So What Does This Have to Do With My Classroom?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:30:08 GMT

Over the last few weeks I have been investigating Master’s degree programs because I decided it’s time to get started. After quite a bit of researching I found a program I am really excited about – a Master’s in Technology in Schools. So now begins the paperwork process I’m sure we’re all familiar with. My chosen university needs: a (long) application, my GRE score, my resumé, 2 letters of recommendation, a “statement of purpose”, the FASFA, and my undergrad transcripts.

I can fill out the application on the university web site, register for my GRE online, send 2 people the address where they can email a recommendation, upload my resumé and “statement of purpose,” and have my tax information automatically sent to the FASFA online form. Then there’s the transcript.

I went to the web site of my undergraduate university to figure out how to request a transcript and found out that I have two options: print off and mail them a form and a check or go to campus and hand them the form and the check.

For some reason I am incredibly irritated about this. Why can’t I just do it online?? Here are the (admittedly silly) obstacles I now have to getting my transcript:

- I don’t have a printer at home… the only time I print things is for school, and I use the school printer
- I don’t have stamps… I never mail anything
- I don’t have envelopes… again, I never mail anything
- I DO have 2 young children… going places can be and issue

But, the solution with the fewest obstacles is that I have to go campus, which means I have to load up both kids, drive to campus, unload the kids, walk to the office, stand in line, fill out the form, write the check, then reverse.

That may not seem like a huge inconvenience to some people, but in contrast to the fantasy I have of sitting down at my computer at 11 pm, typing in my name and debit card number, and being done, it really seems like a lot to ask.

So what does this have to do with my classroom?

Well, I am way less digital than the 13 year olds in my classroom. If having to complete one simple task with a pencil and paper seems so “old school” and irritating to ME, imagine how my ultra-digital students feel when I ask them to do a task “the old way” when they can envision 5 different ways that they could do it faster, more easily, and have more fun if I would only let them use technology!

I can’t use computers in my classroom every day for every task – we aren’t one-to-one, we only have 42 minutes, and sometimes we have connectivity issues to name a few of the challenges. But if I want my kids to be engaged and feel like what I want them to do is relevant to their lives, then I have to design my lessons for the way they live. (And maybe be more forgiving when they don’t have a pencil – school is the only place they EVER use one).

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So What Does This Have to Do With My Classroom?