After reading the two articles it
really connected to my current teaching career. As I am entering my third year of teaching I feel that I am
coming in a great deal of experience and knowledge in technology. Growing up with a father who has worked
for a large computer company my entire life and having access to up to date
technology has been a big influence on my learning and ease with technology.
What intrigued me the most is
thinking about technology at a higher level or to students have access to these
technologies at home and school.
In the article, “Preparing schools to accommodate the challenge of Web 2.0
Technologies” (Jouneau-Sion & Sanchez),
“This alternative approach
is based on trust. The teacher has to trust in his pupils and accept that they
are free to decide whether the content of their microblogging is relevant or
not, whilst parents must trust the teacher because Twitter links pupils to unknown adults. Dealing with this risk
is quite similar to that of other social spaces.”
I was really interested in the discussion of introducing technology to
the students and trusting them to
use it properly. It was such a
neat perspective to think about when utilizing in the classroom what our
students are actually up to. There are so many factors to think about when
introducing a piece of technology or access because as teachers we already walk
on eggshells. I can’t even begin
to imagine the interference these pieces of technology have in upper
grades. (How do you do it?! – I coached a middle school cheer team and this was
a challenge to put the cell phone down at practice, I can’t imagine an entire
school day.)
I introduced Edmodo this year in my
kindergarten classroom and my students and parents loved it. With today’s technology I allowed one
student per day to use my personal iPad and document our day through the eyes
of a kindergartener. The student was allowed to draw, film, and photograph our
day. I trusted that child with my iPad all day, in a wonderful case of
course. The sense of pride and
eagerness to document our learning was amazing to see at such a young age. At the end of the day we discussed as a
class for about 10 minutes and posted it to our blog on Edmodo. Parents had the opportunity to sign in
and read what we were up to that day, all photos were taken out of permission
and only posted to our password locked site. Students even utilized this at home to post things about
what they are up to on the weekend or a special event. It really connected home and school and
found it to be engaging for such a small piece.
On the contrary, the other article
offered the research behind mixed media and the implementation in
classrooms. This article hit home
for me. I felt a little on the
defense as I read it and thought about how much as teachers we do have to train
and plan for and expected to use the greatest and latest piece of technology. I
see both sides as to how do they measure teachers using the piece of technology
in their classroom and if they are even using it correctly. How can we fill the gap?
I think technology plays (and will
always play) a huge role in K-12 (and beyond) education. I think we definitely need to blend
technology within our classroom but not forget to also present items to our
students in paper/pencil style. I
think this will be a constant battle in our system and we are flawed. We want to prepare our students for the
latest and greatest items in the 21st century, yet can every school
district dish out the money to support that need? Who gets left behind?
My current district has faced two
failed technology bonds within the same year, yet I don’t think our community
really understands our need. As a
teacher, I feel like we are doing a disservice to our students by not exposing
them to more. (classroom computers, SMARTboard technology, WIFI, computer labs,
etc.) I try to go above and beyond to earn such tech pieces and I get
reprimanded for it because it will create inequality within our building and
grades. How do we create equality in general with technology?
Technology continues to excel at a
rate I can hardly comprehend, but I feel strongly that there is a need and it
should be implemented K-12. Technology
is engaging and is most likely creating new positions for our current students
to work in, in their future.
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteA few things jumped out at me in your post:
1. Having your students document each day sounds pretty ambitious but also very cool. I love that they're in control. Do you ever feel like you're on stage for the parents at all times? It says a lot about how confident you are in what you're doing that you'll put it on display so unabashedly. I commend you for that!
2. You spoke to Cuban's paradox and what it means for the teacher, specifically in terms of how we balance the newest technologies with stuff that may still work just fine. I was at a wedding recently and noticed a bunch of kids in the corner watching an iPad. What happened to kids dancing at weddings?
3. I'm right with you as far as taking it into my own hands to get new technology into the classroom. Sometimes I wonder if that's the only way.
Very insightful.
Thanks for the comment, I often feel on display always in kindergarten because it is typically their child's first year in school. Constant emails, phone calls and communication is taking place and this kind of eased their minds along with my website with a plethora of information.
ReplyDeleteUtilizing tech this quick way in my room eases parents minds a bit and I want to make sure they know their child is safe and having fun with me! It's almost the best of both worlds for all but also bridges a gap between home and school.