The Dread of Joining the Instructional Technology Bandwagon

The Dread of Technology

Even though I consider myself quite tech savvy, having used technology my whole life and experimented and utilized various Web 2.0 tools in my teaching, it felt quite daunting to use the Google Hangouts tool at first because I hadn't participated in one before. So as you can imagine, the idea of arranging and starting a hangout was really intimidating. However, as soon as I was over the learning curve, it was quite simple and almost second nature.

Looking at it from another angle, perhaps it was merely connecting with other second language teaching professionals through a synchronous online medium which was scary. I am typically someone who spends time making connections and maintaining my own learning networks either by speaking to colleagues whom I know very well face-to-face or by asynchronously communicating through email behind a veil of "anonymity" or by having a one-sided "dialogue" with other language teaching professionals and authors by reading their books and research. In the mediums mentioned earlier, a safety net is always there whether it be due to familiarity (as in the case of face-to-face conversations with colleagues of the same school) or anonymity (as in the case of email or reading works of others). It is the face-to-face synchronous medium that eliminates the sense of security - there is no where to hide and what unfolds may be quite unpredictable!

Have you ever had stage fright?!

I guess the closest analogy I can think of is the dread someone feels when speaking in public for the first time or performing on a stage for the first time. When you know you have to face others face-to-face, the feeling of dread or having butterflies in your stomach is always there and only is lessened through experience - but never disappears!  
 
As a group, we did not face many challenges using Google Hangout: as soon as we scheduled a meeting time via Yammer chat, we all met at the appointed time and had a really fruitful discussion about the pedagogical, logistical, and feasibility issues relating to using online or blended learning in the classroom. The unfamiliar interface and learning where each app was and what each button did was perhaps the only challenge. 

What fascinated me was how much we were alike in our views and experiences in implementing online and blended learning models: generally speaking we all conveyed that we doing our best to set up online/blended learning environments that are tailored for our specific teaching environment and described the deficiencies of our current environments, yet we acknowledged that the ideal environment that we aspire for is logistically unfeasible, whether it be due to financial, time, or technological constraints. We all echoed how most of the tools that would deliver the best experiences and results for online/blended learning are either too expensive or perhaps too difficult to manage, integrate, and learn.   

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Instructional Technology - Just Another Bandwagon?

Personally, I think the dread of the unknown is perhaps the greatest obstacle preventing teachers from trying something new. Veteran teachers are often trapped in their own pedagogical practices that they have been accustomed to - for they believe that the way they have always done it is the way it should always be done. When people call from bandwagons and advocate for the adoption of a "powerful innovative brand new solution to all your teaching needs proven to provide quick and enormous results" they look at it with a very critical eye.

That being said, often times teachers feel a sense of despair from the lack of guidance from experts in the field on how to best teach their students as well as a sense of disillusionment from the reality of the classroom. The combined sense of despair and disillusionment cause many teachers to reluctantly succumb to joining the bandwagon not knowing where it will take them. Grittner (1990) does a great job describing the origin of bandwagons in second language education and attributes it a gap or a void in leadership or authority - one between theory and practice: second language experts and researchers often cannot relate to the day-to-day realities of teachers and pedagogical bandwagons, trends, and fads with their great promises and claims tend to fill this void. 

The emotion I am trying to describe is best captured in the words of this teacher: 

And now the barker calls to us again. We want very much to listen because we are beset with problems: declining enrollments, constricted job opportunities, curtailed financial support. But we are more cautious this time. We want to examine the rhetoric before we hop onto yet another bandwagon. So, we ask, "Why should I individualize?" And the catch phrases and glib  promises dance temptingly before us. (Disick, 1973, p. 248)

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Instructional technology, online-teaching, and blended-learning are just a few more bandwagons that many teachers feel the need and urgency to jump on and give it a try. Unless you are a risk-taker and can venture into the unknown, you will be left behind. Moreover, if you are too critical of technology, you may miss your chance to hop on and acquire any whatever riches lie at the end of the journey. 

Are you ready to jump on the "technological/online/blended learning" bandwagon? Why or why not? Share your comments below! :)

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References:

Disick, R. S. (1973). Guest Editorial: Individualized Instruction: Promise versus Reality.The Modern Language Journal, 57(5/6), 248–250. doi:10.2307/323724

Grittner, F. (1990). Bandwagons revisited: A perspective on movements in foreign language education. In D. W. Birckbichler (Ed.), New perspectives and new directions in foreign language education (pp. 9–43). National Textbook Co.

Images: 

http://singingtatsujin.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/causes-of-stage-fright.jpg

http://esheninger.blogspot.ca/2012/08/jumping-on-bandwagon.html

http://goobs-says.blogspot.ca/2011/11/why-i-dislike-certain-technophobes.html