“Where are we going to eat today? My third period class is huge! Are we going to have time to work in our rooms?” If I were a cartoon character, these are the quotes that would have appeared in the thought bubbles over my head while I was participating in professional development last fall. Much of the information that was presented was redundant or was centered on disaggregation of test scores. While important, these topics did little to motivate and invigorate me about the upcoming school year. Wikis and blogs offer educators a forum capable of personalizing their professional conversations.
According to Bill Ferriter in Learning with Blogs and Wikis, No Child Left Behind has caused meaningful professional conversations to be “pushed aside” because educators are too busy. While I do believe NCLB has had an impact on professional development, I believe that educators would be motivated and find time to have these meaningful experiences if they could choose the topics that interested them. Blogs and wikis allow educators to decide what interests them and allows them to communicate with people who share their interests.
Ferriter goes on to describe the learning with blogs and wikis as “uniquely authentic, driven by personal interests and connected to classroom realities.” Discovering wikis was the last thing I can remember that truly rejuvenated my teaching. I had been looking for a way for my students to digitally interact with each other outside of class. Then, I found professional wikis, and the possibilities blossomed. I am really interested to research educational blogs and find a few to follow as the article suggested.
Wikis and blogs are Web 2.0 tools that allow educators a very powerful way to communicate about their profession and collaborate with each other. These tools can be used in a way that teachers can individualize their professional learning and grow in their teaching. Because they can be used at any time, educators can find their own time to participate.
Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with blogs and wikis. Educational Leadership, 66(05), Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning_with_Blogs_and_Wikis.aspx
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Opinion Paper 2
The article “How to teach with technology: science and math” was written by Sara Bernard in 2009. The article gives examples of high tech teaching and technology integration from teachers’ and students’ classroom experiences. Many of the people interviewed for the article talked about how the tech activities were “fun” and how paper and pencil assignments were “boring”. Activities involving technology motivate the students to actively engage in the learning process and encourage them to make meaningful decisions about their learning.
In the article “Focusing the digital brain”, Marilee Sprenger makes the statement, “Digital natives are motivated by a desire to be busy and in demand.” Although the article also states that this constant buzz of activity is not always positive, a point has been made about how to get today’s students to engage and learn. I have spent time in many meetings where the topic of conversation was how today’s students are not motivated, but have just started to explore the possibility that today’s students are just motivated in a different way.
In the book The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner indentifies three new learning styles: learning through multimedia and connection to others, learning as discovery, and learning through creating. Classroom activities involving technology lend themselves to these learning styles. Using Web 2.0 applications students are now able to collaborate with others to do projects, discover new information using the web, and create new information to share with others. Wagner also talks about three reasons why people are motivated to work or to learn: transfer of habits (traditions and social norms), push (need, threat, or risk) and pull (interest, desire, and passion). Teachers must find a way to provide this pull for our “digital natives.”
Using technology in the classroom is the key to making the students feel like they are busy and in demand and to motivating students and providing them with the pull that they need in order to actively engage in the learning process.
Bernard, S. (2009, June). Kids talk tech. Edutopia, Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-lesson-ideas.
Wagner, T. (2008). The Global achievement gap. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Sprenger, M. (2009, September). Focusing the digital brain. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 34-39.
In the article “Focusing the digital brain”, Marilee Sprenger makes the statement, “Digital natives are motivated by a desire to be busy and in demand.” Although the article also states that this constant buzz of activity is not always positive, a point has been made about how to get today’s students to engage and learn. I have spent time in many meetings where the topic of conversation was how today’s students are not motivated, but have just started to explore the possibility that today’s students are just motivated in a different way.
In the book The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner indentifies three new learning styles: learning through multimedia and connection to others, learning as discovery, and learning through creating. Classroom activities involving technology lend themselves to these learning styles. Using Web 2.0 applications students are now able to collaborate with others to do projects, discover new information using the web, and create new information to share with others. Wagner also talks about three reasons why people are motivated to work or to learn: transfer of habits (traditions and social norms), push (need, threat, or risk) and pull (interest, desire, and passion). Teachers must find a way to provide this pull for our “digital natives.”
Using technology in the classroom is the key to making the students feel like they are busy and in demand and to motivating students and providing them with the pull that they need in order to actively engage in the learning process.
Bernard, S. (2009, June). Kids talk tech. Edutopia, Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-lesson-ideas.
Wagner, T. (2008). The Global achievement gap. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Sprenger, M. (2009, September). Focusing the digital brain. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 34-39.
Opinion Paper 1
The article “How to thrive – not just survive – in a one-computer classroom” was written by Glori Chaika in 2003. When the article was written seven years ago, I would have agreed that teachers could thrive in a one computer classroom, but I have now observed students in classrooms with a 1:1 student-computer ratio and have changed my opinion. In 2010, one computer per class does not sufficiently meet the technology needs of our students and does not keep them actively engaged in student-centered learning.
