ITSE Response

According to Orwell,  “Big Brother is always watching.” This may seem a bit over the top with regards to technology in education but this blogger needed to set the tone right off the bat. Is technology a good element to ingratiate into education? Sure, but there are potential pitfalls and risks involved when ingratiating technology into education.

The ITSE (International Society for Technology in Education) is a non-profit group designed to bring about changes in the way in which teaching is done. The ITSE is not a technological lobbying group set to dismiss the concerns of the luddites found in education, rather they are an advocacy group promoting the greater use of technology in the classroom.

By offering conferences and professional development to educators the ITSE hopes to provide a broader set of pedagogical tools to its teachers. Educators, hopefully, will be able to transfer their knowledge of technology pedagogies, garnered by the ITSE, and implement them into their lesson plans. A red flag occurs when the technology does not coincide with an effective teacher’s established style.

Thinking along the lines of Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, if students learn in varying ways which lead to success can in not be assumed that educators do the same with their teaching? Basically, what may be effective for one educator may not be for another; herein lays a potential pitfall with a full speed ahead notion to technology integration in the classroom. In some cases, technology may limit a certain type of teacher’s effectiveness.

The goal of the ITSE, it seems, would be to eliminate a concern that would relegate teachers to the rear while pushing technology to the front. Ideally, the ITSE would advocate for a transition that gradually implements technology to coincide with the effective nature of an established teacher. In theory this sounds wonderful but in practice this educators worries if the ITSE will always be watching in what ways technology is implemented.