Throughout my teaching education I was taught that educators must develop a flexible mindset. Our students learn at different paces and in different ways. No two classes will progress the same. Things can change and you have to be prepared to change with them. As I continue to develop myself as a teacher and a technology integrator and further my research in such fields, I have identified more mindsets that are crucial for my professional growth.
New technologies will always be developing and as an educator and a learner, I need to be ready to take risks in my digital exploration (Henriksen et al., 2019). It is easy to become comfortable with the tools I use and implement in my classroom daily, but in order to provide my students with contemporary technological experiences, I must be willing to try new things. I must be curious, and experimental, allowing myself to fully immerse in the product or program I am engaging with (Henriksen et al., 2019).
Along with being open to taking risks, I must continue to foster my own creativity by giving myself time to play with new technology (Henriksen et al., 2019). As an educator, I often feel a sense of pressure that I place on myself to have everything in my field mastered. It is important to recognize that everyone starts as a "novice" when engaging with new material and technology (National Research Council, 2000). I must practice giving myself the same grace that I give my students and show them how important it is to approach new technology with a creative mindset .
One way that I worked to cultivate these mindsets was by volunteering to launch a trial robot program in my classroom. ABii is a robot that works to encourage and engage students who are completing lessons on "Abii's World," the robot's corresponding website. My students and I embraced ABii with open arms! I took time after school to "mess around" with Abii's World and learn through playing with the program. It took time, but I felt comfortable enough to incorporate ABii into our lessons. The first time I put students on ABii was a learning curve. There were hoops to jump through in the program and trouble with connecting ABii to our chromebooks. My students and I realized that technology doesn't always work the way we want it to. The important lessons we learned were that we have to keep trying, keep playing with new technology, and be OK with the idea that it might not work out the first time.
Photo by Elizabeth Macklin: This is me holding my classroom robot, ABii.
References
Henriksen, D., Mehta, R., & Rosenberg, J. (2019, January). Supporting A Creatively Focused
Technology Fluent Mindset Among Educators: A Five-Year Inquiry Into Teachers’
Confidence With Technology. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.
https://d2l.msu.edu/d2l/le/content/1470985/viewContent/12616772/View
National Research Council. 2000. "Learning: from speculation to science" Chapter 1 of
How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school: expanded edition.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9853.
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