Comments on: “You’re fired. I only want people who already know how to do their jobs.”

By: Marshall

Marshall — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

@D
There is not a single problem that I have with the overwhelmed, and those are the people that will be able to work out from that situation because they will be open to new learning. Self-learning with support is much different than being forced away from a comfort zone. Some of our educators (at all levels) really are the underwilling, and that is simply sad. When the joke of yellowing overheads is only a joke then maybe there is some hope to move forward.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Hey,

I very much agree that we need to be teaching our students more than what is in-between the pages, but now that I am on the tech side of things I view things differently. Without going into too much detail just the other day I worked with a class for the entire hour teaching them to create columns in a Word document. Now I think most people would agree that columns is pretty simple function in Word. So why can’t that teacher learn how to use it so he can help his students. I would be glad to teach him, but it is assumed that I will do it…

By: ykim

ykim — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

You are asking an important question. Even though I am a big supporter of the technology use in education, as a parent, I can put up with a teacher who has excellent subject knowledge but no technology skills, but I cannot tolerate the reverse.

By: D

Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I agree that being a self learner is extremely important. If we have a conference or seminar for each new tool or application, we would spend more time training than teaching. I do feel however, that we need to support our colleagues who struggle with technology. Sometimes these folks are simply overwhelmed, not underwilling.

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Perhaps the question should be how to get teachers to embrace technology 10 minutes a day. Prep time includes copying, lesson preparation, grading, e-mailing parents, contacting co-teachers, and if you are lucky a bathroom or coffee (soda) break. Before school; meeting with teachers, committees, and perhaps the principal. After school: meeting with students, bus duty, and school events. Next go home and be part of a family. Sounds like a long list of excuses not to embrace technology, so take just he 10 minutes and add the fact that technology does not always work especially in the public school system. (It takes more than 10 minutes to find the tech to tell them ;if they are in the building ,that yuor need help).
Okay your ten minutes have started…embrace technology and be a self learner!

By: radicalgeek

radicalgeek — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I definitely keep up with the technology, but I know a lot of dedicated educators who do not. It’s not that they don’t care – they simply don’t know how to keep up and learn more. I think we can continue throwing out money on ever more frequent tech training, or we can fix the source of the problem and give teachers the RESOURCES to learn on their own. Here are two things we could easily do to help a lot of teachers:

- Train teachers to use Google Reader, while providing them a list of great tech and ed-tech blogs to start off with.
- Connect teachers to online communities such as Classroom 2.0, which would allow them to seek help and share ideas in a safe environment.

And for those teachers who first need some brush-up on basic computer use, a summer seminar can get them up to speed. Let’s do with teachers what we should be doing more with our students and actually teach them HOW to learn instead of just spoon-feeding all the time.

And don’t tell me some teachers don’t need to learn these skills. I see so much time wasted (during AND out of class), simply because teachers don’t know how to use their technology. I’m not saying we all need SMARTBoards to be effective in the classroom, but in today’s world, you need to be tech literate to be as effective as you could be in nearly ANY field.

Unfortunately, even with all the resources, what incentives are there for the teachers who are NOT as dedicated – who refuse to continue their own education unless forcefully spoon-fed with instructor-driven professional development? It’s hard for me to see them getting fired! They’re ultimately like the students they teach – you can’t get rid of them just because they don’t want to learn. If they put in their time and do the minimum required of them, it seems they’re untouchable.

By: Mr Chips

Mr Chips — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Hi,

I’ve seen the video many, many times. I agree that technology is important in the lives of students but I don’t think it’s the only thing that matters. If we want to teach kids to have a sense of morality, stewardship, passion, creativity, industry – all those things which I think we SHOULD be teaching – then, you know what? You can do all that without touching technology. And who ever said teachers should stop learning? Learning to set up a wiki takes about two minutes. Getting kids to do it takes ten. What’s so impressive about that? I’m not dismissing the importance of technology; but I think it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it is not actually an end in itself.

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Kindergarten teachers do use technology in the classroom daily. Have you ever seen a five or six year old that could not get a DVD player going and get on a computer game without knowing to read, well it happensl everyday. The students expect the teacher to know how to get in touch with parents via e-mail and would love you to skype to relatives. Technology is used in every level of teaching!!!
Now to expect employees to be self learners, of course! »

“You’re fired. I only want people who already know how to do their jobs.”

What a statement…a business that I would not invest my money in. A successful company hires people who are willing to learn the job and then self learn how to do the job more productively. Companies want to hire creative people who are productive workers.
The statement should be…
“You’re fired. I want people who are willing to learn new skills to do their jobs”

By: twitter.com/MrMusselman

twitter.com/MrMusselman — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I suspect that I might hire a teacher with an expert background in subject and teaching practice over another who held a tremendous technology resume but lacked an understanding of the content they were to instruct and assess upon.

There is no doubt an area the shade of gray that any hiring body or official must come to tackle at one point or another. But given the emphasis we have placed on developing 21st century skills into our student’s skill sets, how much should an administrator or search committee weigh an applicants technological aptitude compared to their other merits?

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I couldn’t agree more! I am relatively young, but did not have a computer in my home growing up. I had exactly two computer classes in HS. I took keyboarding on a typewriter! I am now fairly tech savvy and willing to play around and learn and ask questions (even from my students,who know a lot!!)
However, my job in the 12 years I have been a teacher has evolved. I am now required to teach my social studies class (world history from the beginning of time until 1921), bullying prevention, harassment training, diversity, Math and Reading skills (to pass those tests!)and multiple other topics. I also get an average of 10 parent emails/day. Our gradebook is online for parents and students to view – - which means my gradebook needs to be updated multiple times/week or else I get multiple other parent emails. I also update my website daily with PDF files of the assignments we worked on in class. I also check my moodle for student participation and to make sure that participation is school appropriate. When I first started teaching . . . I taught social studies. My grades were due at midquarter and the end of the quarter. I had little contact with parents unless I initiated it. I think a lot of these additions to my job have been helpful for students. There are more students who are successful because of the safety nets technology has made available to them. However, these nets have been woven by me. They take a lot of time. So, if I am not as up to date on every new technology the day after it is created, I don’t think I need to be fired.

Technology is a tool. If someone doesn’t know how to use the tool, but are willing to learn, let’t teach them how to use it. We do need to be aware of the pressures of the job, however.