Requiring students to use technology, specifically computers, to research and complete homework assignments is extremely important in preparing students for higher level learning and careers. The problem is that some students do not have access to computers at home. School computer labs usually are available but may have limited hours. Local libraries are another possibility but if a student lives too far from a public library to get there without parental transportation, this too is a serious problem.
Limiting the use of computers and other technology in lessons and assignments is not a good option to accommodate those students that do not have computers at home. Instead, those students need to be accommodated. It is not unreasonable to allow them preferential access to school computers or assignments need to be modified so they have time during the school day to do their computer work and their homework can be reading or activities not requiring computers that other students would normally do during school hours.
Many schools have early and late busses to transport students that participate in band or athletic activities. Ensuring that computer labs are open before and after school is imperative to allow those students without home computers access to the labs. This is especially important in school districts at the lower end of the socio-economic scale. If necessary, teachers could take turns opening the labs early or keeping them open late, utilizing this time to work on lesson plans or grading papers. Also, administrators should be applying for charitable grant from foundations such as the Gates foundation to ensure their computer labs are adequately supplied. Only by ensuring equal and adequate access to technology for all students can we hope to attain the goals of No Child Left Behind and other societal obligations to educate all our children.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Should Cell Phones be Banned from Classrooms?
I believe cell phones should be banned from classrooms as a normal routine. Besides the fact that most students do not have internet capable cellphones, they already spend too much time sending senseless text messages and exchanging meaningless phone calls. As a tool, they need to remain toys for after school use. John Allen (2007/2008) correctly notes “students would use them for purposes other than educational.” This is increasingly a problem as students get more clever about texting between and during classes.
In the supportive position, Liz Kolb points out various applications that can be applied to cell phone use in learning. She cites audio and video recording capabilities as useful classroom tools. All I can imagine is potential for abuse, expecially considering some of the ways these tools are being used for activities such as sexting. There may be some occasions, such as taking pictures on a field trip, but I think these opportunities would be limited and permission to carry cell phones should be restricted to those types of activities only.
It is important for educators to employ technology in creating and presenting lessons and there are a multitude of examples of great new applications that students need to learn. Cell phone use is just not one of them, not because cell phones do not have good capabilities, but because they have too much capability which can be put to the wrong uses.
Reference
Allen, J. (2007/2008, December/January). Should Cell Phones be Banned from Classrooms? Learning and Leading with Technology , pp. 8-9.
In the supportive position, Liz Kolb points out various applications that can be applied to cell phone use in learning. She cites audio and video recording capabilities as useful classroom tools. All I can imagine is potential for abuse, expecially considering some of the ways these tools are being used for activities such as sexting. There may be some occasions, such as taking pictures on a field trip, but I think these opportunities would be limited and permission to carry cell phones should be restricted to those types of activities only.
It is important for educators to employ technology in creating and presenting lessons and there are a multitude of examples of great new applications that students need to learn. Cell phone use is just not one of them, not because cell phones do not have good capabilities, but because they have too much capability which can be put to the wrong uses.
Reference
Allen, J. (2007/2008, December/January). Should Cell Phones be Banned from Classrooms? Learning and Leading with Technology , pp. 8-9.
Is Chatspeak Destroying English
I don’t believe the use of abbreviations in texting is causing a problem with students learning proper grammer and spelling. In the same way that students use abbreviations with taking class notes, or a secretary who used to use shorthand, they are different languages used for different purposes. I think Greg Monfils makes a good point when he states, “We don’t fear that a Spanish class will diminish a student’s command of English.” (Monfils, 2007) This is true as well in the way we speak, we do not use the same formal conventions in our verbal language as in writing but it does not mean we cannot or do not learn the proper way to write.
My mother used to tell me, when she was teaching me table manners, that after I moved out and lived on my own I could eat any way I wanted, but while living in her house I would use good manners so I would at least know how. I believe writing is the same, that it is important that we know how to write well but not imperative we always do so.
Can chatspeak be annoying? Certainly, but that’s probably part of the attraction. So as usual, as educators, the burden of figuring out how to relate to and understand students falls on us. We’d better learn to join-em because we’re sure not going to beat-em.
