Educational Social Networking and K-12 Educational Technology
Educational Social Networking and K-12 Educational Technology
Friday, March 12, 2010
my mind wanders: understanding what we don't know
Some thoughts I had as I was preparing to leave on our two week spring holiday on Friday 3/12/10
my mind wanders: understanding what we don't know
In the right hands of a person with experience and knowledge to offer guidance, digital instruction can be a wonderful opportunity to enhance student learning. In the wrong hands it can be difficult to process and admire. To those unfamiliar with its potential to foster curiosity and learning, it has the ability to generate resentment, hostility and be a downright affront on their very nature of keeping things unchanged. When a lesson that incorporates this technology is implemented there may be those that hope it will not work, or that it falls flat, or that students react unfavorably and just may even serve as saboteurs. Technology is a tool and like most tools, it can be used productively or destructively. Likewise, their products can be used for thesame purposes. The skilled teacher, like the skilled carpenter, matches the tool to the task in order to accomplish an important purpose. At the same time as we consider our own uses of technology, we need to focus on our students and their need to use technology effectively.
Sure, we can all ferret out the negative element about anything if we put our mind to it. For some people, it is their natural reaction to lambaste something which exists outside their circle of knowledge or have very little practice on the subject. Do we call the study of the female nude titillating or wonderful examples of classical art? Why does society view Michelangelo’s "David" as a great sculpture, but act shocked when we view Titian's "Venus of Urbino " from the same time period? Film throughout its rather short existence has found itself in the crosshairs of censorship and condemnation (All Quiet on the Western Front, Birth of a Nation, The Last Temptation of Christ) only later to be accepted as critical visual works that represent society in a true light (take a look at what educators can do with movies: http://www.edutopia.org/reading-film-story-movies). Libraries across the nation (ours included) take part in Banned Books Week, the annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Most of us are old enough to have seen the banning of books like Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Forever, A Clockwork Orange, and more recently And Tango Makes Three (penguins?) and Captain Underpants. Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, and members of the community to keep the books in the library collections.
Similarly, intellectual freedom, while precious and vital to teaching, coupled with technology is where we are in the 21st century. Our school community trusts inherently that we as professionals are competent in implementing this particular tool like we would any other in the classroom. We give the guidance for enrichment. No doubt, our responsibility is to serve as the filter, much like when we assign a certain book, show a particular film in class, or invite a speaker into our classroom. Hysterical fanatics may have ripped out the page with the text in question; thrown themselves in front of the screen to block out the scenes or turned off the sound. To do such an act with the technology would mean much simpler acts: just turn off the power or cut the cable line.
Favorably, most in our profession know that in order to educate, we must first educate ourselves about the world that we live in and not shut it out. As a facilitator for learner we jeopardize our mission when we become anachronisms and do not represent positive and current role models. We as teachers have an advantage - we work most closely with the consumers of the world of today, our students. These consumers, in our hands, are the producers of tomorrow. Are we as educators taking advantage of this close relationship?
Our families want to know that we are preparing their child for the world of tomorrow, a world where the ability of writing a strong argument, the ability to relate the aspects of our human history must co-exist, if not converge, with the integration of technology in the 21st century. Our employers demand it and our economy's existence depends on it. As teachers, we serve on the front line of this endeavor. We need to be those ‘right’ hands. How can we expect a student to accept that technology is worthwhile for learning or producing if they don't see it being implemented in at least some of their classes?
I invite you to visit the web sites listed below. Some have articles written by educators and the others are created samples of the uses of technology in certain subject areas. Some are student produced and a few are teacher-generated. Some share just a few images and/or words. In others, the author inundates the space with thoughts and visuals, sometimes even sound. What I see when I read these is the opportunity for so much learning and expression to occur, but perhaps most of all, I realize that one wonderful useof this particular technology tool (blogging, specifically 'glogging') is that it can give a voice to what could have otherwise been a silent voice in a classroom. So many educators and students use digital instruction, one can be part of the solution or stay on the fringes while casting an obtuse shadow.
I share a quote by Technology Integration Facilitator, K.L. Evans:
"As this technologically driven world moves forward, the need to adapt the role of the educator, as well as meet the demands of the future, are imperative. In going from old school to new school, the majority of educators are modifying their baseline teaching approach by facilitating learning, instead of simply dispensing knowledge.
Today, technology in the classroom is an instrument utilized to deliver instruction/information to accommodate all learning styles. This said, technology has opened the door to a wealth of information that has the capabilities to enhance the educational structure we offer to our students. Most of our students are entering the classroom with a wealth of pre-exposed knowledge to technology and are aware of what the internet has to offer. As educators, it is essential for us to evolve with this generation and with the evolution of technology into our daily lives."
Welcome to the Dovewhisper (2007). K.L. Evans. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from Welcome to DoveWhisper.com
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