Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Using technology for class management

Furthering my previous post on using technology in the classroom. I wanted to find out about the use of technology for managing the class: syllabus, handouts, lesson plans, project rubrics etc. Are teachers using a platform that gives the students and parents access to the requirements and schedule for the class. I visited two local high school websites and went through each of the social studies departments. What was found was quite surprising. Either the schools do not utilize technology at all or there is another off-cite place that the teachers are using. Of the fourteen teachers websites that I visited only two were being utilized at even a minimal level. Most were one paragraph introductions to the teacher and class with the rest of the site blank. There were links for blogs, paperwork, discussions, etc. but all were blank.

This left me to wonder. Is the Classroom 2.0 technology that we are learning not thought of as being useful by established educators? Or, am I actually ahead of the learning curve?