This blog serves as a place to interact around various prompts related to information and communication technology (ICT). To add your thoughts, click the Comments link below this post (entry) and type. Be sure to add your name at the end of your comments.
Please briefly describe your personal connections with technology and respond to the article about Jon Stewart and Brittany Schmidt.
12 comments:
My connection with technology is in a library environment where 95% of information searching is being done online through databases and websites. I agree with the author that learning must be challenging and engaging. That can be accomplished in many ways and technology can help but you can still be engaging with voice, pen and paper. Jen Lynch
Teaching how to learn is left out of so many classes and just assumed. Many bright students have no reference point for beginning a learning episode.
Malcom Knowles, adult education guru, writes a lot about this.
Laura
Friedman says that, “the most important thing you can learn in this era of heightened global competition is how to learn. Being really good at "learning how to learn.”
How true. How underestimated. How immeasurable. I suppose that concept of enjoying learning can come naturally if given the right lens through which to view…
Dictionary.com (what a source!) defines learning as…
1. to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience: to learn French; to learn to ski.
2. to become informed of or acquainted with; ascertain: to learn the truth.
Though I limited this post to the first two definitions, doesn’t everyone have to learn?
Doesn’t a mechanic enjoy learning about machinery? Wouldn’t a chef enjoy learning about cooking? Wouldn’t a stay at home mother or father learn to take care of things around the house? The art of education or perhaps the ability to educate oneself is inherent. Just maybe not in textbook form… what do people really need to learn to succeed in what they do?
*Eva
My technological connections? Well, I am a life long learner and this technology continues to push me into learning new things! Technology is great but I am intimidated when my students know more than I do and as time goes on, they will continue to surpass me even more. The article that we were asked to read was scary yet this is reality. We must really take a good look at what we are doing in our schools and revaluate what's working and what needs revamping as our students prepare to go out into the real world. Although we may not like change, it is here and it is here to stay.
One of the comments in the article I found very interesting was that "educated" people are turning to John Stuart for their news. Presenting news with a comedic slant may be the only way some can accept what actually is going on around us. The discrepancy between what is expended and supported by the government when it comes to the support of education and use is steroids really shows where the priorities lie for many politicians.
I read the Thomas Friedman article with some of the same trepidation I felt after seeing the Power Point presentation at 8:00 a.m. You might say they both woke me. I was already convinced of the importance of ICT and Technology Integration in American Schools--in my school--in my high school art classroom. These sources articulated stronger reasons than my own, which has "it's the wave of the future, it's the new medium for art." Iterating the potential lack of employment and prosperity for my students and my grandchildren, the warnings imparted will, I know, motivate me to work harder to incorporate new technologies into what I recently called "the ancient technologies" of art. Sandy Whitmore
I have never considered myself to be ahead of the game when it comes to the use and awareness of new technology. I find that having graduated from college in 1999, I was just at the cusp of a new wave of technology sweeping into higher education. While I feel comfortable with basic applications like Word, PowerPoint and various internet browsers, I am certainly under-educated with many of the new applications that are being used by many of my students.
In response to Thomas Friedman's article, I think that the point I find to rings the most true is his comment on how we view education. I agree that the most important factor in whether or not an individual actually learns something is whether or not they are motivated. Good teaching, such as the type experienced by Brittany Schmidt, is the single biggest factor behind motivating students. Certainly, the curriculum, use of technology and teacher expectations play a role as well, but when the positive connection between teacher and student exists this can overcome any lacking that may be present in the curriculum.
A second point he makes is the need for American schools to nuture the best minds we have to offer. This task becomes increasingly more difficult with the presence of standards, state assessments and the ever varying range of abilities found within one particular classroom. It is a challenge for schools who work towards true heterogenous grouping to find a way to meet each student where he/she is at and challenge them accordingly. Easier sad then done.
Kyle Keenan
Noble High School
I enjoyed reading the article because it echoed many of the sentiments I have felt for a long time. For far too long, we have stressed the importance of memorizing, rote memory and many other inane things. I have become a strong advocate that we need to teach our students how to problem solve, how to analyze and think critically, and we as educators need to be excited about the process of learning. The important thing is to show our students how to find the info and then evaluate it and then come to conclusions. Perhaps other societies are doing a better job of doing that. We are so bound with state and federal regulations which often bind our hands, and consume, so much of our time at the local level, that we don't have the time to reflect about what is truly important and then ponder the best way to arrive at that destination. Jumping through hoops, taking required educational courses, attending workshops that add nothing to my ability as a teacher are not the best ways to train teachers and help us to become the best teachers and facilitators in our students' lives. That is what I think. What do you think? bernie
My technology connections......hmm. I remember being back in high school and describing myself as a "technophobe." I have never been enamored with the "latest" technologies, be they phones, computers, palm pilots, or combinations of all of the above. I do, though, love certain websites -- particularly those of my favorite musicians. I love being able to download bootlegs and video footage of concerts. So while I may shirk technology in some ways, in others, it brings a great deal of enjoyment to my life. As a new teacher, I am continually faced with the need to integrate technologies in my classroom in order to make lessons more relevant to my students. I'm slowly.....slowly.....figuring out some things.
The Tom Friedmann piece is, as is all of his writing, clear, engaging, and pointed.It makes sense that The Daily Show is one of America's most-viewed news shows because it's so highly engaging.What implications does this have for other news programs -- those that want to disseminate real information rather than sensationalistic stories? If satire is the way of the news future, I welcome it. However, what does it say about us as a culture if, at every turn, we need to be entertained? As Friedmann says, the world is now flat, and students in China and India do not have the same seeming need to be dazzled as American students do. What is the solution? We cannot move backwards. How can we use technology to weave rigorous curriculum with an engaging process?
I apologize for the rambling...time for lunch : )
-- Courtney
Some interesting reflections...I think we are all very much on the same page, since we agree that we need to engage learners and focus on essentials - teaching all students how to learn and to be critical thinkers. Technology is useful only in so far as it helps us remain relevant as we pursue the essentials.
Changes in the world are always challenges (would you believe I remember finding Sputnik in the night sky over Cleveland Ohio?) to which real educators rise. We each have the opportunity to make a difference.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
spk
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On this lovely snow day, I am enjoying reading your blogs. I agree with Steve that your comments are thoughtful and insightful. It is clear that all of you are committed teachers who want to do your very best with your students and who are aware of and struggling with the challenges of the 21st century. I thought some of our discussions yesterday were rich. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from teachers from various schools. Perhaps together we can begin to clarify some small steps we each can take to integrate information literacy and technology into our classes.
Keep blogging so we can stay in touch during our 5 weeks apart. We'd love to hear what is happening in your classrooms, and Steve and I are available by email to help with your action plans.
Connie
When I think back to my early days as a learner, I have pictures of fountain pens, ink, slide rule, and ink blotter. Sounds like I am 100 years old? not yet, but I have certainly seen technology enter our lives as educators. I wonder if technology is going to remain my friend, at times it seems that I just cannot keep up with it. Learning through and with technology is great entertainment but I am running out of hours in the day !!!!!!! irene M.
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