Technology and me…

Tony_Cassidy — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:46:56 +0000

Just a personal reflection on the impact that technology has had on my professional life over the last ten years in my present teaching establishment.

Infrastructure

I’m lucky to work in a school where we have a stable network, that has been maintained and developed over the last ten years by a great set of support staff.

1999	2009
One admin computer within the faculty	Computer in every classroom
	DVD drives within all computers
	Internet access, mostly unfiltered
	Data projector in every classroom
	Humanities computer suite
	External access to documents
	External school email
	External access to programmes, including Sims
	VLE?

Still to be persuaded on the VLE- but I’m keeping an open mind.

Administration

Technology has had a huge impact on the time needed to complete administration tasks.

1999	2009
Paper notes taken during briefings	Daily emailed bulletin
Paper register	Electronic Sims Registration
Typed yearly reports	Sims termly progress checks
	Sims yearly generated reports
Paper based pastoral referral system	Sims behaviour management system
Paper based classroom mark sheet	Excel mark sheet

Teaching and Learning

How I prepare to teach, and the media I use when teaching, have been influenced by technology.

1999	2009
Lesson research mainly paper based, textbooks, newspapers, journals	Lesson research mainly online
Paper-based lesson planner	Lessons electronically stored and adapted
Paper-based schemes of work	Electronic schemes of work- hyperlinked to resources
OHP and Chalk board	Data Projector and Interactive Whiteboard
Student work mainly paper based	Access to technology allows students to produce outcomes using a variety of media
Submission of paper- based work	Electronic submission of work, mentoring of students via email
	Use of blogging as an extended learning resource
	Sharing of resources via the Internet

Though technology has changed the format and materials I use to ‘present’ lessons, access to I.C.T. resources still limits the experimental type learning that I would like to use within the classroom.

Professional Development

1999	2009
Mainly local, through ex-PGCE colleagues	A variety of scales through web-platforms such as websites, blogs, and Twitter.

One of the greatest impacts of technology upon my professional development over the last ten years, has been the ability to access the resources and views of other practitioners.

It leaves me reflecting on the impact that technology might have over the next ten years…

Tony Cassidy » Technology

Technology and me…