1. What do we mean by the "21st century classroom?"
Traditional classrooms as we know them today began in the 20th century. Schools managed to use these traditional classrooms with very minimal changes for years without much effect on student learning. However, we're over a decade into the 21st century and these traditional classrooms just aren't as effective anymore. Technology is always changing, but classrooms remain the same. As a result, we have 20th century classrooms in the 21st century. It is time to bring our classrooms into the 21st century. Otherwise, we'll continue to leave our students behind in the 20th century.
What is a 21st century classroom? Essentially, a 21st century classroom is one that prepares students for life in the 21st century and how to adapt and utilize new technology as it's developed even if it's after they've graduated. 21st century classrooms focus on these key areas as outlined here: learning and innovation skills; information, media and technology skills and life and career skills.
How can we foster these areas for our students? A very important way to teach our students these 21st century skills is through technology. Technology is the center of our society in the 21st century and should be the center of our classrooms. After all, classrooms are to prepare students for life after they graduate. They should include technology if that's what they'll be working with when they finish school.
Technology in the classroom can be as simple as using a PowerPoint in your lessons. PowerPoint is an effective tool used in presentations that students may in their areas of employment in the future. Of course PowerPoint isn't the only thing that should be used. Using the same technology repeatedly does not help foster creativity in students. Students should be exposed to other types of technology that will allow them to get creative using technologies that they most like. A good example of this would just be me throughout the class. I considered myself the PowerPoint queen. I used it in all of my lesson plans and I took pride in knowing that my PowerPoints were effective for the classroom I was teaching. After I learned about Prezi, I was amazed by it. It was really interesting and I could tell it could really engage others. If I was able to engage my students with PowerPoint, just think how they would respond to Prezi which isn't a monotonic slide show. Then we had the SmartBoard presentation. If I could get students engaged just through a PowerPoint, they could be engaged in Prezi. However, both are teacher based in the way I used them. SmartBoard can be student based if used properly. Students would learn material even more through interaction with the technology!
Technology should be used as an aid for lessons, but not as a crutch. They can make students more engaged and more involved in a lesson, but teachers still need to be knowledgeable of content. Teachers can just extend this knowledge to students through technology. Technology should be used by students so they can develop the 21st century skills needed when they graduate. Technology shouldn't be the same either. You shouldn't just use PowerPoint for every lesson and say "hey, I use technology everyday!" That's not a 21st century classroom. Use different technology throughout the school year. Technology like Skype and iChat can be used for students to communicate with others, Twitter can be used for discussions, videos can be used to teach others and express understanding, etc. Different types of technology help develop different 21st century skills.
Overall, a 21st century classroom is one that prepares students for the 21st century. It fosters skills needed for the new century and is constantly adapting. It prepares students for life in a society that is centered on technology.
2. How do we apply technology tools in ways so that we can more easily achieve meaningful teaching and learning in the 21st century?
The most important way to apply technology tools to achieve meaningful teaching and learning is to do so intentionally. There should be a reason to incorporating this technology, an "intent" to use it to enhance learning.
Using technology just to use it won't produce meaningful teaching and learning. Telling students to find more information about a topic online won't be meaningful for teaching and learning. Guidelines are needed, even if they just specify that the students are free to research whatever they want about a subject. Without these guidelines, the interaction with the technology won't be meaningful for either the teacher or the student.
Another way to apply technology tools to achieve meaningful teaching and learning is by having more projects. Projects help students foster their creativity. Giving students guidelines for the project, but not specifying the medium for presenting the material gives students the opportunity to explore different technologies. They learn how to use that technology and with a presentation to the class and their fellow students are also exposed to that technology. For example, I learned about Prezi after a brief in-class presentation about the tool. I decided to do a Spanish presentation on Prezi and I learned how to use the technology while creating it. After I presented, some of my fellow students asked me questions how to use the technology. I briefly explained and the next group that presented also used Prezi! It's easy to see how others can learn about a technology just by seeing it used.
Overall, don't force the use of technology. Don't use technology just to use it. Use technology as an aid to lessons and not a crutch. Have specific guidelines when having students use technology and give students the opportunity to explore different types of technology. Intentionally and thoughtfully using technology allows meaningful learning and teaching to be achieved more easily in the 21st century.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
SchoolTube
Sorry for the delay. Moravian's Internet wasn't working great on Sunday and I had two midterms on Monday.
