Readings – Pedagogy before Technology

The fact that we had to read and watch various works to respond to this has helped give me a full perspective on the topic of technology in learning. I will admit that before reading and synthesizing all this information, I had a terrible view on technology in education. I focused on the negative ways in which teenagers use technology, rather than seeing it the way I do now: technology is neither good nor bad, it simply just is. While I read these works together, one after the other, I realized that I was viewing technology as a stain on our thinking, holding us back from achieving independence and freedom of thinking, and, as mentioned in the Mindset List, being told what to do and what to think before they even knew it themselves, rather than using technology to advance and create as suggested in the updated Bloom’s Taxonomy.

I feel grateful that we have these conversations about technology because as a classroom teacher, I often shared with my students how technology was so “bad” for them, and to be fair, most of them agreed with me. However, a lot of students also just heard me say that and looked at me as if to say “Ok Boomer,” because to them, it’s a fact of their life. It’s something that they are used to since they were born. They have seen it all throughout their lives. Technology is just a part of them. Of course, most students don’t use it for educational purposes, but they do use it to make their life easier, faster, simpler, more attainable. I think the biggest shift in my perspective of technology is that as an English teacher, technology can harm their thinking and writing skills, especially with AI tools like ChatGPT, but as a librarian, I am excited to shift my point of view into being more open to change and how technology can be used for learning.

I believe that a big factor into this old perspective of how technology harms learning is the lack of guidance on how to use it properly. Being exposed to carefully constructed websites to help in the positive process of learning through technology tools such as Educause’s Toolkit K-12 Blueprint and Kathy Schrock’s website was a huge game changer! Both of these websites were immediately bookmarked for future purposes. We can reframe this way of thinking and use of technology by simply having great mentors and guidance like the ones I mentioned. A lot of us that didn’t grow up with technology and are learning as we go need some sort of map and help on how to navigate them,especially in the classroom so that we can use it to our students’ advantage. However, it should be noted that I believe these technology tools should be used for learning, and aren’t really a foundation that we build upon. I still strongly believe that we need to do our own thinking on our own, but of course, it’d be great to use technology tools to help expand that knowledge, not use them as a foundation. The centering of the tools in the foundation may take away from the independence and critical thinking to the point where we rely on it for doing anything. I believe, either way, regardless of whether tech tools are seen as an aide or a foundation to learning, it all depends on the field of study one is in. As I mentioned in the paragraphs above, as a classroom teacher, I was opposed to technology use because some students use certain tools to do the thinking and writing for them, rather than as an aid.

However, in the library media specialist world, technology can be viewed as such an incredible tool. Whether it be for research, databases, accessing literacy, creation through printing and coding, etc. I believe that the use of it is absolutely essential, and we must learn all we can about it so that we can adapt with all its changes and help give our students an advantage of keeping up with all the technology tools and how to best use them. If we don’t change and adapt with the new tools, we will fall behind in our exposure to the future and won’t be able to give our students the right tools to assist them in learning. I want to make it one of my goals for the library community to share these ways of using technology tools for the better. Just as I was taught through these readings and guided with ideas, I want to do the same for the teachers on my campus so that we can all stop this narrative of how technology is only bad for our students, but rather help them use it to their full potential for better learning. 

References Churches, Andrew. (2008). Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. Common Sense Education. Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy [Video]. https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/blooms-digital-taxonomy Schrock, Kathy. 2025 February. Kathy Schrock’s guide to everything. https://www.kathyschrock.net/home The First Marist Mindset List is Released. Marist University. https://www.marist.edu/w/marist-news-the-first-marist-mindset-list-is-released Tools and Resources to Drive Your Technology Initiatives. K-12 Blueprint. https://www.k12blueprint.com/toolkits