K-12 Generation

Students should demand inclusive, goal-oriented, and objective-based lessons that include technology.  If kids are going to be distracted by video games, music, movies and Facebook, why not find a way to integrate them into the classroom? Technology is a great way to grab students’ attention and can be used to engage students in active participation and higher-order thinking.

What bothers me about the videos is I feel it is being implied that technology is the only way to teach children. Perhaps the videos should have stressed the importance of teaching students how to use technology. Facebook, cell phones and video games have their place, but spending two hours on the phone, playing three hours of video games a day, or surfing over 1,200 profiles isn’t “productive” unless they are being taught how to use that time using technology to an advantage.

            This brings me back to the point of technology supplementing learning and not becoming the focus of the lesson. Students are easily distracted by technology (1,200 profiles? Really?) and as teachers we really need to monitor what students are using technology for and is it really adding any value to the lesson. It’s going to be up to us to make that distinction and teach students how to make it as well.

            But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to use entertainment-type technologies to teach. As a friend of mine once told me, “I learned more about World War 2 playing Call of Duty: World at War, than I ever did in a classroom.” That got me to thinking; why not use a video game with a historical background to reinforce learning? I f allowing students to blow up a few tanks helps them understand what is going on in the time period, well, more power to them!

            Facebook could be used as a tool to help students learn how to do searches and research on the internet. Maybe have them come up with a list of 25 people with the name “Greg” and see if they can find where in the world they live.  There are learning opportunities out there, as future teachers we just have to create them.

            Technology isn’t the wave of the future. Technology is now. Teachers need to embrace this fact instead of resisting it. We need to find ways to use technology to supplement content, yet also teach students how to use it responsibly.

           

Web 2.0

The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

There are a lot of amazing applications and potential benefits to Web 2.0. However, I think at the moment the risk to privacy outweighs the benefits because so many people are unaware or don’t know how to minimize the risk to their private information. For example, most of the default settings on Facebook are designed to share your information with advertisers so they can market to your perceived needs. Unfortunately, anyone tech savvy could also pull your information and use it to compromise your identity.

Another issue I have with Web 2.0 is that anyone can post information. This can be a good thing; however, most information that is posted isn’t verified or accurate. I think about blogs and Wikipedia as examples of “too much of a good thing.” High school students have the tendency to ask if they can use Wikipedia as a source when doing research. This shows the vulnerability of allowing anyone to post anything they want because there are people who do not understand that what they are reading isn’t necessarily the truth. CNN.com is another transgressor I believe with their iReporters. These people aren’t real journalists. Yes, they have something to add to the topic or discussion, but I feel as if they are being relied on or misrepresented as actual journalists.

For Web 2.0 to reach its potential, users need to know the risks and potential pitfalls. Teenagers are showing they don’t have the cognitive ability to make informed decisions about the pictures they post or what they post on Facebook. They may think what they are doing is harmless, but can’t comprehend the self-inflicted damage that can be caused by posting or sending nude photos to boyfriends or girlfriends or posting that someone hopes their science teacher dies.

I’m actually all for Web 2.0. However, I think it is dangerous to release something like this on the world without some kind of basic training and knowledge of how it works. No, we can’t predict every contingency, but I do think we can predict things like “sexting” and inappropriate Facebook comments and help students (and other users) understand the dangers and consequences of their actions.

Teaching Technology

The best way to get students (or anyone else for that matter) to be able to use technology effectively is to walk them through the steps and then have them use it repeatedly so they become comfortable with the capabilities and limitations of the technology. A hands on experience is the best way to have someone learn about new or existing technology and put it to work. After becoming comfortable with the basics, letting students explore the technology on their own is how they become proficient.

When I was in pre-press, I would walk a trainee through the basic steps of whatever software we were using. They needed a basic framework of how the application worked before I could present them with advanced information. For example, in Photoshop, I need to show someone what each of the basic tools are and what they are designed to do before I can show tem how to alter pictures and do more creative or artistic things.

After I felt they understood the basics, I would give them projects to work on to help them develop their skill. For instance, I may give a trainee a picture of a tomato and ask tem to duplicate the tomato. Then I would have them change the color of the duplicated tomato to yellow. This gave the trainee hands on experience with the software while also getting them to think about how they were going to accomplish the task. If a trainee had questions I could ask them guiding questions like, “How are you going to select the image of the tomato?” Sometimes the trainee would make the leap and use a lasso tool. Other times they were blank and I knew I needed to go back and reinforce previous lessons.

Becoming comfortable with technology can only be achieved by using it a lot and consistently. For instance, I’m much more comfortable with layout programs like InDesign because most of my tme in pre-press was spent altering layouts. I wasn’t as strong in Photoshop because there wasn’t a huge demand for photo manipulation. When I was required to use it however, I really had to stop and think sometimes because it would be months between needing to use the application.

As far as the NET-S standards, the standard of modeling digital-age work and learning is the standard I’m most familiar with. As a trainer, it was my responsibility to be as familiar with the software and technology as possible. I was never certified by Adobe, but I knew the programs well enough that I oculd help new employees get out of the application what they needed to do their job effectively. I always encouraged trainees to “play around” with the applications when they had the chance. Chances are they would discover something new and maybe it oculd be useful in helping the rest of us do our jobs.

