Re: Are teachers really so unwilling to learn?

[rnd@sampo.karelia.ru]

On Wed, 22 Sep 1999 bickiia@earlham.edu wrote:

>rnd@sampo.karelia.ru wrote:
>>and to have enough money they  need  to  teach  25-33  academic
>>hours a week...
>
>Do you think it's just the effort involved that keeps them from wanting
>to learn more? (which is understandable, and maybe even noble, if it

Hmmm... Usually they want. But when it comes to actual learning,
most seem to be tired too soon...

>means taking time from doing other sorts of class preparation)  Are they
>reluctant to approach something outside of their chosen subject? (I
>don't know what level your school is at, or what sort of specialization
>there is)  Are they just intimidated by computers?

Some of them - yes.

>>However,  they  like  it  very  much  when   something   called
>>"Telecommunications for Teachers", "Computer for Teachers", etc
>>is given to them for easy reading.
>
>Do these sorts of readings distinguish themselves by being fairly easy
>reading, or do they really concentrate a lot on technology from a

Mmmm... Usually they concentrate on  understanding  principles,
explaining things in easier language,  so  readers  could  have
fun.

>teaching perspective?  Hopefully enjoyable (or at least passably
>approachable) reading can also fit together with meaningful and
>educational.  Knowing what they enjoy reading is important.
>
>I also wonder if there's some way to get them learning something while
>they do normal activities.  How teachers use the computers differs from
>place to place, but you don't burden them much if you can take something
>they normally do and make it a bit more educational.  Like HOWTO guides
>(which are usually very skill-oriented) that have asides about the more
>general issues involved, so if they learn to upload a web page they
>don't just learn that all web page files should end in .html, but *why*
>that's so.  Maybe a way to make their computer experience a bit richer,
>without making it much longer.

Well. I know teachers  who  WANT  to  learn.  They  have  Linux
server, they upload pages, they know many  basic  things  about
technology, but they do not have time to learn too  specialised
things! So, I just intervene wiht my expertise  and  help  here
and there, where I can.

Learning takes time.

>I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on why teachers act like they
>do.

>  -- Ian

Sincerely yours, Roman Suzi
--
Russia * Karelia * Petrozavodsk * rnd@rsuzi.pgu.karelia.ru