JOURNAL #9: Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning?

Dave Nagel

This article looks at the idea that teachers and schools may be limiting education instead of enhancing it. The fifth-annual Speak Up survey polled more than 367,000 parents, students, administrators, and teachers. While 66 percent of administrators, 43 percent of parents, and 47 percent of teachers said that they felt schools were doing a good job preparing students for jobs and careers, students did not. 40 percent indicated that teachers are limiting their use of technology in schools, and 45 percent said that school "security" practices, such as Web filtering, were limiting their ability to take advantage of technology for learning. The students are far ahead of their teachers and parents not only in their technology use, but in the adoption of new technologies for learning purposes. In a separate research project released by the National School Boards Association safety and security issues require policy from school boards. Parents feel that schools should take advantage of new technology such as social networking. Social networking is becoming popular in business avenues and it would benefit the students in preparing them in transition to adult life. Also in the survey the majority of middle and high school students indicated that "games make it easier to understand difficult concepts.” Among teachers, parents, and school administrators, 52 percent said they think mobile technologies can help students in learning. Students said they would "use technology more easily at school if they could use their own laptop, cell phone or mobile device to work on projects.” Mobile technologies ranked high among teachers and administrators when asked what equipment they would choose for a hypothetical "ultimate 21st century school." The Speak Up survey is conducted annually to assess views on current issues in education, and results are shared with state and federal policy leaders.

QUESTIONS:

1. How important is it to realize that technology is an important part of adult life and that we must educate our students to succeed in that life? This article shows how important technology is becoming in societies workplace. Students must be aware of this future requirement and they must be given the knowledge needed to compete in this workplace.

2. This survey shows that parent see the importance of technology in the classroom. What do we need to do to get parents involved in making this happen? Parents need to become more involved in their children’s school lives. Unfortunately they are also trying to keep up with the fast moving technological society that we all live in. Hopefully in time, they will stop and see their need to help make education better for their children.

JOURNAL #8: Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement, and Independence to the Physically Challenged

Diane Curtis

This article is about assistive technology and how it makes it possible for students without full mobility to participate in class and school activities. A student names Adrian, who can’t walk or speak, but can move his eyebrow, can now speak using a computer that has rows of pictures on it. Adrian uses a headband that allows him to move a cursor on the computer screen to communicate. Adrian is a part of a program called TACLE (Technology and Augmentative Communication for Learning Enhancement. Another student Niara uses a speech generation technology equipped computer. She moves her cheek and out comes spoken words. These kinds of programs are happening all across the country. There in an ongoing effort to make sure that disabled people are included in all activities and these types of technology is helping this come true. A group called DO-IT which is the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology group says they have little patience for districts that so not think they have a responsibility to include those with disabilities. They do not see how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students even with the high cost of assistive technology. The hope is that students can use their brainpower instead of their physical capabilities to go to college and on to careers so that “They can have the American dream.”

QUESTIONS:

1. Will the educational system see the value of this technology for the smaller group of students that will benefit from it? Unfortunately I do not see many districts making this a policy. It would be wonderful if we all had access to everything we needed to make students learning a priority. In today’s times unfortunately education is not a priority.

2. Would this technology make these students better members of society? The abilities that this technology allows these students to gain are immeasurable. It allows them to learn and communicate in ways that they otherwise would not be able too. This allows them to become better functioning members of society.

JOURNAL #7: Envisioning the Future of Education: Learning the mobile way

Mark van't Hooft

This article discusses how society has become effected throughout by digital tools that allow us access to so many things. We live with the internet and our media access comes to our homes in so many ways. When we are on the go we take these technologies with us through cell phones, media players, and wireless computers. We must look at how this will change education in the near future. Mobile learning is usually defines by learning with a mobile device such as a handheld computer or a mobile phone. These allow the learner to have more control in their hands. MyArtSpace is a service for children to spread their learning between schools and museums. It runs in three United Kingdom museums. The aim is for students to collect information on a field trip to the museum and then bring that information back to the classroom via mobile phones or personal web space. Ongoing lessons and discussions can then happen. Frequency 1550 is a project that allows students to roam the city using GPS-equipped cell phones and complete challenges that are downloaded and then follow that discover the city’s history. Teams of players are supported by a group of students at a central location who can see the overall picture. The National Museum of Natural Science has a website that allows one to download an itinerary that is prepared by the viewer. The viewer than arrives at the museum and is given a hand held device that allows them to follow the itinerary, join a recommended learning tour, or freely explore exhibits.

