I feel that the common theme between these two articles is that as teachers we should not make assumption about the access our students have to technology or how astute they are in using it. The best course of action in using technology in our classrooms is to first know the students in our class well and to engage them at the most appropriate level possible. Then we need to realize that computers are the essential tools of today’s students and avoid making assumptions that they somehow detract from the learning process. In making assumptions about our students we lose the opportunity to connect with them and the chance to have the technology, that we do choose to use in the class, make a lasting impact.
In regards to access to technology being a social justice issue, I do agree with the authors of the article. Even if you look outside of computer use by businesses, every aspect of our lives involves an ever increasing interaction with technology. From on-line bill pay, to health information research to connecting with loved ones; our lives are connected to computers. If children do not receive proper training in the use of technology they will lack a fluency in our electronic culture that will put them at a disadvantage in competing with others, once they leave school. In our business and personal lives we use computers for more than just word processing and internet research. While these are the primary uses of computers in school, there are so many other ways that we can use technology to both engage students creativity and eagerness to learn, while at the same time prepare them for the broader world.
This is an “equity of education” issue that we have just touched briefly on in our education as teachers. In giving assignments to students we cannot assume that everyone has the same access to the internet or even the same skill to use search engines. While we need to make sure that students understand the use of technology in learning our subjects, we need to make sure that they equally have access to apply that knowledge. I do believe that we can have a meaningful interaction between content and technology and at the same time prepare students for the world outside.
I will definitely put thought towards the deliberate use of technology in my classroom. I believe that the use of technology needs to have a purpose just like everything else that is done in my class. With the complexity of today’s world it is important that teachers think beyond the task at hand and look at how the use of technology, in and out of the classroom, can be instrumental in shaping the learning process.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
PowerPoint Commentary
There were two items that I really liked during the presentation. In concept I very much liked the idea of having a movie, or an animation playing in the background as the presenter is talking. It gives the feel of the presentation being more interactive. I also really liked the use of acronyms such as the ones used by Andy and Trevor; Ask question about the scene, Change-deliver y or emphasis, Think-what are they trying to say, Outside Research. Using acronyms allows you to bullet point thoughts without the bullet points. Most of the presentations that I have use a summary slide at the end. I think this is really important for retaining the main points of the presentation.
I think bad PowerPoint presentations can sometimes be like obscenity. You can’t describe it but you know it when you see it. The least engaging thing for me is often a presentation of a slide with a great deal of text in it. This can be improved upon by not writing out a definition of terms but instead only showing the word and defining it verbally. For me it can also be very confusing when I am presented with a slide full of information or a great picture and do not get any information, from the teacher, on why that slide, is there.
I think that next time I would ask for twice as much time for my presentation or greatly reduce the number of slides. I like to get the group involved far more than I did in my original presentation. If I had few slides, cutting out the video maybe, then I could get more interaction with the class. Another option would be to have the sound off and do the video at the end of the presentation. That way the information learned in the presentation on bird identification could be applied to the video.
I do like using PowerPoint as a lesson presenter; however, I think that you need to have a specific goal in mind when you use it. On the positive side, PowerPoint definitely gives a teacher the chance to present information in a neat, consistent manner and allows them to add all types of media into their presentation. There is a risk that once you have presentation it may affect the spontaneity of teaching and have you too focused on not getting off track. More than likely, I will probably use PowerPoint as a way to show illustrations seamlessly or to illustrate process. It will be limited to specific functions so that I do not become stale in repeating information.
I think bad PowerPoint presentations can sometimes be like obscenity. You can’t describe it but you know it when you see it. The least engaging thing for me is often a presentation of a slide with a great deal of text in it. This can be improved upon by not writing out a definition of terms but instead only showing the word and defining it verbally. For me it can also be very confusing when I am presented with a slide full of information or a great picture and do not get any information, from the teacher, on why that slide, is there.
I think that next time I would ask for twice as much time for my presentation or greatly reduce the number of slides. I like to get the group involved far more than I did in my original presentation. If I had few slides, cutting out the video maybe, then I could get more interaction with the class. Another option would be to have the sound off and do the video at the end of the presentation. That way the information learned in the presentation on bird identification could be applied to the video.
