For my first podcast I wrote a short reflective piece on what I think about technology in education right now. I hope whoever may listen to this will enjoy it, and hopefully my voice is not to monotone.
Here is a picture of where I sat while making this podcast. This is also where I sit every wednesday night for my ECMP 355 class. A lot of work is done at this desk. It is a love/hate relationship. 
This reflection is based on chapters 3,6, 10, and 11 from the text book, “Understanding the Landscape of Teaching“, by Irene Naested, Bernie Potvin, and Peter Waldron.
Learning occurs when a student reflects and deliberates on an event. When a teacher can take something a student already knows and build upon it, it can make learning easier for the student. This is because it is based upon something they already understand, and therefore can build on the idea and reflect upon it. This reflection process enables students to learn because they can relate to a new concept. I am wondering if teachers are always able to find something that students can relate to, and if not will the amount and quality of learning be less for the students?
One thing that has pushed my thinking is how our great grandparents’ beliefs in education are different compared to today’s educational beliefs. Our grandparents believed there was a right way to do things; you had to be trained to do the right thing, and children needed discipline and role models with virtue and character. Today we believe that tasks can be completed in many ways, and training is a lifelong learning process. The role models of today are not even close to being full of virtue and character. They are more about having fun and doing whatever they want. Society has gotten so sensitive that most discipline is seen as excessive. A common thread between the times is that everyone still learns from observing, but what we are observing now compared to what our grandparents observed is completely different. Has this change in society caused our students to become more violent, have more sex and do more drugs? Or do we notice these activities more because our society obsesses about and glorifies these actions?
As students grow and develop they become more independent and their classrooms become less homey. Since students and teachers spend the majority of their day in a classroom, why not make the school rooms homier? Do we have to make it a cold, harsh looking room? Some ideas I would like to try and incorporate into older high schools is an elementary method of decorating. I want to make the classroom colorful and have posters that will relate to the students’ classes on the wall, and even their own work. I would like to put their desks in groups instead of formally in a line. But if the students were placed in groups would it cause more distractions during class? I want to allow windows and fresh air, and to even have a class pet. Incorporating these ideas into high school could cause the students experience to be more fun and enjoyable, as well as helping them to nurture the urge to learn. I do wonder what will happen if this change is implemented into a high school. Will the student’s marks become lower or higher, and if so which changes caused the difference?
I would really enjoy to receive some responses to this post, especially if someone can answer any questions, or has a different opinion.
Today during my EPS 100 class there was a comment made that really confused me.
Technology a fad
Uploaded on March 23, 2006
by zinkwazi
The guest speaker talked to us about technology in education. The speaker posted a question on tweeter, asking what people think about the use of technology in education. There was a lot of answers that stated that technology in education is great. That technology is a way to connect to students, and use less paper, and also a way to show off students work outside of the classroom. But one response really got me thinking. This gist of the response was “Technology is a fad. We should keep on using textbooks, pencils, and paper. That is where education is at.” (This is just the gist because I can not remember it word for word).
This pushed my thinking to ask why do we worry about technology in the future so much if it may be just a fad? I believe many people fear technology of the future because it could completely change our lives. There are so many question left unanswered with technology. Technology is beneficial, but can also be negative on society.
Technology gives us the ability to have infinite amounts of information at our fingertips. With all of this information so easily accessible people do not have to retain much information anymore. Will this change how our brains function in the future? And how will this affect the education system?
If technology is really just a fad, what will be next?
As part of the ECMP 355 class at the University of Regina, we are required to mentor two online classrooms that are publishing work online. Each of the teachers running the online classrooms were given time to “sell themselves” to us. After hearing from each teacher we picked the top three classrooms we would like to mentor in, and were than assigned two classrooms that we will mentor for the rest of the semester. The first task was to leave a welcoming comment on the main page of the online classrooms we are to mentor.
My first classroom is a grade five classroom run by Mrs. Davis. The main page of this classroom is called Reflective Voices. They seem like a lovely bunch of kids.
My second classroom is a 7/8 split run by Mrs. Hoffman. The main page of this classroom is called Mavis Hoffman – Blogmeister. These kids live in Major, Saskatchewan and I look forward to working with them.
Online Classroom
I am a bit nervous to see how this online classroom mentoring will turn out, but I am confident it will be a great learning experience.
