Teachers: Ditch the Excuses, Kids Come First!
I thought Bianca raised a key issue in her blog posting “Give Students a New Audience Everyday” from Judi Harris’ “Wherefore art thou telecollaboration?” about encouraging students to celebrate their work by using technology to communicate and share their ideas with the rest of the world. Bianca mentions statistics from Judi Harris’ article stating “that 75% of teachers believe that technology is valuable in education however only 35% of teachers use it in their classroom”. These fairly recent statistics took me by surprise and lead me to ponder over why exactly this was the case.
I didn’t have to ponder much longer as Bianca later mentions in her posting that the teachers who aren’t incorporating technology into their classrooms are using worn-out personal excuses such as “computer illiteracy, time, unreliable computers” and “lack of computers”. I would have to agree with Bianca that this is not time to be making excuses, and that she is completely right in saying that “there are so many fascinating and exciting activities” online that can help to “celebrate students’ work”. I, like Bianca, hope that teachers start realising sooner than later that we are living in a world basically run by technology, so in order ensure to engage in technological activities and ideally feel ready to face the real world.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Long Live The Geeks!
As I was perousing the net for some interesting computer images I came across an interesting article called Geek Redefined which looked at the evolution of the term “geek” as displayed below:
Definition of “Geek:”
· Circa 1970 (Merriam-Webster): a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake.
· Circa 1990 (common usage): a nerd who loves computer code and techie gadgets.
· Circa 2007 (Wikipedia): an individual who is fascinated by knowledge and imagination, usually electronic or virtual in nature.
I found it interesting to see how having technological expertise is becoming a much more valuable asset as time progresses and technology continues to become more and more highly developed. As discussed in this article, society now has a new found respect for ‘geeks’ and no longer regards them as “nerds with bad clothes” with “no social skills”, but rather as people who are knowledgeable and completely vital in a computer crisis. I think this article just strengthens my desire to make my students feel confident in using technology in the classroom. In doing so, I feel as though I will be preparing them for any technological challenges they may in the future as well as setting them up for success as members of a society where technology is progressing at a rapid pace.
Equilibrium
In Cathie Wing Blog posting, “Impact of Technology”, I completely agree with her thoughts that despite the positive impact technology has had on student learning according to research done in 2005, it does not mean that it should override “pen and paper and face-to-face interaction”. Like Cathie, I believe there needs to be a balance between both mediums to truly benefit a child’s learning of the world in which he/she is living.
Cathie’s posting appealed to me because it was very succinct and precise in mentioning the beneficial impacts of technology. However, I would’ve liked it if she also gave reasons for why there needs to be a balance between both traditional and technological teaching. I too agree with this belief, but have trouble in giving good reasoning to such a claim. I suppose I feel that with the more creative art subjects, computer aid should be more limited and there should be instead on using traditional materials (such as paints and clay in Visual Arts and musical instruments in Music). I find that yes, technology can engage children in creative play, but traditional materials do a better job at encouraging children to use their imagination.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Nothing Strange About Change!
According to Bianca Ritky, change should be a familiarity when it comes to a teacher’s entire career. After reading Bianca’s response to Sarah Fallon’s article, “All the World’s a Stage: Teaching through on line journal” I thought she made a valid point in saying that teachers spend their entire career adjusting to changes, such as that of dealing with new students, units of work, topics and so on, so why should they be fighting change in a technological sense? If blogging provides children with a choice and place to share their opinions with other children, as Bianca mentions, why combat it? I think teachers who try to avoid incorporating technology into their classroom should rethink about what they are really preparing their students for. By now, I would have hoped that it was evident to all teachers that the society in which we reside is incredibly technology advanced, so unless we are to familiarise our students with technology, how else are we suppose to expect them to contribute successfully to a society so devout to technology?
I enjoyed reading Bianca’s blog posting in regards to Sarah Fallon’s article, because it provides readers with a positive outlook on blogging. Her final statement, “Be the promoters of change” in my opinion, should be heard and followed by every teacher who has access and the ability to incoprorate technology into their classrooms.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)If you wanna be my teacher!
In fellow blogger Jared’s post “If you wanna be my teacher” he comments on a video which consists of a bunch of primary school kids singing to Spice Girls lyrics about the need for a teacher to be “engaged in technology” by incorporating it into their learning. I think it really reflects the view of children in today’s society where there is a growing interest and need for the use of technology in everyday life. Naturally, the kids’ demands would have been stronger if they actually supplied more valuable reasoning for why they required the integration of technology in the classroom, rather than simply saying “that’s the world today”.
What I disliked about this video, was that at the start it portrayed traditional learning as dull, boring and useless. This was portrayed through the clichéd daunting music and strict, mean looking teacher who was whacking a ruler against a page whilst the kids all looked bored and drained of enthusiasm. Yes, I agree that technology can open up children to the big wide world by providing them with wide range of resources but at the same time I also believe that there are a lot of positive aspects of traditional teaching that can never really ever be replaced by piece of machinery.
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