Reference
Monfils, G. (2007, November). Is Chatspeak Destroying English? Learning and Leading with Technology , pp. 8-9.
My mother used to tell me, when she was teaching me table manners, that after I moved out and lived on my own I could eat any way I wanted, but while living in her house I would use good manners so I would at least know how. I believe writing is the same, that it is important that we know how to write well but not imperative we always do so.
Can chatspeak be annoying? Certainly, but that’s probably part of the attraction. So as usual, as educators, the burden of figuring out how to relate to and understand students falls on us. We’d better learn to join-em because we’re sure not going to beat-em.
Reference
Monfils, G. (2007, November). Is Chatspeak Destroying English? Learning and Leading with Technology , pp. 8-9.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Power Point Blog Posts
Articles of the Amazon, Allan Simmons
Very attractive, lush green setting, appropriate for the Amazon Rain Forest. Also your choice of the very colorful frogs makes the pages a pleasure to look at. As I mentioned, the text portions need a bit of polishing but overall is an engaging task, well thought out, and should get a lot of interest from your students. Your organization of the three student processes is clear and well organized. I like the portions where you addressed the processes on the Teacher’s page, that a component I forgot about.
A Long Way Gone, by Courtney Wallenborn
Good topic, I think the overall appeal of the pages could be improved with more pictures. Also putting the websites you want the students to use into the presentation would be helpful. Having had rubric’s for all our classes has been a big help so I’d recommend you keep working on that too.
Jim Stewart
Very attractive, lush green setting, appropriate for the Amazon Rain Forest. Also your choice of the very colorful frogs makes the pages a pleasure to look at. As I mentioned, the text portions need a bit of polishing but overall is an engaging task, well thought out, and should get a lot of interest from your students. Your organization of the three student processes is clear and well organized. I like the portions where you addressed the processes on the Teacher’s page, that a component I forgot about.
A Long Way Gone, by Courtney Wallenborn
Good topic, I think the overall appeal of the pages could be improved with more pictures. Also putting the websites you want the students to use into the presentation would be helpful. Having had rubric’s for all our classes has been a big help so I’d recommend you keep working on that too.
Jim Stewart
Is Educational Technology Shortening Student Attention Spans?
I believe John Son is correct in his opinion that students of the digital generation do not suffer from short attention spans. Today’s generation has learned to be phenomenal multi-taskers, watching TV, surfing the web, and doing their homework all at the same time. Students taught traditional academic content in the same way respond positively, sometimes treating learning like another game rather than the drudgery of a lecture format approach.
In order to reach these fast paced, high speed thinkers and learners, our teaching approach must match what they are accustomed to experiencing in their own world. Lessons must be fast paced, flexible, and engaging in order to capture and retain student attention. This is the world they live in when allowed the freedom to choose their own leisure activities. Traditional teaching via reliance on lecture is doomed to fail when students feel they have to gear down to accept a one topic at a time approach.
I think as educators, our role has always been to teach students in the manner they are most suited to. Much attention is paid to differences in learning styles; we must now pay more attention to presenting lessons in a multi-tasking, more visually stimulating manner. Student’s capacity has not diminished due to shortened attention spans; it has increased to be able to absorb more fast paced and varied content than ever before. Our challenge is, as usual, to keep up with the younger generation.
In order to reach these fast paced, high speed thinkers and learners, our teaching approach must match what they are accustomed to experiencing in their own world. Lessons must be fast paced, flexible, and engaging in order to capture and retain student attention. This is the world they live in when allowed the freedom to choose their own leisure activities. Traditional teaching via reliance on lecture is doomed to fail when students feel they have to gear down to accept a one topic at a time approach.