I do like using PowerPoint as a lesson presenter; however, I think that you need to have a specific goal in mind when you use it. On the positive side, PowerPoint definitely gives a teacher the chance to present information in a neat, consistent manner and allows them to add all types of media into their presentation. There is a risk that once you have presentation it may affect the spontaneity of teaching and have you too focused on not getting off track. More than likely, I will probably use PowerPoint as a way to show illustrations seamlessly or to illustrate process. It will be limited to specific functions so that I do not become stale in repeating information.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bad cell phone, bad!
I agree with Mr. Allen that cell phones should be banned from the classroom. First, I believe that it is a distraction. With everything that teachers have to compete with, adding an electronic toy to the mix can only detract from learning. I do believe that we need to integrate technology into the classroom but it needs to contribute to the learning process. As good teachers we should have our students connected to activities and lectures, not off in their own world texting or surfing the net. Also, in this discussion we need to be realistic with ourselves about the behavior of teenagers. When given the freedom to use their phones in class, students are not going to be focused on taking notes or research. These devices simply give teachers another role to play, electronic cop.
I also believe that there is an equity problem with cell use in class. Those students that are privileged enough to have a phone purchased for them, have a huge advantage over those that do not. Allowing the privileged few to have the use of an electronic crutch in school not only creates an unequal learning environment but stigmatizes other students that may not have the money for a phone or have parents who believe kids just do not need a cell phone.
You may ask, “why not buy phones for every kid?” In a time when schools are having a problem just affording teachers communities should not have to pay for a device that will be used outside of school 90% of the time. Schools are constantly cutting back in every area and the money that could be spent on cell phones really should be used to hire more teachers and reduce class size. In fact, if you dissect the argument in favor of cell phones, you would quickly see that many of the roles the phone were once handled by teachers. Most importantly, we should admit that school did exist before cell phones and it will continue to exist even if students leave their phones at the door.
I also believe that there is an equity problem with cell use in class. Those students that are privileged enough to have a phone purchased for them, have a huge advantage over those that do not. Allowing the privileged few to have the use of an electronic crutch in school not only creates an unequal learning environment but stigmatizes other students that may not have the money for a phone or have parents who believe kids just do not need a cell phone.
You may ask, “why not buy phones for every kid?” In a time when schools are having a problem just affording teachers communities should not have to pay for a device that will be used outside of school 90% of the time. Schools are constantly cutting back in every area and the money that could be spent on cell phones really should be used to hire more teachers and reduce class size. In fact, if you dissect the argument in favor of cell phones, you would quickly see that many of the roles the phone were once handled by teachers. Most importantly, we should admit that school did exist before cell phones and it will continue to exist even if students leave their phones at the door.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Cyberbullying
I see cyberbullying as a very sinister act as people are able to hide behind an electronic veil and avoid many of the societal rules that we rely upon to keep the peace between individuals. Cyberbullying is the act of committing intentional emotional harm through the use of any form of electronic communication. This includes many of the common Internet devices; email, instant messaging, blogs, social networking sites and chat rooms. The emotional harm can involve harassment, intimidation, and insults. I do believe that most cyberbullying intentional targets someone the bully knows; however, my own personal experience has shown me that there are just some people out on the Internet that see anyone on the web as a target. Most of my experience in this area has been completely random.
About a year ago my daughter and I started playing an online game World of Warcraft. Before playing we had a conversation about how this game was not like the supervised sites she had played on in the past. We went over the rules for being on the Internet and not sharing personal information with strangers. I expected people to play to win on the game; however, I could not predict how certain players would intentionally bully others or send abusive messages. This bullying was completely random and quite common. My daughter and I would talk about incidents when they arose and many times she had already reported the person’s behavior through the game. I found it quite distressing at the time that people felt fine bullying complete strangers. Although I have pretty web smart kid, it did wake me up to the fact that the Internet is a pretty wild place. That in our constant push for electronic freedom we, as a society, no longer feel constrained by responsibility or empathy on the World Wide Web.
