We have read about the possibilities of online learning in public school in the Alan November text. I believe that this is an excellent vessel to develop global learners and should be a goal for classrooms all over the world. The real problem lies in the logistical issues of the technological gaps in classrooms. When every classroom has the capabilities, then the true global connections can take place.
The virtual classroom, as experienced in Second Life is very interesting to me. I can see this tool being a component to the classroom, but not a replacement to it. I think that true human interaction in a face-to-face context must be present in some form.
I believe that these two innovations are wonderful additions to the classroom, but can not be the only method of interaction. Likewise, I believe that the current teacher-student or student-student interactions in the classroom should not be the only form of interaction. A true integration between the two must take place. Trying to add on one to the other system will not be effective. A new system needs to be developed to create this integration.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Primary Sources
Think back to elementary school... recess... playing "telephone". I used to think that game was the greatest. The ridiculous things that we would end up with after sending a message through a line of friends were always funny and always different from what we started with. I think that there is a plethora of information on the Internet that is taken from somewhere else, that took it from somewhere else, that took it... you get the idea. As educators, we must help our students realize which information is at from the end of the telephone line and where to find the information that started it all. Primary sources are the beginnings of the telephone lines of information. It is more beneficial and accurate to consider the source, so to speak. Students should talk about the documents that framed our country, but wouldn't be much more meaningful to actually analyze the actual documents? The resources available at the National Archives website (www.archives.gov) are really amazing. There are many interesting things to discover, although the site can be a little tricky to navigate. i was able to look up military records from some of my relative during WWII. I could easily burn a few hours exploring the information available. I believe that technology is a tool to enhance learning and the ability for a learner to access primary sources online is an amazing tool that adds credibility and validity to the their discover and analysis of information.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Windows Movie Maker
Here is a video I created two years ago. We were trying to recruit more teachers to come to Togo to take our positions. I really enjoy working with Movie Maker. It is straight forward and easy to use. I had to upload the video into YouTube and then embed the html code in my blog post to get it here. Hope it works and that you enjoy.
Perceptions: Computers and Education
1. “As the third millennium begins, it is evident that the development of digital technology has had and will continue to have a profound, pervasive impact on the course of global civilization” –You know that this is evident when you can be in out in the sticks of west Africa and there as many cell phones as people in a small village. Technology is making our world very small, and it is getting smaller everyday. Educators need to help equip students with the tools necessary to navigate this source of information and community.
2. “The mind coupled with a computer infinitely amplifies its capacity to perform the basic cognitive functions. Yet, there is no configuration of microchips that replicates the interactive, vital interface between mind and emotions – a basic limitation of computers.” – Computers can not replace the human, at least not in the sense that we have emotions and feelings. I think of poor Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As an android he could function as human in the fact that he could make decision, solve problems, communicate, but he still could not feel emotions (well not until they added the emotion chip later in the series). The point is that computers are not able to replace the human, so the human is still a vital part (the part that interjects empathy, value, aesthetics, and other emotions) of the implementation of computers as a tool.
3. “Computer technology has been adapted to amplify the capacity of professionals in virtually every aspect of society – with the exception of the teacher. Rationalizing this reality becomes increasingly difficult, since teaching and learning is an information-intensive process.” – Why is education last? Reluctance to change. How long will it take to catch up? Will we be bale to in the current system of education? Will our system have be modified drastically or thrown out? These are questions that need to be answered in the coming years, if not today.
4. “There is a generalized intuitive feeling that computers should have a vital role in teaching and learning. What is lacking is a sharply focused definition of that role and a strategy for integrating computers into education alongside books and chalkboards – in a mode that secures the teacher’s central role.” –Technology can not be the next sweeping change that takes education by storm. It must be intentionally planned and implemented so that there is buy-in from all stakeholders. The teacher can be replaced, but must have a clear understanding of how technology can and will improve education.
5. “The new literacy –interactive multimedia- offers teachers opportunity to improve the fidelity, the relevancy, and the accessibility of the information driving the teaching-learning process and thus enhance student achievement.” –I enjoy giving my students as many multimedia experiences as possible. If I have a student who has never been to the beach, wouldn’t seeing a video and hearing the sounds of the ocean be much more effective than me explaining my experiences with mere words? Teachers help students to acquire new information. We should use the best methods available.