I think as educators, our role has always been to teach students in the manner they are most suited to. Much attention is paid to differences in learning styles; we must now pay more attention to presenting lessons in a multi-tasking, more visually stimulating manner. Student’s capacity has not diminished due to shortened attention spans; it has increased to be able to absorb more fast paced and varied content than ever before. Our challenge is, as usual, to keep up with the younger generation.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is much like bullying someone in rl (real life). It would include being insulting, mean, making fun of someone, being racist, or making threats. The autonomy that the internet seemingly provides has emboldened many people, mostly young people, to invent more creative and hurtful ways of bullying than ever before. The same kid that would never dream of saying something mean to someone’s face doesn’t hesitate to send emails or IM’s that can be categorized as cyberbullying.
I hadn’t really thought that I had ever been cyberbullied until I read these articles and considered the definition. I have received numerous emails over the years from my boss that might be considered cyberbullying. At the very least, they were rude and inappropriate. I used to keep them in a folder so I could occasionally remind myself of who I was dealing with and as a reminder to be cautious with e-communications that I send. Once you click, there’s no taking it back. I suppose on occasion I wrote emails in anger but I tried to be very careful and would save the email until later or the next day and then reconsider, is this message something I was proud of. If not, I hit the delete button.
Cyberbulling in schools appears to be a growing problem. I haven’t had any experience with this form of harassment yet but as I become aware of incidents, I hope I can make them teachable moments. Reading the point, counterpoint article by Nancy E Willard and Lynn Wietecha, I didn’t think they were really in disagreement. Both felt that as a professional educator, once you become aware of a problem, you have a legal and moral obligation to take some action. What you do is relative to the extent of the problem. Just as educators are required to report physical abuse, we are obligated to report threatening cyber communications. I don’t believe anyone realistically believes schools have the ability to monitor all student internet activities but once we become aware of problems, we must react appropriately. I would imagine the most common way we would become aware of a problem is because someone reported it or we overheard some conversation about it.I think cyberbullying need to be dealt with in much the same manner we go about teaching children other character building lessons. We should never overlook an opportunity to teach morality in our classrooms. As with everything else we do, as role models we should never partake in inappropriate language, whether via the internet or otherwise. This is apparently a growing problem and should I be employed somewhere that doesn’t seem to have developed a policy or strategy for dealing with cyberbullying, I would be obligated to make sure other teachers and administrators become aware of the issues and help with creating a culture of respect and responsibility in and out of the classroom.
I hadn’t really thought that I had ever been cyberbullied until I read these articles and considered the definition. I have received numerous emails over the years from my boss that might be considered cyberbullying. At the very least, they were rude and inappropriate. I used to keep them in a folder so I could occasionally remind myself of who I was dealing with and as a reminder to be cautious with e-communications that I send. Once you click, there’s no taking it back. I suppose on occasion I wrote emails in anger but I tried to be very careful and would save the email until later or the next day and then reconsider, is this message something I was proud of. If not, I hit the delete button.
Cyberbulling in schools appears to be a growing problem. I haven’t had any experience with this form of harassment yet but as I become aware of incidents, I hope I can make them teachable moments. Reading the point, counterpoint article by Nancy E Willard and Lynn Wietecha, I didn’t think they were really in disagreement. Both felt that as a professional educator, once you become aware of a problem, you have a legal and moral obligation to take some action. What you do is relative to the extent of the problem. Just as educators are required to report physical abuse, we are obligated to report threatening cyber communications. I don’t believe anyone realistically believes schools have the ability to monitor all student internet activities but once we become aware of problems, we must react appropriately. I would imagine the most common way we would become aware of a problem is because someone reported it or we overheard some conversation about it.I think cyberbullying need to be dealt with in much the same manner we go about teaching children other character building lessons. We should never overlook an opportunity to teach morality in our classrooms. As with everything else we do, as role models we should never partake in inappropriate language, whether via the internet or otherwise. This is apparently a growing problem and should I be employed somewhere that doesn’t seem to have developed a policy or strategy for dealing with cyberbullying, I would be obligated to make sure other teachers and administrators become aware of the issues and help with creating a culture of respect and responsibility in and out of the classroom.
Copyright Laws
Copyright laws and rules are complex but important safeguards to protect the intellectual property rights and the economic value of peoples work. The range of works that fall under the copyright protection laws is varied and include literary works, musical compositions, motion pictures, or works of art. The basic premise is that if use by other than the copyright holder causes a loss or potential loss of economic value to the creator, or holder of the copyright, then a violation has occurred.
