http://www.nabt.org/blog/2009/06/10/twenty-of-my-favorite-things/ A Biology Teaching Community Sun, 11 Nov 2012 04:35:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.nabt.org/blog/2009/06/10/twenty-of-my-favorite-things/comment-page-1/#comment-57 rheyden Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:43:47 +0000 http://www.nabt.org/blog/?p=528#comment-57 HI Patsye! Great to see you here. And I see that, among other things, you and I share taste in musicals. La la! Well, you've hit the $64,000 question (or is it the multimillion $ question these days?). Why are teachers so resistant? Why indeed? I've certainly experienced the resistance that you describe and it mystifies me too. Best I can figure is that it's some combination of fear of the unknown (always makes us twitchy), time pressure (as in, I don't have enough), and worrying about loosing control. For each individual, no doubt, the mix is different, but it's a similar cocktail. Maybe with these reluctant folks we can try to tackle the pain sources one at a time....#1. fear of the unknown is conquered by knowing. And I'm sure you've found, as I have, that it takes more than a one-hour fly-by workshop to learn new tools. It takes practice and regular, ready help from a knowledgeable guide. But it also takes a bit of courage and just wading in. #2. Not enough time is best addressed by pointing out the way these new tools and their affordances can save someone time (in the long run). My favorite example of that is class blogging. #3. Loss of control. This is the trickiest one because if a teacher really wants to be the sage on the stage, these new ways of teaching will not be a good fit. Web 2.0 tools are all about active, constructivist learning with students as producers and not consumers. So if a teacher's reluctance is lodged in this section, it might be best to move on to a more ready recipient of your time and talent. HI Patsye! Great to see you here. And I see that, among other things, you and I share taste in musicals. La la! Well, you’ve hit the $64,000 question (or is it the multimillion $ question these days?). Why are teachers so resistant? Why indeed? I’ve certainly experienced the resistance that you describe and it mystifies me too. Best I can figure is that it’s some combination of fear of the unknown (always makes us twitchy), time pressure (as in, I don’t have enough), and worrying about loosing control. For each individual, no doubt, the mix is different, but it’s a similar cocktail. Maybe with these reluctant folks we can try to tackle the pain sources one at a time….#1. fear of the unknown is conquered by knowing. And I’m sure you’ve found, as I have, that it takes more than a one-hour fly-by workshop to learn new tools. It takes practice and regular, ready help from a knowledgeable guide. But it also takes a bit of courage and just wading in. #2. Not enough time is best addressed by pointing out the way these new tools and their affordances can save someone time (in the long run). My favorite example of that is class blogging. #3. Loss of control. This is the trickiest one because if a teacher really wants to be the sage on the stage, these new ways of teaching will not be a good fit. Web 2.0 tools are all about active, constructivist learning with students as producers and not consumers. So if a teacher’s reluctance is lodged in this section, it might be best to move on to a more ready recipient of your time and talent.

]]> http://www.nabt.org/blog/2009/06/10/twenty-of-my-favorite-things/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Patsye Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:04:24 +0000 http://www.nabt.org/blog/?p=528#comment-55 Sound of Music is included in my list of "These are a few of my favorite things"! Thanks for this list - it is really helpful. Unfortunately I don't have anything to add to it yet. I am just building my own comfort zone with Web 2.0. I have a question though, about why adults are so resistant to these things. I work with alt. cert. teachers, and I can barely get them to post on the class wiki or comment on the blog. If I can learn this stuff at my age, why do you think the younger teachers don't embrace it more fully? Sound of Music is included in my list of “These are a few of my favorite things”! Thanks for this list – it is really helpful. Unfortunately I don’t have anything to add to it yet. I am just building my own comfort zone with Web 2.0. I have a question though, about why adults are so resistant to these things. I work with alt. cert. teachers, and I can barely get them to post on the class wiki or comment on the blog. If I can learn this stuff at my age, why do you think the younger teachers don’t embrace it more fully?

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