As you view and listen to Learning to change, Changing to learn, think about the power of Web 2.0, the free read/write web that includes easy access to blogs, wikis, presentation and analysis tools, and much more. How might these tools be leveraged in your classroom to empower students in their quest for understanding that is both rigorous and relevant?
Click on comments and jump start the conversation! Read contributions made by others and comment on them. The Twins will also be right in the middle of this conversation. The more we contribute, the more we will all gain!
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23 comments:
Dear Digital Twins,
This video deals with a mryiad of issues. Some easier to deal with than others. How do we make technology available to all learners? In other words, What happens to students whose only technology exposure is at school? How do we manange the cost of maintenance and repair of the software and hardware used by schools? In my ten years of teaching experience in two states this has been an ongoing problem. We purchase wonderful equipment but run into trouble with the cost of employing tech staff and purchasing updates or new equipment. Finally, How do we prevent technology being used in negative ways. In a very recent case in Florida two middle school boys recieved an explicit photo and forwarded it to friends. Now, their parents are being told that their child is possibly facing 5 years of incarceration. Having listed some concerns, I am still very excited at the prospect of being able to use technology to help students get excited about learning. As long as teachers make sure that the learning goals are met and that students come away with the knowledge neccesary for mastery of the intended concepts, then students have the opportunity to be creative and "show what they know" while using their own creative method to demonstrate understanding.
Dear Digital Twins,
What an interesting take on education.
We spend so much time fighting the illegal use of technology by the students in the classroom (texting, ipods, mp3 players, etc.)that they would be shocked and amazed if these things were incorporated into the curriculum. I agree with Russell that there are issues to be solved. But, solutions would happen faster if we were encouraged to apply to their daily learning activities the technology our students use everyday. This would require educators to view education in a whole new light.
This is a exciting possibility since cellphones and texting is so important to middle grade students. Since this type of technology is gaining so much intrest among the students if it could be utilized in the classroom it would be a plus. Students are texting, listening to MP3 players and attempting to use the phone during class, most have facebook or My space pages it these .could be used to post homework maybe it would actually be completed
Dear Digital Twins,
Technology,technology, technology. There is not way to avoid it. I agree, this is an interesting take on education. We as educators, must stay abreast with the challenges of technology. This tool can be used to maintain the interest of our students' and prepare them for the work force, college, research, and how to find, validate and synthesize information. I love it!
I was amazed when I walked in the office the other day and saw our secretary with a box full of cell phones that she was collecting until the end of the day. As I watched these kids walk in one after the other handing in their cell phones, not only was I amazed that so many 5th graders had cell phones in which most of them were nicer than mine, but that they probably knew how to work them better than me. There is no way to avoid technology so we might as well put them to use. I think so many teachers and school systems are so behind, that it will take a lot of work and money to bring the schools up to date. The good thing is that we have teachers and people who work for the school system that will hopefully carry us through this phase to help us teach and prepare students in the world they see outside of school. Today's students need to know how to problem solve and collaborate rather than sit in a classroom and listen to the teacher talk all day.
The Digital Age
Most of our students come from the land of “digital natives” while most instructors come from an error where they are “digital immigrants.” We discussed this concept of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” in depth during another class I took (very interesting). We talked about how most our students were “digital natives” knowing the ins and outs of the computer savvy world and how if we harnessed that knowledge we could apply it to education and make it more interesting and more realistic for them. But, most instructions being “digital immigrant” we are often timid and overwhelmed at including technology into out lessons.
Some also think that by teaching with technology you aren’t or can’t teach the standards. This just isn’t so. Your instruction can become more enhanced and self motivating when technology is added. The only problem, like what was brought up in the video, is that standardized testing does not always following along with the use of technology. We use standardized testing, but it doesn’t really test how our “digital native” students learn.
Our “digital natives” need to learn how to communicate, collaborate, and problem solve. The students can do this through the use of technology in and out of the classroom. So many of them already use the technology outside of the classroom why not bring this technology into the classroom. This technology will need to be used in their upcoming occupations so why not use it now in the classroom?
Dear Digital Twins: This is 21st Century teaching. The world is a much smaller place because of technology and the orpportunities that were just out of reach are now at our fingertips. Aside from money, the bigger question is how do we revolutionize education into a place of virtual and real time learning? How do we sell this need to our supporting communities? Who will subsidize the change for public education? How do we train and retrain educators for this new classroom
I totally agree with all comments that have been made. I have been in the field of education for over 30 years and have seen the shift of the way our students learn happen more rapidly now than ever in the past. As educators we are required to keep up with our students and their learning styles. It is amazing to see young people so open to technology and new learning. How can we expect our students to sit and do paper and pencil when we are in the 21st Century!