I am amazed on a daily basis that children are entering the internet at an ever increasing younger age. I know of many nine to ten year olds that have Facebook pages, are constantly texting each other and literally never turn off their computers. When I was a student the only place that had computer was the school. Now children have them in their pocket and schools face the challenge of trying to regulate a world outside of their walls. Web anonymity, free speech and regulation of student conduct outside of school are just some of the issues confronting schools today. Court cases such as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). Have challenged school administrators that want to protect children yet, at the same time a face the fact that a ‘school may only restrict student speech that causes a substantial and material disruption of school activities because students do not shed their constitutional rights, including their right to free speech, at the schoolhouse gate” (Taylor, 2009,p61).
My plan for dealing with cyberbullying in my classroom will be to tie my rules and expectations to student’s behavior in the classroom to that on the internet. Part of the first day of class will be spent in just learning how my students communicate electronically. I would like to know who has access to the Internet, what their email addresses are, and what web sites they like to visit. When I was in school we would talk about what arcades and malls we frequented. Now it is all online but still the same topics.
Then this would lead into the topic of bullying and how regardless of how it is done and wherever you are at, it is not acceptable. I would share the secret with the kids that everything put out over the Internet is there forever and even if you think bullying is anonymous, you need to know that reporting it can be very easy and just a click away. I think that we can only be preemptive in that we establish rules for behavior as we cannot control net access outside of school; however, any cyberbullying needs to be dealt with extremely quickly. I believe that discipline needs to be directed at individuals and should include those students that participated passively by not reporting issues. All too often innocent kids get caught up punishment and I feel that group punishment shows a lack of respect for the individual. Finally, as teachers we will are going to see the affects of the outside world on our students in the classroom. Abuse, emotional distress, problems with friends and personal conflicts will all be played out in front of us. As teachers we need to have an aware of the different interactions within our classroom and provide a safe place for students to report bullying. We need to quickly deal with all bullying by involving parents and students. My plan would be to attack problems as a group, bringing as much light on the matter as possible.
About a year ago my daughter and I started playing an online game World of Warcraft. Before playing we had a conversation about how this game was not like the supervised sites she had played on in the past. We went over the rules for being on the Internet and not sharing personal information with strangers. I expected people to play to win on the game; however, I could not predict how certain players would intentionally bully others or send abusive messages. This bullying was completely random and quite common. My daughter and I would talk about incidents when they arose and many times she had already reported the person’s behavior through the game. I found it quite distressing at the time that people felt fine bullying complete strangers. Although I have pretty web smart kid, it did wake me up to the fact that the Internet is a pretty wild place. That in our constant push for electronic freedom we, as a society, no longer feel constrained by responsibility or empathy on the World Wide Web.
I am amazed on a daily basis that children are entering the internet at an ever increasing younger age. I know of many nine to ten year olds that have Facebook pages, are constantly texting each other and literally never turn off their computers. When I was a student the only place that had computer was the school. Now children have them in their pocket and schools face the challenge of trying to regulate a world outside of their walls. Web anonymity, free speech and regulation of student conduct outside of school are just some of the issues confronting schools today. Court cases such as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). Have challenged school administrators that want to protect children yet, at the same time a face the fact that a ‘school may only restrict student speech that causes a substantial and material disruption of school activities because students do not shed their constitutional rights, including their right to free speech, at the schoolhouse gate” (Taylor, 2009,p61).
My plan for dealing with cyberbullying in my classroom will be to tie my rules and expectations to student’s behavior in the classroom to that on the internet. Part of the first day of class will be spent in just learning how my students communicate electronically. I would like to know who has access to the Internet, what their email addresses are, and what web sites they like to visit. When I was in school we would talk about what arcades and malls we frequented. Now it is all online but still the same topics.
