals that set up IT systems in schools must also have credentials in education (Ackerman, 2018). As it stands, many school IT departments implement regular technicians, who do not understand the realities of the educational process, creating a dissonance between what IT can do and what is objectively required from it by the curriculum.
Ackerman’s approach to future information management initiatives suggests the use of a framework, which includes ensuring the adequacy of IT to educational objectives, enabling the use of technology by teachers and students alike, providing a variety of different channels and output measures to cover individuals with special educational needs and ensure the privacy and security of data from malicious use.
The course I undertook as part of my master’s program in IT and education managed to enhance my knowledge of information technology management to a great degree. My current level of progress can be demonstrated using Ogle’s K-W-L model (National Education Association, 2019):
- Know (K). The importance of IT in education, the use of different types of information systems, instruments for sharing, delivering, and storing data, risk management techniques.
- Want to know (W). Specific ways in which different IT is applied to different educational scenarios, ways of implementing IT in a situation with a scarcity of resources, negative sides of using IT in education.
- Learned (L). Efficiency in educational technology management, IT architecture, data governance, cloud computing, networks, data analytics, business intelligence, cybersecurity.
As it is possible to see, the list of subjects I know and learned was expanded significantly when compared to what I knew at the beginning of the course. However, I wish to expand my knowledge even further, adding practical information about specific tools and instruments that could be used to help navigate my future students through classes and increase their levels of understanding and efficiency. Class management software would also be a useful replacement for the typical paperwork tools still implemented in many classes in the US (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2013).
During my studies and future work as an educator, I am likely to consult tech notes regarding how particular devices and software programs operate. Tech notes represent short instructions about the main features and functionality of IT instruments, which is useful in day-to-day implementations of technology (Turban, Pollard, & Wood, 2018).
The reason why tech notes resonated with me is that they do not take much space and do not require you to memorize all the important procedures and sequences, freeing up time and mental space for educational information. Toolboxes and IT at Work solutions are more complex and holistic but are likely to be used in emergencies and situations where in-depth consultation is required.
I believe that great breakthroughs in personal communication will be achieved in the next 20-30 years. As it stands, the main issue is not the ability to send large amounts of data across different channels, but our incapability to provide input and analysis to match the amounts of data received. As it stands, we communicate using words, sounds, and written language (Office of Educational Technology, 2014).
It is a very inefficient method of providing input, slow, laborious, and prone to misinterpretation. It is the reason why education takes so much time and why our governing systems are so slow. Future communication will likely involve direct links between the minds of many people conducting conversations at incredible speeds. Once the analogous system of our biological minds would be made compatible with the binary systems used in our computers, the face of the education would be changed forever. With people being capable of downloading and processing large amounts of data with their minds, the main purpose of the education would switch from simply providing data to teaching how to use it properly.
References
Ackerman, G. L. (2018). Efficacious technology management: A guide for school leaders. Morrisville, NC: Lulu.
Florida Center for Instructional Technology (2013). An educator’s guide to school networks. Web.
National Education Association. (2019). K-W-L (Know, Want to know, Learned). Web.
Office of Educational Technology (2014). Future ready schools: Building technology infrastructure for learning. Web.
Turban, E., Pollard, C., & Wood, G. (2018). Information technology for management: On-demand strategies for performance, growth and sustainability. New York, NY: Wiley Global Education.