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing?
In our classroom, we're always looking for ways to keep students engaged. Most of the time, this can include video clips. Where's the best place to find video clips? Yep...YouTube. However, YouTube is blocked by most school district's servers because of all the noneducational and inappropriate content on there. So where can I go to show my students video clips?
That would be SchoolTube!
According to their website, "SchoolTube.com is the nation's largest K-12 moderated video sharing website that provides students and educators with a safe and FREE video sharing website that is exclusively endorsed by leading education associations. "
SchoolTube is free and safe to use in the classroom, some definite affordances.
Some downsides to it though are you cannot access all the videos that are on YouTube still. YouTube is more popular and more videos are posted there than SchoolTube. Yes, it has a lot of inappropriate content, but it also has a lot of educational ones too.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
Something I would have to teach students is how to use SchoolTube. The best ways to search for videos, how to post their own, how to watch videos, etc. I would also need to teach them what kind of videos can be found on SchoolTube. If I want my students to post videos on there, I need to teach them how to make their video.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
I don't think that I would have to change much in terms of teaching. I would typically use SchoolTube as an aid. It would not replace my entire lesson. It would just support more understanding for my students.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
Students will have the opportunity to create videos to post online to share with millions of people, something that could only be done with 21st century video sharing sites. Students also have the opportunity to create their own videos, which can allow them to get extremely creative and innovative.
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
I would use this to aid my lessons. Show a video clip here and there. For example, I could show a video with the waves of the ocean and how it relates to a sine and cosine curve, if such a video exists. If not, I can make one! Also, I could use it to demonstrate step by step how to solve certain math problems. Students could do one step at the time before the video and when I continue playing, they can check to make sure they did the right step.
Discussion Question: Do you feel that SchoolTube or YouTube would be more beneficial to use in your classroom (assuming YouTube isn't blocked)?
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing?
In our classroom, we're always looking for ways to keep students engaged. Most of the time, this can include video clips. Where's the best place to find video clips? Yep...YouTube. However, YouTube is blocked by most school district's servers because of all the noneducational and inappropriate content on there. So where can I go to show my students video clips?
That would be SchoolTube!
According to their website, "SchoolTube.com is the nation's largest K-12 moderated video sharing website that provides students and educators with a safe and FREE video sharing website that is exclusively endorsed by leading education associations. "
SchoolTube is free and safe to use in the classroom, some definite affordances.
Some downsides to it though are you cannot access all the videos that are on YouTube still. YouTube is more popular and more videos are posted there than SchoolTube. Yes, it has a lot of inappropriate content, but it also has a lot of educational ones too.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
Something I would have to teach students is how to use SchoolTube. The best ways to search for videos, how to post their own, how to watch videos, etc. I would also need to teach them what kind of videos can be found on SchoolTube. If I want my students to post videos on there, I need to teach them how to make their video.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
I don't think that I would have to change much in terms of teaching. I would typically use SchoolTube as an aid. It would not replace my entire lesson. It would just support more understanding for my students.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
Students will have the opportunity to create videos to post online to share with millions of people, something that could only be done with 21st century video sharing sites. Students also have the opportunity to create their own videos, which can allow them to get extremely creative and innovative.
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
I would use this to aid my lessons. Show a video clip here and there. For example, I could show a video with the waves of the ocean and how it relates to a sine and cosine curve, if such a video exists. If not, I can make one! Also, I could use it to demonstrate step by step how to solve certain math problems. Students could do one step at the time before the video and when I continue playing, they can check to make sure they did the right step.
Discussion Question: Do you feel that SchoolTube or YouTube would be more beneficial to use in your classroom (assuming YouTube isn't blocked)?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
2/13/11
Twitter!
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing?
Twitter is a free online service that allows us to communicate with our "followers" as well as those we're "following." It can allow for a large amount of people to communicate with one another as well as stay up to date as to what's going on in people's lives. Naturally, this tool can be used greatly in education mainly in terms of discussions and announcements.
There are some constraints to this technology though. Your updates can only be 140 characters. That means in terms of discussions, you're limited in how much you can say per post. Another constraint is that your updates as well as the updates of those you are following appears on your homepage. If someone you're following is not involved in your discussion, you can get irrelevant things on your homepage. Another constraint is that Twitter is used mainly as a social network rather than an educational resource.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
What new skills do we need to teach students?