While searching through blogs to add on to my RSS reader, I found a blog by David Warlick that really interested me. What first caught my eye was the title, “What do I know about math.” While reading this post I realized how many people must go through schooling and believe that they are bad at math or English, for a few examples. When a student is told that they are not good at, for example math and English, they truly believe they are bad at this subject. This completely discourages the student to try and become better at the skill. This constant negativity of telling the students what they are not good at is a very discouraging process. Students already know what they are not good at and do not wish to be reminded. Within a school situation a teacher should be positive and tell the student what they are good at, and then tell the student what they can improve on and do well on with some work. Everyone likes to be reminded what they are good at, and supporting a student usually boosts their morale. Throughout high school I never did well at writing, and I was constantly reminded at school about my horrible writing/grammar skills. To this day I struggle with writing, because I have this constant negativity towards it. I know over time and with practice I will acquire the skill to write up to par. Everyone has the ability to do well at anything they want.
Another part of this blog post that caught my eye was the part about math. “Algebra is not just solving X for Y. Thinking in algebra is about working the Y so that the X behaves the way that we want it to.” (Warlick) Math is not very important to most students, but they do not realize that it gives them the ability to manipulate many things in life, such as computers. It gives students problem solving skills, and the ability to work something to their advantage. Math gives us the ability to solve daily problems and to come up with new solutions, which is a constant part of life.
Someone needs to find a way to explain calculus
This week I have been using the wonderful google education tool, picasa 3. The great thing about this tool is that it’s free. First I downloaded the tool, and got the main page up. It will then search your whole computer for pictures, or just certain files. This is an awesome idea, because adding pictures is why some people do not use tools like this. Once I had all of my pictures on Picasa 3 I used the picture editing tools to edit my pictures. It was very easy to use, and has a lot of great features. Once I was done editing my pictures I created a collage. Again, the tools were very easy to use and it created the collage in literally seconds. Once I was done creating my collage, I started to play around with some of the other tools. You can easily upload pictures from your camera and send an email. It has a tool which adds your pictures on to your blog ( if you have blogger), and you can add your pictures to an online album made by Picasa 3. You can also add you pictures onto Google Earth Globe, and easily make a web page. The best part of all is that you can easily create a slide show.
Collage created with Picasa 3
Pictures taken by Dream Photography, here is a link to their Journal.
This tool will be an awesome tool to use in the classroom. Students will easily be able to create slideshows and collages, as well as show their work around the world with an album web page. There is nothing better than watching students share their work around the world.
Uploaded on September 10, 2008 by teachandlearn.
Technology is growing at a very fast rate. To a lot of people it is almost impossible to keep up with. With all of this technology at our fingertips, educators are wondering how we can use this technology to our advantage.
These benefits and limitations of technology in the classroom are just from my point of view. It would be greatly appreciated if others could add to this list, go into more detail, or even prove one of my views wrong.
Benefits of technology in the classroom( I am mostly talking about the internet):
Limitations of technology in the classroom:
The use of technology in the classroom environment is a great idea. It just has to be controlled and monitored to make sure it does not get out of hand. We need to keep a human connection, and keep the classroom interactive. The great thing about technology is that you can do both of these with it, within reason.
Blogging is a great tool for education. It gives students a chance to let out their feelings, their questions, and anything else they may think, about a class. They can also respond to another classmates blog. With this, students can become interactive as well as being able to think on different levels. Blogging is also a great incentive for students. It allows them to post a piece of work, and instead of just the teacher and maybe some classmates being able to read it, anyone can! Everyone loves when people comment on there work, unless it is negative of course. For a student, it makes writing more enjoyable when others enjoy it as well. Overall I believe that blogging can be used to a teacher’s advantage.
There are many websites on the internet today that have changed society, to a point. Youtube is able to share any video online, for anyone to see. There are a lot of great videos, and it is a great way to advertise something for free, such as a new band, but there is also some negative points about being able to put any video online for free. The one bad thing is that someone could take a video of you, with the possibility that you didn’t even know the video was taken, and post it on to Youtube without your permission. Facebook, in my point of view, has taken away the ability for anyone to be private. To me it is easier to just not have a Facebook. For student achievement, Youtube has an occasional video that can be helpful, but overall these kind of sites have very little ability to help a student achieve.
As for mobile phones, texting is the biggest problem we have today with students. Texting is really a great way to interact with others. You can text to find out where someone is and make instant plans. With this we are keeping a human connection, and taking advantage of the technology we have. But as with everything, texting can be taken too far. An example of this is when two people are sitting right beside each other and are texting instead of talking. A mobile phone does not help a student achieve greater things in the classroom, but it is a very handy electronic to have around.
As time goes on we will be able to figure out how we can use all of this technology to our advantage, in the classroom. Some way may never be able to use at all, and some we will use everyday, only time will tell.
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