In this blog I will look at the final one of my 3 key points to good tech use in classrooms and at home – Training for Teachers and Students.
今天的博客我將關注‘高科技在教室’的最後一點----老師和學生的培訓。
Let’s start with an easy question to answer: Should primary school students be trained to use PCs, tablets and smart phones as part of their classroom lessons at school?
Yes, they should.
首先，一個簡單的問題：我們應該在學校的課堂上培訓小學生使用電腦，平板電腦以及智慧手機嗎？？
是的，應該。
We always think that given a new phone, every kid is a whiz. You can see kids on their smartphones everywhere, using new apps we adults are only dimly aware of. Primary school students are already well-versed in social media use. For many, it is their preferred choice of communication between friends.
But inside the classroom, it appears different when kids face an assigned device. This tech confidence DOES NOT translate over from home life to school life.
我們總是覺得孩子們在面對新科技時通常都會無師自通般聰明。你經常在路上看到小朋友玩電話，使用一些你從無耳聞的新app。 小學生對社交媒體也已非常精通，這是他們朋友圈之間的第一交際。
但是在教室裡，情況變得有所不同。在日常生活中對於科技的自信並不能被帶入學校生活。
Two years ago I first introduced tablet use into my P4 lessons for self-directed study / guided reading lessons. The first thing I noticed was the reticence of students to press anything without first asking me or my co-teacher. How strange! I was expecting chaos in the classroom but now they seem so scared of diving into the tablets?
I found 2 answers as to why this was the case.
兩年前我第一次將平板電腦帶入教室，希望能加強四年紀生的自學和閱讀能力。我注意到他們突然變得猶豫不決，在問過我或助教之前不會按下任何按鍵。這是多麼奇怪呢！我本以為這節課會變得很瘋狂，可他們卻對手裡的平板電腦害怕起來？
我想有兩個癥結所在。
The device. At that time, my school didn’t have iPads. Our tablets were Lenovo. I had never used these tablets before and neither had my students. The format and design was unfamiliar to us.
Secondly, kids have a natural disposition to not want to make mistakes, particularly in a peer-pressure setting such as a classroom. Kids don’t want to look foolish in front of their friends and classmates so they become more careful on the given devices.
這部平板電腦。那時學校使用的是聯想平板電腦並非ipads。和我的學生一樣，我們很少接觸這個款式的平板電腦， 所以對構造和設計並不熟悉。
第二個原因是小朋友們在教室這樣有壓力的設定環境中並不希望犯錯誤。他們並不想 在朋友和同班同學面前丟臉因而變得小心翼翼。
Later in that class, I spent 10 minutes working the new tablets out with the students. They gave me suggestions, and I tapped on the screen to see what happened. It was fun that we discovered together. The Lenovo tablet was just as easy as using an iPad regardless of the interface difference. We just needed some time to practice and learn. From there on, the class went great again.
So, YES! Students need sufficient training to give them the confidence to begin learning to use technology to help them learn.
這節課 的後半段，我花了10分鐘時間和學生一起研究了一下新的平板電腦。他們給我指示，我來按鍵然後看看會發生什麼。等到我們發現除了在介面上有些許不同之外，其他都是一樣簡單。我們只需要一點時間去練習和發現。然後課堂又變得很棒。
所以，學生們需要時間來培訓並練就掌握科技的自信以更好的輔佐他們的學習。
And what about teachers? Do we need training in how to use technology?
Yes. I believe so.
那麼老師們需要培訓使用高科技的能力嗎？
我相信是需要的。
I used to be a badge-carrying technophobe. Born in the 70s, I was finishing my education as the Internet was truly arriving. And I had never had any formal training in how to type or use a computer and I also had very little use in using them.
About 8 years ago, when I was given a computer during the time I was teaching in Japan, I started properly teaching myself about Word, Excel, then Powerpoint. I felt pleased with myself.
我曾經是一個典型的科技恐懼患者。出生在70年代的我在網路降臨的時候已經畢業了。所以我從來沒有接受過正式的教學，包括打字或使用一台電腦。而我也很少有機會使用到電腦。
大約8年前，那時我還在日本教書，他們給了我一台電腦。以此我教會了自己Word, Excel 和 Powerpoint。對於這個自學成果我感到非常慶倖。
Nowadays, the technology industry is growing in an unbelievable way. A couple of years ago, I discovered that the new version of Powerpoint could convert a presentation into a video with sound track and animations. I began to watch youtube tutorials to teach myself about video making through Powerpoint. It took some time but the results, for a technophobe like me… were astonishing. On English broadcast days at my school, I sometimes play storytelling videos I have made or silly clips to encourage students to use the English room more often. They are usually very well received ;-) This encourages me a lot to learn more techniques and to use technology in all aspects of my teaching.
(All videos are available to watch here)
現今的科技正在迅猛地發展著。幾年前，我又發現最新版本的Powerpoint 可以將一個簡單的演講格式加上音效和動畫使其變成一個視頻。我開始查看一些youtube上的教學練習自學視頻的製作。這花了我不少時間，但結果，對於我這樣一個科技恐懼患者，是非常驚豔的。我經常在學校的英語廣播日中播放自製的講故事視頻，亦或者一些鼓勵學生多使用英語教室的小片段。這些視頻變得非常受歡迎。這也鼓勵了我在教學的各個領域多學習一些技術。
(所有視頻均可點擊下面的連結觀看）
Now looking back, I realize I’ve spent quite a lot of time on researching and learning new tech by myself. I used to be quite slow at it, but now I seem to be able to navigate quickly around the Internet (it doesn’t take long to find a tutorial in youtube!) It’s all about self-learning skills, which is also an important lesson we’d like children to learn. With my self-training experience, I learned a lot, about how to use different software, about how to motivate kids to self-learn - and about how to format a structure of teaching to increase my students self-learning abilities.
回頭看我發現我前後花了好多時間研究和學習新技能。以前學習地通常都比較慢，但現在我能更快地在網上搜尋到。（比如在youtube上面找教學視頻非常簡單！）這關乎自學的能力；而這也是我們需要教給學生們很重要的一課。有了自學的經驗，我不僅學到了不同的軟體，同時也學到了如何鼓勵學生自學，以及如何制定一個教學結構和規劃來提高學生們的自學能力。
So do teachers need training on technology?
Yes certainly.
But by whom?
所以老師們需要關於高科技的培訓嗎？
當然需要。
但是誰來培訓呢？
If you have time and find the proper organizations, go for it. There are so many advanced tools out there that might help you on material preparation, in-class teaching or extra-curricular activities.
And you can also learn pretty much anything and everything by yourself online now. Usually for free. You know what types of tools that can benefit you the best, in a simple and efficient manner. And you know your students best too! So it’s completely up to you to combine what’s needed and apply it to your classes and students.
Teachers should be given the opportunity to become that one thing we are now asking of even our primary students - to become more confident, more independent, and more self-directed learners.
Thank you!
如果你有時間和找的到很好的培訓機構，那麼試試看吧。備課，上堂，以及課外活動，你都能找到相應的非常好的工具來幫助你提高效率。
你也可以在網路自學，通常情況下可以是免費的。你最知道哪種簡單高效的工具適合我。你也最瞭解你的學生們。所以你可以自己決定將哪種工具和課堂教學整合在一起。
在教導我們的學生這件事之前，我們應該首先自己學會做一個自信，獨立和自主的學習者。
謝謝！