Work created on behalf of an employer is the property of the employer. These legal rights extend for long periods of time. In the case of an author, works are protected for 70 years after the writer’s death. Companies that own material protect their rights with zeal. Disney Corporation is an example often cited for a company ready and willing to protect its copyrighted material and to that end, employs legions of lawyers to monitor violations and prosecute for perceived violations.
Copyright law is not an iron clad science. The laws are written such that many times it is not clear what use can be made of material and what cannot. It is therefore, the copyright holder that interprets the law and files lawsuits when they believe their rights have been violated.
There are provisions for limited use of copyrighted material spelled out in the law under the provisions of the Fair Use conditions. Fair use allows limited use for the purpose of criticism or parody, for commentary, or use by educators or journalists. Again, fair use provisions are ambiguous and subjective so lawsuits are still filed even in cases where the use of material seems to be allowable. Fair use generally is understood to cover situations where the material has been substantially transformed. It also depends upon the nature of the copyrighted material. The amount of material used is another factor; if the amount used is small there is usually not a problem.
Copyright holders are usually generous about granting limited use rights for educational purposes so it is frequently just a matter of requesting permission for a teacher to make use of copyrighted material. This is where it can be a bit tricky. It is not always clear whom to ask or how to do so. Several web sites offer guidelines and advice about how to contact copyright holders to ask for permission.
I think overall copyright laws seem fair. If the loss of economic value standard is reasonable applied then it is only reasonable that content creators should be able to protect their material. The problem seems to be in the general way the laws are written. This causes some companies, like Disney, to seem to be overly protective of their material. I think they have a case to be made; if their material were widely used it would dilute the economic value of their content. I have known for years that they will take older movies out of circulation for a number of years and then when they reintroduce the work, a new generation of children is ready and eager to get their parents to pay again to see the movies. This has kept Disney a valued trademark and a profitable company for many years.
I will have to be careful to honor copyrights in using material in my classroom. The copyright symbol, ©, is not something I have had to pay attention to in the past. Now that I have some understanding of the laws, the allowances under the fair use provisions, and how to ask permission to use copyrighted material I will have to be careful in this regard in the future.
The same goes for my students. It will be my responsibility to educate them regarding these laws and to monitor their work for possible violations. If I perceive there may be a problem, it will now be my responsibility to give my students this information. I have saved the references from this lesson as I am sure I will need them when I have my own classes.
Work created on behalf of an employer is the property of the employer. These legal rights extend for long periods of time. In the case of an author, works are protected for 70 years after the writer’s death. Companies that own material protect their rights with zeal. Disney Corporation is an example often cited for a company ready and willing to protect its copyrighted material and to that end, employs legions of lawyers to monitor violations and prosecute for perceived violations.
Copyright law is not an iron clad science. The laws are written such that many times it is not clear what use can be made of material and what cannot. It is therefore, the copyright holder that interprets the law and files lawsuits when they believe their rights have been violated.
There are provisions for limited use of copyrighted material spelled out in the law under the provisions of the Fair Use conditions. Fair use allows limited use for the purpose of criticism or parody, for commentary, or use by educators or journalists. Again, fair use provisions are ambiguous and subjective so lawsuits are still filed even in cases where the use of material seems to be allowable. Fair use generally is understood to cover situations where the material has been substantially transformed. It also depends upon the nature of the copyrighted material. The amount of material used is another factor; if the amount used is small there is usually not a problem.
Copyright holders are usually generous about granting limited use rights for educational purposes so it is frequently just a matter of requesting permission for a teacher to make use of copyrighted material. This is where it can be a bit tricky. It is not always clear whom to ask or how to do so. Several web sites offer guidelines and advice about how to contact copyright holders to ask for permission.
I think overall copyright laws seem fair. If the loss of economic value standard is reasonable applied then it is only reasonable that content creators should be able to protect their material. The problem seems to be in the general way the laws are written. This causes some companies, like Disney, to seem to be overly protective of their material. I think they have a case to be made; if their material were widely used it would dilute the economic value of their content. I have known for years that they will take older movies out of circulation for a number of years and then when they reintroduce the work, a new generation of children is ready and eager to get their parents to pay again to see the movies. This has kept Disney a valued trademark and a profitable company for many years.
