It sounds so overwhelming but we, as teachers, are expected to be technologically advanced as the technology advances. It is difficult to keep up with all the changes but how are we to keep up with it?
Since 'Personal Computer' was introduced in the 1980's the technology has advanced at faster rate than ever before. Since then, NZ government has been enforcing the use of technology in education. (Brown, 1998) However well or badly it was incorporated into education, one cannot object to the fact that it is taking a big part of teaching nowadays.
I remember learning about DOS back in the early 90's when I was in elementary school. Then came the Windows, WWW and now, Web 2.0. I must admit, some of the technology content was overwhelming for me and I have struggled - and still am - to keep myself updated with some aspects of new technology.
I'm now learning about the use of Web 2.0 and I do see the benefit of delivering Science content via interactive interface. However, what I'm more worried about, is how I'm going to keep up with all the new technology to come. It can be predicted that what is to come will be overwhelmingly hasty than ever. Are teachers expected to be updated with all of these changes?
I remember back in my uni days, purchasing a ZIP disk which was then new technology - it was great as it could store nearly 100 floppy disk worth of data. However, the popularity was soon overridden by still popular USB drive and not even a trace of ZIP disk can be seen these days (well, that's not entirely true, I know, but it can hardly be seen). Like so, one could never be able to predict how successful a new technology would be. Is it worth learning and familiarising with new technologies then? Is the effort and time (and possibly money) going to be paid off?
For me, it still remains as a question hoping the time will provide a solution.
Reference
Brown, M. E. (1998). The use of computers in New Zealand schools: A critical review. Computers in New Zealand Schools, 10(3). 3-9
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