I enjoyed the first day in Teaching with Technology. I liked how both sections were together, allowing me to meet some of my cohort that I have not gotten to spend much time with. Jeff and Kristin emphasize that the class will be about teaching with technology, but also about the teaching experience in general. The first activity where we reflected on positive and negative memories of high school characterized how the class will be about more than just blogs and wiki's. While my memories at the time did not deal with teachers, as I thought more about my high school experience, it is without question that some of my greatest and terrible memories involved teachers. For example, I would never be preparing to teach myself if not for some of the great teachers I had in high school. Similarly some of the hardest times in high school for me was when one of my favorite teachers could no longer teach my class due to cancer (I am happy to say that he beat cancer and is back to teaching!) I hope that my students will have more great memories involving me than bad ones.
The second main activity of looking at the technological standards felt a bit rushed. I really was not able to learn of any of the other small groups standards to the point where I left the class knowing them. When it was time for me to speak about the standards my group had, it was difficult because the standards were so broad that I could only provide a general overview about them. I had many questions about the standards that I shared with the other small groups. One of the big questions I had leaving the small group and full class discussion concerned schools that had such limited resources that the technological standards would be completely different.
I am excited about this class. I am not the best with computers but I am able to figure most things out on my own given time. I look forward to learning more technological applications that I can use in my teaching.
David, I'm pleased to see you raise the question of how standards apply across a wide range of schools and classrooms. To be sure, this is one of the evergreen issues in the crafting of standards, that the standards are too-often created with an eye towards a more "ideal" case, where teachers aren't having to deal with messy, real-world complications like limited resources and students in dire need of remediation of varying kinds. Of course, Kristin and I would suggest that one of the tasks for you and your classmates, over time, is to explore the question of whether simple, free tools like the ones we'll explore can be assets in reaching more students. Whatever the case, your stance of being willing to invest some time in figuring things out puts you ahead of many people, and will be a great asset for you.
ReplyDeleteI echo your sentiments about feeling the second activity was a bit rushed. I, too, left class wondering what I had actually learned and retained. I think (and hope) that they become more clear as time goes on through the class.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about how I liked being all together; I feel like there were people in class I had never seen before!
David I agree with you completely. The standards are way too broad for most teachers to look through and understand completely. Just in my personal reading of the standards, I thought they might as well of said, "Technology is good, so use it." With the standards being written this way I do not think that they are appropriate guidelines to be given to a teacher, in order for them to implement technology into the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi, David. You raise a great point about limited resources. I read some federal grants this year and was absolutely gobsmacked at the difference between some of those schools' technology resources versus those in my upper middle class district. Looking at cost, as Jeff suggests, is an important consideration; the amount of bandwidth a resources consumes will also impact how you choose resources. For example, Second Life, with its near 3-D rendering, requires a fast network; a text-based wiki won't. Also - is access to information a civil right? If so, how should we as educators work to maximize access? And, given that students across socioeconomic strata tend to have cell phones, is that "free technology" we should be embracing? Or not? And as an educator, where do these ideas fall on your priority list?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of worst memories and technology, one of my least favorite teachers in high school would never call my mom back. It wasn't like my mom called her everyday, but my teacher NEVER returned her calls. At most, she'd pull me aside and tell me that she'd gotten my mom's call. I bring the story up because it helps us remember that even if the technology is there, it doesn't mean that people are going to put forth the effort to use it to communicate.
ReplyDeleteCEC,
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of the most important qualities that all of us can have as teachers is simply caring about the students and how they're doing inside and outside of the classroom. With the teacher you mentioned it seems like she just didn't put forth much effort and you saw right through it. Students can tell when care about them and I think that attitude can show major dividends in their attitude towards you and your class.
You raise a really great point about funding disparities between schools. Certainly, technology (computers, boards, projectors, etc.) will be expensive, so it is likely that schools which have less funding will be at a disadvantage in terms of technological habits and knowledge.
ReplyDelete