I will have to be careful to honor copyrights in using material in my classroom. The copyright symbol, ©, is not something I have had to pay attention to in the past. Now that I have some understanding of the laws, the allowances under the fair use provisions, and how to ask permission to use copyrighted material I will have to be careful in this regard in the future.
The same goes for my students. It will be my responsibility to educate them regarding these laws and to monitor their work for possible violations. If I perceive there may be a problem, it will now be my responsibility to give my students this information. I have saved the references from this lesson as I am sure I will need them when I have my own classes.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wikipedia Reflection
As an oldster, I’m just learning more modern methods of researching a topic. Wikipedia is a comparatively new tool for me. As I read Doug Johnson’s article, Wikipedia: Ban It or Boost It? (2006) I was comforted to learn that Wikipedia is growing in acceptance as a research tool. I had been uncertain, knowing that anyone can make entries in Wikipedia, if this was really considered a viable reference for scholarly papers. As I’ve learned to use search engines for researching various topics, I found Wikipedia references were nearly always in the top 5 hits and so I referenced Wikipedia, with some trepidation, on a few occasions, not really knowing if this was considered acceptable or regarded as a credible source.
Depending upon the topic, I found the encyclopedic format very useful as a starting point in order to garner an overview of a topic I had little or no knowledge about. I also found the references in the articles useful to find additional detail. I think students should be encouraged to use Wikipedia as long as they do some further research to deepen and embellish their understanding. As we’ve seen in other examples, sometimes information on websites is terribly biased, misleading, or outright false. Wikipedia seems to be accomplishing its stated goal of presenting neutral and unbiased information so if a source a student is thinking of using is contrary to information they find on Wikipedia, they should be suspicious and continue their search for more balanced and accurate information. Johnson supports this conclusion stating Wikipedia “should be used to get a general overview of a topic or put a topic in context, not be used as a sole and final authoritative source” (pg 27).
Internet research is important for efficiently gathering information from a multitude of sources and is a valuable tool for students. We need, howerer, to understand and teach how to validate information that is found on the web. Johnson recommends Kathy Schrock’s website (pg 27) for a useful tool to evaluate a web site’s validity. The guide by Roger Sevilla, (Sevilla, 2009) is another useful tool. Teachers and school districts must then establish policy for web site references to meet specific criteria for accuracy and credibility based upon validation guides such as these.
Depending upon the topic, I found the encyclopedic format very useful as a starting point in order to garner an overview of a topic I had little or no knowledge about. I also found the references in the articles useful to find additional detail. I think students should be encouraged to use Wikipedia as long as they do some further research to deepen and embellish their understanding. As we’ve seen in other examples, sometimes information on websites is terribly biased, misleading, or outright false. Wikipedia seems to be accomplishing its stated goal of presenting neutral and unbiased information so if a source a student is thinking of using is contrary to information they find on Wikipedia, they should be suspicious and continue their search for more balanced and accurate information. Johnson supports this conclusion stating Wikipedia “should be used to get a general overview of a topic or put a topic in context, not be used as a sole and final authoritative source” (pg 27).
Internet research is important for efficiently gathering information from a multitude of sources and is a valuable tool for students. We need, howerer, to understand and teach how to validate information that is found on the web. Johnson recommends Kathy Schrock’s website (pg 27) for a useful tool to evaluate a web site’s validity. The guide by Roger Sevilla, (Sevilla, 2009) is another useful tool. Teachers and school districts must then establish policy for web site references to meet specific criteria for accuracy and credibility based upon validation guides such as these.
Teachers and Social Networking
It's hard for me to relate to how some people can be so indiscrete about posting compromising information on social networking sites. It may be because I am more private and reserved than most, but glorifying excessive partying and outlandish behavior in my generation and social groups was not an admired practice. I find it interesting that people don’t seem to realize the public nature of the internet, especially social networking and the ability of Google and other search engines to expose details of people’s lives better kept private.
