The Traveling Teacher Blog! Post 1 – Technology Autobiography

The Traveling Teacher Blog

Welcome to the Traveling Teacher Blog.  This blog will explore questions and themes surrounding technology use in schools.  In this first blog, you will learn all about my personal and professional experiences with technology.  Please feel free to click on the link below to read and listen to the first episode of my mini book series which accompanies the blog text.  Enjoy!

https://read.bookcreator.com/TDbZbMy7YDZPcKIVXoLzqzoDTIC3/35cY2E_JSxqT4DPJUOHXpg

I was born in the 1980s and growing up, I had the privilege of having access to technology both at home and in school.  I am 1 of 5 children and spent many evenings fighting with my siblings over television shows, game consoles and computer time.  We regularly fought over the following games:

 

In 1989, Sky TV was launched in Scotland which provided young people and adults with access to American television shows that were not readily available on UK stations.  My siblings and I regularly watched the following shows:

 

At school, technology also started to shape the way that I learned about the world around me.  I mention in my mini book that every classroom in school had 1 computer for students to use as a result of legislation brought in by the Scottish Government:

 

I perceived the lesson activities connected to technology as a break from traditional subject areas such as English, Mathematics and Science.  I wanted to explore this thought more so read the first chapter of The Children’s Machine by Seymour Papert.  This book was published in 1993 which fits in with the timeframe of my primary education as I am keen to learn more about what educational research focused on during this time.  The image below is a page from this book:

 

The following sentence stood out to me: “Any adult who thinks these games are easy need only sit down and try to master one.” (Papert,1993, p.4).  The view that using game technology in schools is not conducive to effective learning is one that arguably still exists today.  Perceptions and assumptions continue to play a major role in decision making, which further highlights the need for stakeholders to turn to educational researchers in order to make informed decisions for school communities to drive change forwards.

As I progressed throughout school, I had access to more opportunities to use technology in different curricular areas.  By the time I sat A-Level examinations (Advanced Placement), using technology to complete coursework was required.  This was the same throughout my undergraduate experience.  Classes I took largely operated under a traditional individual essay assignment model and the expectation was that all assignments had to be turned in electronically.

After graduating and obtaining my teacher license, I began teaching Secondary Social Studies.  Throughout my teaching career, the way that technology is used in schools has changed an immense amount.  At the start of my career, overhead projectors and write-on transparency film were commonly used to share information with students.  This was replaced by smartboards and more recently, a wide variety of online platforms including Seesaw, the Google Suite and YouTube.  The next stage of technology in education will without a doubt be an exciting one as we continue to find new ways to research and record information.

Thank you for reading and look out for my next post!

#AllAboutMe #TechTuesdays

University of Richmond Honor Code

“I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance during the completion of this work.”

N. Sturrock

 

Bibliography

90sFandom (2010, September). 1990s Fandom.  Retrieved August 30th, 2024, from http://90s TV shows in the United States | 90s TV Show Intros Across the World Wiki | Fandom.

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Image Generator) http://imagenerator.openai.com.

Papert, S. (1993). The Children’s Machine. (pp.4) New York: BasicBooks.