Then this would lead into the topic of bullying and how regardless of how it is done and wherever you are at, it is not acceptable. I would share the secret with the kids that everything put out over the Internet is there forever and even if you think bullying is anonymous, you need to know that reporting it can be very easy and just a click away. I think that we can only be preemptive in that we establish rules for behavior as we cannot control net access outside of school; however, any cyberbullying needs to be dealt with extremely quickly. I believe that discipline needs to be directed at individuals and should include those students that participated passively by not reporting issues. All too often innocent kids get caught up punishment and I feel that group punishment shows a lack of respect for the individual. Finally, as teachers we will are going to see the affects of the outside world on our students in the classroom. Abuse, emotional distress, problems with friends and personal conflicts will all be played out in front of us. As teachers we need to have an aware of the different interactions within our classroom and provide a safe place for students to report bullying. We need to quickly deal with all bullying by involving parents and students. My plan would be to attack problems as a group, bringing as much light on the matter as possible.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Teachers and Social Networking
Here are Google links that come up under a search for my name. About a year ago I did some cleaning up of my profile on-line. I worked for a company, UL, where I was having people search for me to find out information on the business line that I represented. It was important to me that I represent my company appropriately and have control over my on-line presence. The only information that I found, that was distressing, was a couple of criminals that shared my name. One was in the UK and the other is in Mercer County. Both were convicted of murdered; however, their pictures do not look anything like me.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-asbury/11/b4a/a2b - My linkedin page containing my resume and business associations.
http://fleshofmyflesh.com/CastAndCrew.html - Web site for a zombie movie that I was an extra for. It is very hard to connect this back to me unless I told you.
http://www.ehsalumni.com/1992/h.html - Alumni site for my wife’s high school.
http://www.knownworldt.com/ - If you can find my name on this web page then I can tell you the story.
I did not find anything that may have been unbecoming of as a teacher. I did have a MySpace page that I will cancel, as I feel it is a bit too personal for my students to be asking me about. Other than that, many of the web pages that I participate require memberships where my personal information is kept private.
I believe that teachers need to be very careful about their personal lives. As public servants we are under a greater deal of scrutiny than private citizens and just like politicians or police officers we need to understand people will often dig into our personal lives. One reason why we do our demographics project is to understand the community in which we plan to teach in. A community’s’ standards are probably something that we should look into before we apply for a job in that community.
Teacher’s free speech needs to be tempered against the time and place that we find ourselves in. While we have the right to free speech and it has been upheld in courts, we do need to recognize that we are a public figure. As teacher we may need to give extra care on the information we share and be conscious of the consequences of our actions. Certainly, our speech should not be held against us; however, we should think twice about what we do in public. While we can work very hard to have a clear division between our teaching and personal lives, to many people we are a teacher regardless of where we are.
The most interesting story, to me, was the teacher in Maryland that had the expletive filled rant about parents, children and teachers. I can see where someone might hold these opinions but to share this with anyone seems high unprofessional. This, and other stories show, an ignorance of the Internet and how once you put something out into the digital world it is there forever.
To protect myself and my job I will continue to keep ownership of my online persona. This means regularly searching for my name and especially making sure that any online memberships are kept private.
To protect myself and my job I will continue to keep ownership of my online persona. This means regularly searching for my name and especially making sure that any online memberships are kept private. The Internet can be a view into our homes. As teachers we need to be aware of when the shades are open to our lives
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-asbury/11/b4a/a2b - My linkedin page containing my resume and business associations.
http://fleshofmyflesh.com/CastAndCrew.html - Web site for a zombie movie that I was an extra for. It is very hard to connect this back to me unless I told you.
http://www.ehsalumni.com/1992/h.html - Alumni site for my wife’s high school.
http://www.knownworldt.com/ - If you can find my name on this web page then I can tell you the story.
I did not find anything that may have been unbecoming of as a teacher. I did have a MySpace page that I will cancel, as I feel it is a bit too personal for my students to be asking me about. Other than that, many of the web pages that I participate require memberships where my personal information is kept private.
I believe that teachers need to be very careful about their personal lives. As public servants we are under a greater deal of scrutiny than private citizens and just like politicians or police officers we need to understand people will often dig into our personal lives. One reason why we do our demographics project is to understand the community in which we plan to teach in. A community’s’ standards are probably something that we should look into before we apply for a job in that community.
Teacher’s free speech needs to be tempered against the time and place that we find ourselves in. While we have the right to free speech and it has been upheld in courts, we do need to recognize that we are a public figure. As teacher we may need to give extra care on the information we share and be conscious of the consequences of our actions. Certainly, our speech should not be held against us; however, we should think twice about what we do in public. While we can work very hard to have a clear division between our teaching and personal lives, to many people we are a teacher regardless of where we are.
The most interesting story, to me, was the teacher in Maryland that had the expletive filled rant about parents, children and teachers. I can see where someone might hold these opinions but to share this with anyone seems high unprofessional. This, and other stories show, an ignorance of the Internet and how once you put something out into the digital world it is there forever.