I always felt I wanted to keep my options open for future opportunities, such as holding political office, becoming an FBI agent, or any number of other career paths. Working for the US Postal Service, which has a Code of Conduct very similar to the Teachers Standards regarding conduct, has also tended to temper my behavior and flaunting of behaviors I am not proud of. Discreteness is important to me; I dislike public displays of conflict and would never even discipline my children in public.
Today’s Oregonian has an advice column article written about a teacher who has allowed her high school students to be “friends” on her MySpace page. This teacher tells about the drinking and sexual escapades these children document on their sites and what a different culture they express in that they advertise and glorify such behavior. As a teacher, we are asking to be leaders, and as such, we sacrifice some personal liberties and freedoms. We have put ourselves up on pedestals and have invited public scrutiny. That scrutiny tends to be quite conservative and in many cases, hypocritical in that the same people that criticize usually have skeletons of their own in their closets. Nevertheless, this is a choice we make when we assume roles as educators, the same as when one asks to be a manager, politician, policeman, or many other similar leadership positions.
I think this teacher has put herself in a difficult position because she will feel a compulsion to address these illegal, immoral, or inappropriate behaviors with her students. The students are likely to react as if a trust has been betrayed; they aren’t likely to take their teacher’s advice and change their behavior based on her displeasure or reprimand. This teacher should instead remember children need moral guidance and character building instruction and try to incorporate these values into her daily instruction at appropriate opportunities. By telling stories, giving examples, and espousing the importance of making informed and mature life decisions, she should help her students learn to make good decisions so they will take these skills forward into their adult lives.
I always felt I wanted to keep my options open for future opportunities, such as holding political office, becoming an FBI agent, or any number of other career paths. Working for the US Postal Service, which has a Code of Conduct very similar to the Teachers Standards regarding conduct, has also tended to temper my behavior and flaunting of behaviors I am not proud of. Discreteness is important to me; I dislike public displays of conflict and would never even discipline my children in public.
Today’s Oregonian has an advice column article written about a teacher who has allowed her high school students to be “friends” on her MySpace page. This teacher tells about the drinking and sexual escapades these children document on their sites and what a different culture they express in that they advertise and glorify such behavior. As a teacher, we are asking to be leaders, and as such, we sacrifice some personal liberties and freedoms. We have put ourselves up on pedestals and have invited public scrutiny. That scrutiny tends to be quite conservative and in many cases, hypocritical in that the same people that criticize usually have skeletons of their own in their closets. Nevertheless, this is a choice we make when we assume roles as educators, the same as when one asks to be a manager, politician, policeman, or many other similar leadership positions.
I think this teacher has put herself in a difficult position because she will feel a compulsion to address these illegal, immoral, or inappropriate behaviors with her students. The students are likely to react as if a trust has been betrayed; they aren’t likely to take their teacher’s advice and change their behavior based on her displeasure or reprimand. This teacher should instead remember children need moral guidance and character building instruction and try to incorporate these values into her daily instruction at appropriate opportunities. By telling stories, giving examples, and espousing the importance of making informed and mature life decisions, she should help her students learn to make good decisions so they will take these skills forward into their adult lives.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Blogs in the Classroom
Being careful about what you blog seems like the same rules we should follow when sending emails, remember, nothing electronic is private or retrievable. Before you push that post or send button, make sure you can live with what you've said. If you're not sure, either don't send it or pick up the phone! You'd think this was common sense but look at what our most public figures (Politicians) continue to do to themselves.
The classroom blog looks like a great way to back up classroom activities and to reach those kids who can't or won't listen in class. Students can find assignments, instructions, notes from class and more and then they can ask questions or post their homework on your blog. No more worries about that darn dog eating homework. Just keep him away from your computer.
After searching for literally hours for a Google on my name hit I finally hit paydirt! Someone kept track of a campaign contribution I gave to Hilliary last year, too bad they got my Political Party wrong! Jeeze am I boring or what.
