Introduction to Technology in Education

The 'Intro to Tech Education' is part of a masters course for Media Studies.  Although not primarily aimed at grade school teaching, it introduces different levels of tech integration for both learners and instructors. Most of us are comfortable learning to perform a familiar task using new technology, it makes us more efficient.  We are also open to using familiar technology in a different way and provide us with more options. However, this course pushes educators to use new technology to perform some previously unimaginable tasks. That is where it gets uncomfortable. And teachers are unlikely to want to put themselves into a situation where they are experimenting with something new (a possible failure) in front of a class.

The weekly assignment consisted of making a Pecha Kucha presentation, sharing it with an online group, taking questions and recording the joint session.  The whole thing made me uncomfortable because, not only did I have no idea what 'Pecha Kucha' was, but I was anxious to have others see and record my ignorance. I Googled "Pecha Kucha', used Slides to make a presentation, and set up a time to make a group video call on Hangouts. My anxiety only increased.  I really didn't know what I was getting into.  I was only pretending to know what I was doing for the sake of my group.

[My Pecha Kucha presentation is on a visit to the out-of-the-way abandoned Buzludzha monument in Bulgaria. We had sketchy directions, heavy snow and no obvious way in... but the effort was definitely worth it.  What a place!]

I prepared as much as possible before hand. I was ready...but very nervous. We  all remember that presentation that failed, where the video refused to play, the connection dropped, the system crashed.  So much could go wrong.... and did! My group didn't get the Hangouts invite, the picture kept disappearing, the recording stopped after 10 minutes and started replaying, the sound went off, and there was a lot of waiting for different group members to get it together. I totally understand why many teachers don't want to go there.  When technology fails then it wastes time and resources, forcing us back to the drawing board. So why try?  Why not stick with what we know?

We must believe that the effort in the end is worth it, because we are effectively "leveling up" our objectives and starting to broaden our expectations.  I not only got through the assignment (our group received full marks), but I felt like I had gained experience points and joined a higher rank.  One comment made by the instructor was about how we were there for each other, helping out our group-mates and collaborating with shared know-how.  The final result was more than enough to empower us to take on more new challenges, and to see where they will take us. If you stay with what you know works, you never find the unimaginable.