6. “There is ample evidence that after more than a quarter century of high expectations, dedicated effort, and substantial expenditures, computers have failed to improve what happens in the classroom. Additionally, it appears there has been no serious attempt to analyze and thereby learn from this failure.” –If we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. I think someone famous said something like that. It really rings true with this issue. If we can’t step back and look at why the billions of dollars spent to get computers and the Internet into our schools are not affecting the students’ achievement, then we are only going to continue to buy the new thing without knowing how to make it a part of what we are doing and more importantly without making an impact on the learning that takes place everyday with our students.
Educational technology is a means to an end, the end being increasing student learning. I have chosen these perceptions because they deal with some of the issue that are in the foreground in the path of change that will help lead to the previously stated end. Technology must become a tool in the process of learning, not continue to be the piece added on the top of the current curriculum.
*All quotes taken from Romano(2003)
2. “The mind coupled with a computer infinitely amplifies its capacity to perform the basic cognitive functions. Yet, there is no configuration of microchips that replicates the interactive, vital interface between mind and emotions – a basic limitation of computers.” – Computers can not replace the human, at least not in the sense that we have emotions and feelings. I think of poor Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As an android he could function as human in the fact that he could make decision, solve problems, communicate, but he still could not feel emotions (well not until they added the emotion chip later in the series). The point is that computers are not able to replace the human, so the human is still a vital part (the part that interjects empathy, value, aesthetics, and other emotions) of the implementation of computers as a tool.
3. “Computer technology has been adapted to amplify the capacity of professionals in virtually every aspect of society – with the exception of the teacher. Rationalizing this reality becomes increasingly difficult, since teaching and learning is an information-intensive process.” – Why is education last? Reluctance to change. How long will it take to catch up? Will we be bale to in the current system of education? Will our system have be modified drastically or thrown out? These are questions that need to be answered in the coming years, if not today.
4. “There is a generalized intuitive feeling that computers should have a vital role in teaching and learning. What is lacking is a sharply focused definition of that role and a strategy for integrating computers into education alongside books and chalkboards – in a mode that secures the teacher’s central role.” –Technology can not be the next sweeping change that takes education by storm. It must be intentionally planned and implemented so that there is buy-in from all stakeholders. The teacher can be replaced, but must have a clear understanding of how technology can and will improve education.
5. “The new literacy –interactive multimedia- offers teachers opportunity to improve the fidelity, the relevancy, and the accessibility of the information driving the teaching-learning process and thus enhance student achievement.” –I enjoy giving my students as many multimedia experiences as possible. If I have a student who has never been to the beach, wouldn’t seeing a video and hearing the sounds of the ocean be much more effective than me explaining my experiences with mere words? Teachers help students to acquire new information. We should use the best methods available.
6. “There is ample evidence that after more than a quarter century of high expectations, dedicated effort, and substantial expenditures, computers have failed to improve what happens in the classroom. Additionally, it appears there has been no serious attempt to analyze and thereby learn from this failure.” –If we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. I think someone famous said something like that. It really rings true with this issue. If we can’t step back and look at why the billions of dollars spent to get computers and the Internet into our schools are not affecting the students’ achievement, then we are only going to continue to buy the new thing without knowing how to make it a part of what we are doing and more importantly without making an impact on the learning that takes place everyday with our students.
Educational technology is a means to an end, the end being increasing student learning. I have chosen these perceptions because they deal with some of the issue that are in the foreground in the path of change that will help lead to the previously stated end. Technology must become a tool in the process of learning, not continue to be the piece added on the top of the current curriculum.
*All quotes taken from Romano(2003)
Technological Innovations: How are we doing in schools?
It has been observed that the educational world is about 10-20 years behind the business world in technology use. I would agree with this observation. Educators, in some respects, have been very reluctant to embrace the full potential of new technology. Although, in the four years that I have been in public education, I have seen some educators happily embrace technology and its educational benefits. I think that, overall, the educational system has not realized the full potential of common technologies, like the television, or the telephone, or the fax machine, not to mention the grand possibilities that are present in the Internet. I propose that the reluctance lies in the fact that to embrace some new technology is to change the traditional role of the teacher in the classroom. It means that teachers need to loosen the reigns on knowledge and move to the side of the learner and journey together as opposed to leading from the front. This perception can be changed not only through training on the technologies, but also through observations of others’ success, and more importantly with time. A change to the teaching structure that has been in place for hundreds of years (teacher imparts knowledge to the eager learner) will not happen over night, but will come with time and more naturally to those that are now students that will become the educators of tomorrow. These digital natives will be able to change the perception that the “new” thing is actually the “normal” thing. I see the educators seeking new technologies that will better enhance their teaching as opposed to resisting technologies that are viewed as taking their place.
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