QUESTIONS:

1. What are some good reasons to look at programs like these? Students today are already exposed to so many technology devices and I see programs like this as a way to broaden those interests in the equipment and use this interest to develop a knowledge base. Some students may become more excited about the learning because they are using a technology device.

2. What is the strain on teachers when using this technology? Teachers will need to stay abreast of the new used of technology and make sure they stay ahead in their education so that they are able to use technology devices and are able to teach the students how to use them in the educational setting.

JOURNAL #6: Presentation Tools

Classroom 2.0 is a web site set up to connect people interested in technological tools that could be used classrooms. It allows a sharing of resources with peers, students and others. Web 2.0 builds communities and allows one to discover like-minded individuals. In the “presentation” tool there are discussions about different programs and resources that could be used to make a presentation using technology. There were discussions of good PowerPoint presentations. Others included Flickr, Slideshare, and ZohoShow. There is help in building your presentation and in sharing your presentation with others. You also can find other presentations that have been done covering your subject. Another discussion for presentations mentioned that Google added a presentation tool to be used with Google docs. These discussions allow people to get feedback on the tools they have found and even instruction on how to use them from peers that may already have tried them before. Another discussion was started by a new math teacher looking for ideas on how to allow his students to create slideshows and movies covering math subjects and he was asking for ideas and input. He was getting all kinds of recommendations and instruction on how he could accomplish this. It’s amazing how many people will take the time to pass on knowledge to unknown others. This could allow anyone to get help in accomplishing many things in the classroom using technology.

JOURNAL #4

MAKING FIELD TRIPS PODTASTIC! – Use of handheld wireless Technology Alleviates isolation and Encourages Collaboration

Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, and Paul McGuiness

This article describes a new possibility in interactive field trips to increase students time spent at each exhibit and increases the amount of thought put into each. The program was developed at Harvard in an attempt to improve student’s learning from outside sources, ie. field trips. Learning modules can be designed and customized by the educator and the students. The program uses podcasting which is a new hot trend. Podcasting uses a convenient format, delivery, and easy access to information. The students use a handheld computer like a Pocket PC. The use of a handheld computer allows the students to not only listen to the podcast, but also take digital photos and videos, record interviews, record notes to remember, and access additional information through the Internet. The authors tested their program at the Boston Museum of Science as part of their research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The program uses a simulation of a monkey that lives at the museum to guide the students on the tour. As the students are guided from one exhibit to another may ask them questions about the exhibit or states facts about what the student is looking at. The value and knowledge gained from the exhibit it increases because the students explore the exhibits aurally, visually, and physically. This program is a way to not only customize learning for each child, but also support several national educational standards. By using technology tools in a traditional field trip, the National Technology Educational Standards are supported. The teachers can align the experience with national and state curriculum standards because they create the content. The model is set up to be simplistic and therefore can be very flexible in future applications.

Questions:

1. Does this program sound like something that could only be used in a money rich district? Unfortunately, the use of the handheld PC makes it a little out of reach for most I would believe. In addition, having even just 10-12 students on the field trip seems impossible for a school to have that many handheld PC’s. I would hope that there are programs where schools can get things like these donated by companies or can find sponsors that would buy them for a school.

2. What value would there be from this type of expenditure? The uses seem endless. The amount of additional knowledge gained and retained by the students is an important factor when looking at this program. Students are actively taking part in their learning in a way the I think students would think was “way kool.” The students understanding is also potentially increased

