Learning About Technology Along with Students

Most teachers are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the experts and the students as the novices in a particular content area. Technology often turns around these traditional roles, either because some students enter a class with extensive technology skills or because the students pick up such skills faster than do their teachers. In schools where students use technology in multiple classes, some students even may acquire a high level of skill that permits them to support their teachers' needs for technical assistance.

If teachers are comfortable with the idea that they are not experts in technology, they will feel much less pressure to learn everything about a new technology before introducing it into their classrooms. Even if they start with just a basic understanding of the technology, teachers can learn to use it along with their students. In these circumstances, teachers have the opportunity to model the kinds of problem-solving skills and learning strategies that mature learners use when facing the challenge of an unfamiliar system.