The classroom blog looks like a great way to back up classroom activities and to reach those kids who can't or won't listen in class. Students can find assignments, instructions, notes from class and more and then they can ask questions or post their homework on your blog. No more worries about that darn dog eating homework. Just keep him away from your computer.
After searching for literally hours for a Google on my name hit I finally hit paydirt! Someone kept track of a campaign contribution I gave to Hilliary last year, too bad they got my Political Party wrong! Jeeze am I boring or what.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Digital Natives- Digital Immigrant
James Stewart
Orange Cohort
July 15, 2009
Micaela Boesche
Technology for Teachers, EDU533
Marc Prensky’s articles, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001a, 2001b), leads me to categorize myself within the digital immigrant community, but only barely. His assertion (2001a, pg 1), that “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” is humbling because my feeling, prior to reading these articles, was that I had kept up with the digital revolution this past 35 years.
I didn’t really use technology in my high school or undergraduate work, barely feeling the early effects when in 1974 I took a Basic programming class in college. Thinking back to those decks of punch cards hardly seems high tech now. The most powerful technology I utilized in school was a handheld HP-25 programmable calculator.
In 1985 I got my first computer at work. A state of the art machine, it boasted a full 20 megabytes of memory. I quickly began converting documents and spreadsheets, such as customer letters and employee schedules, and became a leader and innovator in my organization in applying computers to work applications. As my friends and I began to get our own PC’s, I loved showcasing my skills for them. Then, in 1990, a friend told me that the internet was the future of computers. I didn’t think much of this at the time and for awhile I began to slip backward, towards digital alien status.
Over the next 20 years my company became heavily invested in digital medium. Older Manager’s criticized subordinate supervisors for “spending all their time on their computers and not actually working”. At the same time, company computer applications kept coming, seemingly a new or upgraded version every couple of years. Our computer workload increased to 4-5 hours a day or more. Worse yet, (or better depending upon your point of view), the ability of upper managers to access and process great amounts of budget and productivity information increased, and a new concept of “the vital few” emerged. These were lists of underperforming offices or employees, lists you did not want to ever be on. As the sophistication and sheer number of the programs increased, so did the number of lists until there were enough lists that every office and every employee could count on being on some list at some time or another. The company’s ability to micro-manage had grown beyond anyone’s comprehension and developed a culture of feeling continual failure, this while our bottom line performance indicators improved and vaulted us to become the industry leader. It became apparent to me that our actual management interpersonal skills were subverted and ignored while attention focused on every transient deviation from optimal performance. Digital technology had become a powerful and necessary business tool but skills in motivating and managing the people that make up an effective workforce had not kept pace.
Students, and future workers in the global community, need highly developed technology skills spanning a vast array of inter-disciplinary fields. Gathering the information has become rudimentary; processing, analyzing, and directing activities based on this instantaneous access to information is what will propel our society forward. Learning to incorporate this realization into modern teaching methods by digital immigrants is imperative in order to engage and maintain our student’s interest but it is not an end unto itself. Prensky points out that “Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students. This doesn’t mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills.” (2001a, pg 4)
Prensky sees an evolution in the perception of content. He defines “Legacy” content as the old school curriculum, “reading, writing, arithmetic, logical thinking, understanding the writings and ideas of the past, etc.” His definition of new content which he calls “Future” content is understandably “digital and technological” and includes “software, hardware, robotics, nanotechnology, genomics, etc.” but “it also includes the ethics, politics, sociology, languages and other things that go with them.” (2001a, pg 4).
Adopting Prensky’s suggestions does not need to be threatening or perceived as being not useful in teaching the subject matter and social values we believe are the basis for good school curriculum. Meeting our student’s needs and learning styles is and always will be the goal of effective teaching. Prensky cites multiple examples (2001b, pg 6) of adopting video game type media to enhance learning. Our Military already understands the usefulness of multi-media technology in training soldiers. Department of Defense trainers responding to traditional minded educators say “We KNOW the technology works.” “We just want to get on with using it.” New teaching methods can be fun and engaging. It’s time we learned the intense fascination with this media and got ourselves up to speed. The consequences of not doing so will be a lost generation of educated adults.