To protect myself and my job I will continue to keep ownership of my online persona. This means regularly searching for my name and especially making sure that any online memberships are kept private.
To protect myself and my job I will continue to keep ownership of my online persona. This means regularly searching for my name and especially making sure that any online memberships are kept private. The Internet can be a view into our homes. As teachers we need to be aware of when the shades are open to our lives
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
An Expatriate in a Digital Nation
As a member of Generation X, I have witnessed the rise of computers from the Commodore 64 to the Netbook. It was my generation that was responsible for putting computers in millions of homes and schools across this country and the birth of the Internet. We irreversibly changed how people view, connect and interact with the world around them. Although we are responsible for this incredible explosion of technology we are still the product of blackboards, text books and lecture halls. Unfortunately much of our teaching styles still reflect this. This fact separates Generation X for the Digital Natives of today. These natives have been born into the digital Gen X created, for better or worse, and have evolved to take full advantage of it.
The digital input that today’s youth have is astounding and while I can readily assimilate into this culture there are certain traits and characteristics that make me stand out as a Digital Immigrant. For instance, I do not have the ability of the Digital Native to immerse myself in technology. That is, to share my unfiltered thoughts and feelings across Internet. I can utilize email and texting; however, phone calls are my preferred way to connect with friends. As an expatriate of a brick and mortar, paperback country, I travel in the digital world frequently feeling like an outsider. The Digital Natives; however, “are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet” (Prensky, 2001,p.1). Their cultures use of technology is intuitive and they do not require the mental guides books that I carry with me.
My experience with technology in the classroom has been very limited. High school in the 80’s did not have the technology that is present today. We were primarily limited to overhead projectors and VCRs. Most of my learning experience, with modern technology, has come from the corporate world where Power Point is king. This has lead to corporate communication to being very one sided and it is only in the past few years that companies have invested in interactive net-meetings and on-line training, connecting people from all over the world into meetings and presentations. The two areas that I have experienced the greatest amount of digital learning have been here at Concordia and in funniest of all places, the historical reenactment community. While preparing for graduate school I engaged several levels of media including pod casts, blogs and eBooks. This has allowed me to receive information quicker and more precisely than I have ever before. People involved in historical reenactment also rely upon these tools of the digital age. They are deeply immersed in learning and teaching. Many rely upon technology such as, YouTube, email, message boards, and all other manner of media to connect and share information in the study of history.
As a future teacher, I understand the need to change and develop teaching strategies to keep pace with the changes our students are going through. Prensky writes that “our children are furiously changing their brains in even newer ways, many of which are antithetical to our older ways of think” (2001). Their learning methods are the end product of the information revolution began by Gen X and we have not kept pace. We have created a world where students are constantly connected to the flow of information. The education that my generation had will not meet the needs of today’s children. “The fact is that even if you are the most engaging old-style teacher in the world, you are not going to capture most of our students’ attention the old way”(Prensky, 2005,p64.). These articles did not change my mind on that; however, it does impress upon me that we need to increase the pace on developing tools for the teacher. The common text book needs to be on the way out of our classrooms. New modes of presenting information need to be utilized and many of the old ways tossed aside. As school boards, administrators and teachers Gen X ignores this need at our own folly. The choice is ours to make; to ignore the Digital Native and continue the suddenly-much-less effective traditional methods or to accept the fact that we are Digital Immigrants and turn to our own creativity, the students themselves and other resources to translate knowledge into the world’s new language (Prensky,2001,p.7)
The use of technology will be essential in my future classroom. As teachers we need to embrace the learning styles of the Digital Native and realize that technology has enabled us to create a more exciting and engaging learning experience. Innovations are coming to teachers daily. As new teachers it is our responsibility to recognize the needs of the “digital learner” and fold them into our understanding of learning modalities and strategies.
References
Pensky, M. (2001, October). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On The Horizon , 9 (5).
Prensky, M. (2001, December). Digital Natives,Digital Immigrants Part II: Do They Really Think Differently? On The Horizon , 9 (6).
Prensky, M. (2005, September / October). Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today's Learner Demand. Educause Review.
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