Hi Russell,
You raised some very good questions. I think we will discover some potential solutions to many of them during our "very short" time together in this class. I believe much of the cost of software can/will be eliminated via Web 2.0 tools. As rapidly as the technology evolves, combined with the fact that we are "settling" in spaces we've not previously occupied, we will continue to deal with the inherent unintended consequences--many of which can be addressed via, well, education. Admittedly much of this is at once exciting while a bit unsettling too, so we continue to share our collective understandings, potential solutions, challenges, and successes.
Hi Robert,
No doubt the vast majority of our students would be totally shocked if we asked them to bring out their ipods, cell phones, etc. as part of a lesson! The shift to standards based classrooms and the incorporation of the rigor/relevance framework certainly provides a place for us to begin the move in that direction, on a large scale. I think we also have many students who would be shocked if invited to use school and classroom computers in creative and innovative ways. BJ
Hi Lashonne,
You might enjoy an article published by Edutopia last year, "Zero Thumb Game: How to Tame Texting". Some middle school teachers in this article find a way to use texting as a teaching tool! You can check it out at: http://www.edutopia.org/text-messaging-teaching-tool. BJ
Hi Catrina, educators remaining current with emerging technologies will continue to challenge our efforts with technology integration. I believe the upside of that is Web 2.0 resources combined with the rigor/relevance framework provide our most exciting set of circumstances to date to cover standards, engage students, and teach literacy skills that will likely be a moving target for some time. While I find keeping up with rapidly proliferating Web 2.0 tools an ongoing challenge, I also find the learning curve much easier to master (that is, with most of the Web 2.0 tools with which I have worked). I hope the teachers in this class find that to be the case as well.
Hi Kathryn, I, too, am amazed at the amount of technology our kids bring to school with them--technology for which our schools do not have to incur the cost--technology that kids are expected to abandon while they are "schooled"! Again, I think a large part of the solution to this is education. The more we as educators know, the more help we have in terms of facilitating a large scale shift in a new direction.
Hi Jennifer,
I think you raised what might be a real barrier for many teachers, which is their reluctance to embrace information and communication technology (ICT) because of their fear that students may know more about them than the teacher. I remind myself (all the time), and try to remember to remind others, we must all accept that our students may very well know more about the technology than we do. However, we should NEVER accept that any of our students necessarily know the potential of any of the ICTs for transforming schooling and their own learning!
Hopefully everyone gained a better understanding, during the discussion in class, of the potential for covering ALL standards, indeed, going beyond the teaching of the standards, when we understand, and embrace, the tenets of the rigor and relevance framework.
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (explicitly addressed on the rigor axis) clearly demonstrates that knowledge and comprehension is covered in Quadrant A, so it seems to stand to reason if ICTs are effectively integrated in all quadrants, students should learn beyond minimal standards. Thanks for such a thought provoking post! BJ
Hi LAJ,
I was reminded very much of Friedman's book, The World is Flat, while reading your comments. Community understanding and support (which means different things to different individuals) is certainly a powerful force with significantn impacts on how we (educators, collectively) move forward with change in education. You raised some important questions--questions to which I think we will be working through the answers for a few years yet to come. It is reassuring to know that other teachers are thinking along those lines. I enjoyed your input.
Hi Karen, the changes in education and learning are quite amazing and seemed to move at an alarming rate in more recent years. I have only to "try and keep up" with what I think is a growing body of research that supports a fourth major learning theory, connectivism, fueled by the rapid proliferation of ICTs (see the work of George Seimens of Canada) to experience personally what you described. I love a piece of paper, or a postit, and a pencil when these are the tools that best fit my task. Relatedly I love my computer, access to the Internet, my blog, wiki, email, etc. when one of these tools best fits my task. It is great to have you in class!
My mother made me and my sister read the book called "Who Moved the Cheese" several years ago. It talks a lot about how you have to change as life and others change. You may not like to change, but to survive, change is necessary. I think about this book each time technology in the classroom is brought up.
I immediately thought about a book my mother made me and my sister read several years ago called "Who Moved My Cheese." It is about four different beings in a maze and they have to decide if change in their life is a blessing and a curse. Whenever we talk about technology in the classroom, I think about this book.
It siad that there was an error, so I resent it - sorry!
I too, think of the book "Who Moved My Cheese" and feel that it should be required reading for educators at least every five years. Although I was once one of them, I am so tired of hearing this comment: "I would love to use what I learned in technology class, but who has time to stop and teach it...the TEST is coming!" Now that I have made the move to beginning to integrate technology in my classroom, I don't see how I don't have the time to integrate technology.
I'm amazed at all the tools at our disposal. I need time to process all this wonderful information you have presented us with. I can't wait to access this information. This is amazing. I can't wait to create some awesome technology projects for my students this summer.
Thanks so much for all of your hard work BJ and Susan.
This was alot of information covered in this class. The instructors were very informative but I am such a SLOW learner I didn't grasp it all.
JB
This was alot of great information covered in this class. The instructors were very informative but I am such a slow learner I didn't really grasp it all. Maybe in a few months I should take this class again.
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