JOURNAL #3

WEB 2.0 - Five Don’ts of Classroom Blogging

Julie Sturgeon

In this article the author poses five potential problems to blogging in the classroom. The first is “Don’t just dive in.” The importance here is to set up guidelines with both students and their parents making sure that both parties understand the blogging project and what sort of conduct will be tolerated when blogging. There should also be consequences such as losing Internet privileges if the conduct is not followed. Teachers should thoroughly research blogging by searching for interesting educational blogs and contacting the educators behind them for advice. It is important to recognize what blogging can do for students. It is a great way to get students to begin writing non-fiction works. Blogging allows students to use images, video, and music which enhances the students desire to write. The second “don’t” is “don’t confuse blogging with social networking.” You should remember that blogging is not for socializing. It should be used to assist student to get through there coursework with input from their peers. Students should be including thought provoking questions at the end of their entries to invite valuable comments. The next is “Don’t leap at the freebies.” Most of the free platforms do not offer the structure and safety that a school might need. They are often filled with advertisements which teachers have no ability to block out. Class Blogmeister is recommended because it filters each student’s entry through the teacher before posting. The fourth pitfall is “Don’t force a sequential style.” It is recommended to structure entries by topic rather than by time to help readers make more sense of the blog. Some good information might get buried among the blog structure. It is important to map out what is the important gain for students from the blog so that you don’t develop a product that does not have the impact it could have. The final is “don’t leave the blogging to the students.” Teachers need to be involved in the blogging both on the classroom blog and possibly even their own blog. It is important to be a part of the community that blogging creates.

Questions:

1. Should the potential problems mentioned in the article inhibit teachers from including blogging in their classrooms? I do not believe these problems should stop a teacher from starting a blog for the classroom. First these are potential problems and I think it is important for teachers to have a grasp of all the issues surrounding a class project in order to make it better. It is important to look at the rewards. Blogging allows teachers to see their students through another light. It gives children the opportunity to speak up when in regular classroom situations they might not. Blogging gives students the opportunity to read, write, and process information in an interesting way.

2. How can blogging help teacher to become better at their craft? The same way it is used to improve student’s learning, it could work the same for teachers.
By creating a blog that includes teaching artifact and tentative projects, a teacher can get feedback from others in the field. Suggestions can be made to improve the ideas and/or other ideas from a different point of view to enhance the teaching process

JOURNAL #2

Speaking Math – Using Chat

Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson

In this article the authors discuss using chat rooms and forums to help students understand math concepts and vocabulary. Chat rooms allow the students to question each other in real time and work together to solve a problem. The system they use does not allow math symbols so the students are forced to use math vocabulary and concepts. Each chat is started with an initial prompt and then students use their textbooks and lecture notes to answer the questions using specific target vocabulary items. Students help each other understand the math problems by reading and reacting to others posts. This forum is valuable to teachers because they can print the chat and forum interactions and analyze them at their own convenience. The teacher can then add classroom discussion to discuss issues it appears the students may not be getting. Another benefit of this type of interaction is that non-native speakers have time to plan their responses and it allows them to learn phrases by seeing them from other students. The authors compared the learning of the students using this forum to those who were in a traditional classroom and preliminarily it looks like this manner of learning appears to be assisting students in doing better in math. The teachers found that chats and forums were most effective during school hours where certain class periods or certain hours in a computer lab. The students who could benefit from this program the most usually do not have computer access at home. The teachers also found that forming small groups of four to five students was better than a larger group so that each student had opportunities to give their input and decrease the amount of confusion of a larger group. The teachers have even observed students “speaking math” during after- school hours. A benefit to whole group forums is effective in allowing students to seek out diversity that might not have been picked for them in a smaller group. Spanish speakers can write math notes to each other in Spanish and English speakers can improve their understanding of Spanish by communicating with the Spanish speakers.

Questions:

1. Could this technology be used in other subjects or in multi-subject classrooms of elementary school? I can see this technology used in almost any classroom. I see it as allowing students to step up to the plate while feeling protected from behind a computer screen. The idea that students can take their time in coming up with their questions and answers is a good way for students to become confident in their knowledge about subjects.

2. Is the benefit of this technology worth having to spend school time using computers because of the students that do not have access at home? The benefit to all students appears to make this type of learning valuable to all students. I can see team building and a feeling of belonging to a group in solving issues is of great value to all students. I also feel for those students that may be a little shy in a classroom setting may not feel they have valuable input, but in a situation like this they can see if they are thinking along the same lines as their peers and will then feel confident enough to add their thoughts and comments.