Technology in Lessons

Chris Hangerford’s lesson plan was successful on two levels. First, he made the subject of microeconomics come to life by putting students in a real-world situation having them run a corporation. Second, the lesson plan was effective in getting students to use practical, real-world technologies such as creating spreadsheets and graphs. Combining these two goals made for a strong lesson – i.e. he killed two birds with one stone.

One thing we need to remember is that technology should supplement the content, not over-shadow it. In Hangerford’s lesson, technology is helping to bring key economic concepts to life. I’ve had economic classes and they were based solely on lecture. The classes were boring, and students had to have active imaginations to picture how the concepts would work. With technology (ex: Lemonade Stand) students can see the cause and effect of different economic variables. I’ll wager the students understand the concept of supply and demand much better than those who just sat in a classroom and were lectured at.

The weakness to a technology based lesson plan is if students aren’t comfortable using the technology or become more fascinated with the technology than the content that they are suppose to be learning. For example, programs like Office Word are a good writing tool if students already are comfortable with word processing. However, the writing suffers if the student spends more time trying to figure out how to use the application than concentrating on what they are trying to communicate in their writing. Technology becomes distracting with programs like PowerPoint when students are more interested in playing with the “bells and whistles” of the program that adequately presenting information.

As educators, it is our responsibility to help students navigate the gray area between using technology and abusing technology. Like most things, technology is good in moderation.

The Poor Scholar's Soliloquy

The Poor Scholar's Soliloquy is a reminder that all children do not learn the same way. It's also a reminder that student's aren't necessarily goingt to be as excited or see the relevance of a topic the same way as a teacher will. As educators, it is important to keep this in mind so we strive to reach students with different ability levels and style of learning.

My first thought was Stephen is quite intelligent and that there is nothing wrong with his intellectual abilities. The real problem was Stephen's teachers and their inflexible teaching styles. Stephen is part of a dynamic where the teacher is all and the students are just expected to absorb what is being told to them instead of researching information for themsleves or being more actively involved in the learning process. An example of Stephen's intelligence was his ability to navigate the trip to Chicago and figure out exactly how much money was made on the trip. His family knew how to spark his interest in learning by first, having him do the work and then by relating the importance of what he was doing to "real life."

His teachers were oblivious to how quickly Stephen could look up information or find what he needed in an index and instead focused on "traditional" methods of rote repetition. Perhaps instead of having Stephen just memorize names, the teacher could have told Stephen to look up the seventh, 14th and 23rd Presidents. Maybe he would have been more engaged if he had been given a task instead of just being bombarded with facts and stats.

Stephen’s teachers are also failing to relate the importance or usefulness of what he is being taught in school. He wants to be a good citizen, but doesn’t see how knowing all the Presidents makes him a good citizen. Perhaps just the simple explanation that a good citizen is aware of all the past leaders would be enough to ignite a fire under him and learn about the 30 Presidents.

The saddest part of the reading was Stephen not being able to wait until he was 15 and could drop out of school so he could start learning how to do stuff. That statement should be the nightmare of every teacher. Though he may not have realized exactly what he said, Stephen has let every teacher he has had know that they have failed him. I hope his teachers read this and were shamed into sleepless nights…

Framework for Integrating Technology in the Classroom

Watching the video in class, I noticed four ethical uses of technology in the classroom. The teacher demonstrated: use of the operating system, instructional software, ethical use of software and use of technology in society. All four areas are not only important in the classroom, but are important in the “real” world as well.

Use of the operating system seems simplistic (and maybe it is), however the inability to use an operating system can cause a lot of problems. The video showed the teacher demonstrating to the class where to save their file. As the teacher mentioned, just reducing the screen to work on the file later is a recipe to have the file closed or deleted without saving. In the classroom that means lost homework, research or essays; however, in the business world that can mean not only the loss of a file, but the loss of a customer and quite possibly your job. I know from previous experience that it is not a lot of fun having to search for a file over 4 different drives.

Ethical use of software and technology is a topic that I don’t think gets discussed enough. Coming from a printing and graphic background I have a lot of experience in the manipulation of the content and color of files and photos.  I don’t think enough people stop to think about the ramification of file manipulation (especially image manipulation), but there are generations of women trying to achieve a look that can only be achieved through Photoshop. Would women push themselves so hard if they were aware of the manipulation that goes on?

As teachers, the instructional use of software becomes a balance between being a teacher and facilitator. I’ve sat through instructional software classes and though the teacher can show students the “basics” of using a program like Photoshop or InDesign for instance, it is really up to the student to explore and experiment to fully discover what is possible with a software program. At this point a teacher is more of a facilitator – more of a reference guide for the student who asks questions as they encounter new problems.

I think it is important for students to realize the practical applications of anything they do in the classroom. In the video the teacher discussed how a previous student was able to use their knowledge to get a job in journalism (I believe). It’s a good motivational tool for students when they know the purpose for what is expected out of them. Though I don’t believe anyone should pick a career just based off of money, the fact is most people who decide to pursue either college or a technical trade do so based off of a monetary promise. If a student knows there is money to be made, I think this is another factor to help promote further learning.

Technology is a powerful and useful tool, but students need to realize that there are ethical implications to how technology is used. There is a “right” and “wrong” way to use technology and our duty is to make students aware of the implications and costs of technology so they can make an informed decision on their own.