Technology Assessments

Blog Posting #1

First and foremost, I feel that assessing the knowledge and skills in technology for educators’ and students is critical to learning. It is the backbone of how to understand where you as well as your students are in their performance.

As educators, we need to make we are aware of our own capabilities in the classroom. If more than half of the faculty is not up to date with new technology, this would create a problem. The necessary training would need to be enforced before we are responsible for working with particular technology. My school last year bought interactive whiteboards from a company that unfortunately did not offer an on-site training. Only a handful of teachers including myself knew how to upload the software, calibrate the icons and complete all needed responsibilities before we were able to use them. Since majority of the faculty was not current with how to use the new material, it can be very challenging if you do not have the appropriate training. An assessment could have possibly changed the outcome to this situation.

As for students, they play a crucial role in what type of material should be purchased in a classroom. An exaggerated amount of money spent on items that students would have difficulty understanding would be meaningless especially if they do not have the advanced skills. Material needs to mold what can easily fit the students’ needs.

I feel that an assessment for educators and students can really give your insight to what someone already does or does not know about technology. The pro to an assessment is that it lets you see the big picture of how you need to go about preparing the future of your students. Like many high school level private schools in my district, lab tops are the main form of note-taking. It would important to make sure that the teacher knows their own great deal of technology in order to guide their students. As always, the disadvantage of doing a written assessment is that anyone can fill out answers and color in circles. Sometimes, you need to see hands-on what an educator or student knows.

As you can see, I feel that assessments are necessary and can show an accurate account of what background people have in technology. It can truly shape a school, but also can have a negative outcome if training and hands-on interaction is not used to its full advantage.