A Vision of Students Today
I thought that this video hit the proverbial nail on the head. It was very well put together and kept my interest throughout the entire 4+ minutes. I liked how the camera panned from the walls to the seats to the board - all of which were a continuing thought. I also liked in how each student held up a fact. These facts were very interesting to think about. If one was to add up the hours of things we do a day, it would be more hours than are in the actual day? That seems crazy to me. But I think what best explains this would be the sign that said "I'm a multi-tasker (I have to be.)"
Being a college student today can be very intense. We are expected to learn things for jobs that exist now, but with the continuing growth in technology, are these jobs really going to be the same when we graduate? No one knows for sure. It also seems as though everything is overloaded. The sign that said they get seven hours a week could be a false pretense for others. I personally have had to function on less than that per night. But although I was sleep deprived & potentially overwhelmed, I still stick through with my classes and my assignments. I can't play the victim, because I chose to go to college.
It's Not About the Technology
In this article, Kelly Hines goes against the grain. Whereas most people would want to infuse technology into our schools & teach children by those means, Kelly states that teaching does not have to be solely about the technology. She agrees that they can be assets, but in summary, she also says that there needs to be a good foundation in place before the technology can become a useful tool.
The analogy Kelly Hines uses in the "Learning and Teaching Are Not the Same" portion of this article was a very interesting one. I had never thought of learning and teaching in that way. No matter how much effort a teacher puts into the curriculum, if a student does not comprehend it, no learning has been done -thus no teaching. I think this is a powerful statement that more teachers should pay attention to.
Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
When I first started reading this post by Karl Fisch about technological illiteracy, I agreed whole heartedly. But then I began to wonder what does it really mean to be technologically literate? What may be literate to you, may not be literate to someone else. It's all about perspective. So, with the inset of Terry Freedman's post, I began to feel like this article took a turn towards harsh. Terry stated that the principals and head masters of school that employed technologically illiterate teachers should be to blame. He also stated that, "School inspectors who are technologically illiterate should be encouraged to find alternative employment." This just seems very harsh, because who is to judge what is literate and illiterate.
I do feel that teachers should be able to work the basics, but it makes me wonder about the older generation of teachers -the ones who have been doing this before technology hit the educational world so hard. Do they feel left behind in this new day and age of their profession? Should they be help accountable for not being able to infuse technology as much as one would like? I think not, because if they are able to teach to the same level that a "technologically literate" teacher can, then I think that they are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
Social Media Count
I believe that Gary Hayes has created an excellent visual into the world of technological growth and expansion. This is an amazing flash app that continuously shows additions to various internet media accounts. It's almost overwhelming to watch and to think about. Every single time a number changes on the list, it means that someone in the world is using technology And at the rate the numbers are changing, it is showing just how many people are being affected by this technological movement. What does this mean for me as a teacher? It means that a good majority of students, no matter how young or old, will be affected by technology in some way. This puts a weight on my shoulders, because now I must keep up with the technological movement so that I can instill the best education into my students.
I like the way you said that you can't play the victim because you chose to go to college. I think the video expressed the same sentiment when they said something along the lines of, "we're the lucky one's" in relation to the millions of people who can't read, let alone attend college.
ReplyDeleteI think one solution to the Kelly Hines analogy about teaching and learning, is to find a means to let students teach themselves. I wouldn't have understood this if I had not struggled with math for so long. I didn't really get it until I stopped depending on others to explain it. I am not dumb, but I just don't think about Math the same way most teachers teach it. So I learned with some coaching and threat of failing, to teach myself. I now have a newfound confidence regarding math, and a thirst to learn more about why and how it works.
For your third response about Fisch's post, I think there is a hug something missing in your argument. Without a doubt, technology grants any capable learner access to a world of information that cannot be compared to anything found within school walls. This is so because the internet makes information collective. Teachers, all of them (old or young) should keep up to date with technology even if its to access resources for them to learn from. Even if they already have a perfect means of motivating their students without technology (which is inherent if a teacher uses technology well), they should still be able to teach students how to learn from the infinite resource that surrounds them in almost all other realms of life.
What do you think?