It was interesting to read the theories presented in the articles, viewing them through a non-educational lens. I was able to apply them to both my current career and what I anticipate my role will be like as an educator. Being able to apply the theories to both careers allowed me to draw some unexpected parallels between both roles. This gave me insight into the some of the thoughts and attitudes of people in my current profession and helped me to think about how I can adopt technology in my own classroom in an effective manner.
As the theories relate to my current job, I particularly liked Rogers's theory of the Adoption Process. Working in television/digital communications, technology can be fairly complex and is ever changing. As one would think, this type of work draws in people who are adept at using technology. After reading his Adoption Process, I can see how this can also apply to the subset of technically inclined professionals. The categories of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards was of particular interest (Rogers, 1963). I have noticed these characteristics in colleagues over the years. Some are quick to adopt and want to be on the bleeding edge, while others are very comfortable in their current technology with little, to no, desire to change. Being resistant to change is a danger in both the field of communications and education. In both professions, the lack of moving, changing, and growing, makes a person become stale in their skill-set and run the risk of becoming irrelevant in their profession.
The concept of deep learning was of particular interest to me in regards to what I hope will be my future role as an educator. Being on the outside looking in, so to speak, I have been big proponent of having students apply their knowledge. Coming from a professional, and technical, background I have noticed that students seem to grasp concepts better when they can put them into practice. For example, it's one thing to learn about how to mix audio in a classroom; it is another skill entirely when tasked with mixing for live television. The deep learning concept takes it farther by not just applying the skills, but also encouraging the desire to grow and learn more beyond the classroom (Fullen
& Langworthy, 2014). This method of teaching would help to both foster the growth of new students/professionals and hopefully dissuade their propensity to resist effective use of new technology later in their lives/careers.
No matter the role of an individual, adopting new technologies is almost essential in order to function in modern society. As this relates to education specifically, this cannot be understated. Students are growing up with technologies that did not exist when we were children. Not properly implementing technology in their learning environment is doing them a major disservice, potentially hindering their desire to learn.
Resources:
Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75. Retrieved from http://www.joe.org/joe/1963summer/1963-2-a2.pdf
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf
Being resistant to change is a big problem in education. It was interesting to hear that its a problem in your profession as well. I often share with my coworkers that we cannot teach the way that we were taught 25 years ago. We must adapt to what interests them the most. I guest resistance to change exist eveywhere especially in a professional setting.
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