The article suggests daily or weekly assigned computer time. If I have 25 students in a class that meets 5 times a week for 50 minutes, each student would get 2 minutes of computer time per day or 10 minutes per week. While this scenario would allow for short, weekly, web-based projects or discussions, it would not allow for in-depth and internet-based projects, digital textbooks, meaningful online research, or collaborative online projects. The article “Notebook programs pave the way to student-centered learning” states that “notebooks help students use more problem-solving and critical-thinking skills” and “notebooks lead to higher quality work.”
Glori Chaika also suggests using an LCD projector to make the classroom computer accessible to all. This allows visual access to everyone, but does not allow the student to make choices about their own learning. This approach to a one-computer classroom allows for a more teacher-centered approach to education, but does not allow for a student-centered classroom in which the teacher is acting as the facilitator.
For students’ technology needs to be met, they need to have the opportunity to use the tools for themselves instead of merely seeing the technology being used. When students are given freedom of discovery and choices about their learning, they become actively engaged and the learning becomes student-centered. I do not believe that these conditions can be met in the one-computer classroom.
Chaika, G. (2003). How to Thrive - not just survive - in a one-computer classroom. Education World, Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech092.shtml.
Notebook programs pave the way to student-centered learning. (1999). THE Journal, Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/1999/04/01/Notebook-Programs-Pave-the-Way-to-StudentCentered-Learning.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1
The article suggests daily or weekly assigned computer time. If I have 25 students in a class that meets 5 times a week for 50 minutes, each student would get 2 minutes of computer time per day or 10 minutes per week. While this scenario would allow for short, weekly, web-based projects or discussions, it would not allow for in-depth and internet-based projects, digital textbooks, meaningful online research, or collaborative online projects. The article “Notebook programs pave the way to student-centered learning” states that “notebooks help students use more problem-solving and critical-thinking skills” and “notebooks lead to higher quality work.”
Glori Chaika also suggests using an LCD projector to make the classroom computer accessible to all. This allows visual access to everyone, but does not allow the student to make choices about their own learning. This approach to a one-computer classroom allows for a more teacher-centered approach to education, but does not allow for a student-centered classroom in which the teacher is acting as the facilitator.
For students’ technology needs to be met, they need to have the opportunity to use the tools for themselves instead of merely seeing the technology being used. When students are given freedom of discovery and choices about their learning, they become actively engaged and the learning becomes student-centered. I do not believe that these conditions can be met in the one-computer classroom.
Chaika, G. (2003). How to Thrive - not just survive - in a one-computer classroom. Education World, Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech092.shtml.
Notebook programs pave the way to student-centered learning. (1999). THE Journal, Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/1999/04/01/Notebook-Programs-Pave-the-Way-to-StudentCentered-Learning.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1
Online Exercise 15
A number of technologies have been presented this semester to help you reach outside of your immediate surroundings for personal growth and instructional purposes.
How could you use these technologies to help yourself create better learning opportunities for your students? How could you use them to help yourself continue to develop as a teacher throughout your career? I have most enjoyed learning about educational blogs and their uses in the classroom, both from a teacher's and learner's perspective. I am going to enjoy using blogs with my students to help them be more reflective about projects and activities and to help them be better communicators. As a learner, I was surprised by the number of blogs created by fellow educators that I will be interested in following and participating.
What are the benefits of using the communications tools? Accessibility and ease are the two best benefits of using communication tools. Online communication tools are accessible to most students and are easy to use.
What are the dangers? Students putting too much information in cyberspace and not using the tools appropriately. Also, I think lack of language skills online can be a problem.
How can technology help you better reach out to all of your students regardless of their race, gender or economic status? If you stay on top of the new technology that is out there, you can introduce your students to the technology. If you are introducing all students to a new skill, their race, gender and economic status doesn't matter.
How could you use these technologies to help yourself create better learning opportunities for your students? How could you use them to help yourself continue to develop as a teacher throughout your career? I have most enjoyed learning about educational blogs and their uses in the classroom, both from a teacher's and learner's perspective. I am going to enjoy using blogs with my students to help them be more reflective about projects and activities and to help them be better communicators. As a learner, I was surprised by the number of blogs created by fellow educators that I will be interested in following and participating.
What are the benefits of using the communications tools? Accessibility and ease are the two best benefits of using communication tools. Online communication tools are accessible to most students and are easy to use.
What are the dangers? Students putting too much information in cyberspace and not using the tools appropriately. Also, I think lack of language skills online can be a problem.
How can technology help you better reach out to all of your students regardless of their race, gender or economic status? If you stay on top of the new technology that is out there, you can introduce your students to the technology. If you are introducing all students to a new skill, their race, gender and economic status doesn't matter.
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