References:
Prensky, M. (2001a, 9(5), 1-6). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from On the Horizon: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Prensky, M. (2001b, 9(6), 1-6). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they really think differently? Retrieved July 14, 2009, from On the Horizon: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf
Orange Cohort
July 15, 2009
Micaela Boesche
Technology for Teachers, EDU533
Marc Prensky’s articles, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001a, 2001b), leads me to categorize myself within the digital immigrant community, but only barely. His assertion (2001a, pg 1), that “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” is humbling because my feeling, prior to reading these articles, was that I had kept up with the digital revolution this past 35 years.
I didn’t really use technology in my high school or undergraduate work, barely feeling the early effects when in 1974 I took a Basic programming class in college. Thinking back to those decks of punch cards hardly seems high tech now. The most powerful technology I utilized in school was a handheld HP-25 programmable calculator.
In 1985 I got my first computer at work. A state of the art machine, it boasted a full 20 megabytes of memory. I quickly began converting documents and spreadsheets, such as customer letters and employee schedules, and became a leader and innovator in my organization in applying computers to work applications. As my friends and I began to get our own PC’s, I loved showcasing my skills for them. Then, in 1990, a friend told me that the internet was the future of computers. I didn’t think much of this at the time and for awhile I began to slip backward, towards digital alien status.
Over the next 20 years my company became heavily invested in digital medium. Older Manager’s criticized subordinate supervisors for “spending all their time on their computers and not actually working”. At the same time, company computer applications kept coming, seemingly a new or upgraded version every couple of years. Our computer workload increased to 4-5 hours a day or more. Worse yet, (or better depending upon your point of view), the ability of upper managers to access and process great amounts of budget and productivity information increased, and a new concept of “the vital few” emerged. These were lists of underperforming offices or employees, lists you did not want to ever be on. As the sophistication and sheer number of the programs increased, so did the number of lists until there were enough lists that every office and every employee could count on being on some list at some time or another. The company’s ability to micro-manage had grown beyond anyone’s comprehension and developed a culture of feeling continual failure, this while our bottom line performance indicators improved and vaulted us to become the industry leader. It became apparent to me that our actual management interpersonal skills were subverted and ignored while attention focused on every transient deviation from optimal performance. Digital technology had become a powerful and necessary business tool but skills in motivating and managing the people that make up an effective workforce had not kept pace.
Students, and future workers in the global community, need highly developed technology skills spanning a vast array of inter-disciplinary fields. Gathering the information has become rudimentary; processing, analyzing, and directing activities based on this instantaneous access to information is what will propel our society forward. Learning to incorporate this realization into modern teaching methods by digital immigrants is imperative in order to engage and maintain our student’s interest but it is not an end unto itself. Prensky points out that “Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students. This doesn’t mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills.” (2001a, pg 4)
Prensky sees an evolution in the perception of content. He defines “Legacy” content as the old school curriculum, “reading, writing, arithmetic, logical thinking, understanding the writings and ideas of the past, etc.” His definition of new content which he calls “Future” content is understandably “digital and technological” and includes “software, hardware, robotics, nanotechnology, genomics, etc.” but “it also includes the ethics, politics, sociology, languages and other things that go with them.” (2001a, pg 4).
Adopting Prensky’s suggestions does not need to be threatening or perceived as being not useful in teaching the subject matter and social values we believe are the basis for good school curriculum. Meeting our student’s needs and learning styles is and always will be the goal of effective teaching. Prensky cites multiple examples (2001b, pg 6) of adopting video game type media to enhance learning. Our Military already understands the usefulness of multi-media technology in training soldiers. Department of Defense trainers responding to traditional minded educators say “We KNOW the technology works.” “We just want to get on with using it.” New teaching methods can be fun and engaging. It’s time we learned the intense fascination with this media and got ourselves up to speed. The consequences of not doing so will be a lost generation of educated adults.
References:
Prensky, M. (2001a, 9(5), 1-6). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from On the Horizon: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Prensky, M. (2001b, 9(6), 1-6). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they really think differently? Retrieved July 14, 2009, from On the Horizon: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf
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