First, students need to learn how to set up Twitters. Although that is relatively easy, you then have to follow others. Denise, Britt and I found that part to be quite difficult. New members don't show up in search results right away, so we had to type each other's URLs in rather than just search for them.
One very important skill that students need to learn is how to "tag" someone or a topic. The @ symbol is directed towards a user, while the # symbol is direct towards a group or a topic. It can be confusing as first for students to know when to tag, how to tag and which symbol to use. Also, they need to learn the benefits of tagging others and groups.
Another skill that is very important for students to know, is how to limit their responses to 140 characters. Your posts go in order from the bottom up, but the text in each post goes from the top down. It is difficult then to read 3, 4, 5 posts in a row that make up one response. This could be a great tool then for students to learn how to get to the point and prevent run-on sentences
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
Using Twitter in my classroom would allow me to have more discussion based assignments. I would have to teach students how to use Twitter and how we're going to use it in the classroom. Teaching and learning will look different, because instead of me facilitating a discussion, Twitter will do it for me. It can be done entirely by students.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
This technology allows students to reach out to one another in many ways. Since you're limited to 140 characters, the students will have to come up with some creative ways to get their point across in such short messages. It helps foster 21st century skills because we're always on the go. Many of us don't like to read or listen to lengthy things anymore. The quicker you can get your point across, the better.
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5649046/How-To-Use-Twitter-in-the-Classroom
I found this link while researching about using Twitter in classrooms. It can be a very useful tool in classrooms.
Some uses would be to gather real world data, summarize views as Tweets, class discussion (views), keep parents up to date, polls, communicate with other students or experts and monitor learning progress (instead of exit slips).
I found that this would be great for exit slip type of things and to keep parents up to date in my classroom. Some of the many uses are extremely difficult for math classrooms. It is difficult to present math problems on Twitter, however, it is useful to collect opinions about math in general.
Discussion Question: Would you use Twitter in your classroom?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
2/8/11
Wikipedia in the Classroom
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing?
Wikipedia can be an excellent resource for classrooms. It is an online encyclopedia that is free to use. The pages are constantly updated with new information. It even provides sources at the bottom of the page to verify if the page is valid.
There are also some drawbacks to Wikipedia, especially in the classroom. First, there is always the chance the Internet will be out just like it was for much of the weekend in my dorm. I was unable to access Wikipedia, and there is always the chance that could happen in a classroom. Hard copy encyclopedias do not require Internet access, but they are also not as regularly updated. One major drawback is that Wikipedia pages can be edited by everyone and do not need to be peer reviewed like journal articles. This could lead to some inaccuracies. However, there is a disclaimer for Wikipedia that states something should be cited to be trusted. Students may become too reliant on Wikipedia and take everything stated on there as truth.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
We will need to teach students how to use Wikipedia as a starting point for research, but not also how to be cautious and determine the accuracy of statements on each page. Students will need to be taught how to use Wikipedia and how to access the sources used to write the articles.
By having the class creating a Wikipedia page or something similar, we will also need to teach students how to edit pages.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
The way I would use Wikipedia would be having students create a page about the topic we're studying. I would teach them the basics about the topic so they can work together to create the main summary. Then I would let students work on their own or in groups about specific subtopics to add to the article. Much of teaching will be how to use the technology and determine the accuracy of sources. Learning would be done through outside research.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
I like to think of doing a class Wikipedia page about a topic as a modern day collaborative research paper. The entire class works towards one goal of creating a detailed page about a topic and does outside research. However, much of this collaboration would take place online. Eventually everything will be online: books, newspapers, journal articles, so knowing how to edit pages online is a definite 21 century skill the students would obtain from this.
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
As described before, I would have students create a classroom Wikipedia page about a topic we're studying. They would add to it throughout the unit and would work in groups on different subtopics to add to the page. Ultimately, all students would have to edit and approve editing the page in order to make the information on there as accurate and important as can be.
I would also use Wikipedia to demonstrate how to get started on finding sources for a research paper. I would show how you can find an interesting line on Wikipedia which you can further develop into a well researched topic.
Ultimately, there are many ways to use Wikipedia in the classroom that I may not have covered. There are some definite benefits of using it, but there are also some major drawbacks.
So I'm asking you, do the benefits of using Wikipedia outweigh the risks of it being constantly edited by ordinary people?
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing?
Wikipedia can be an excellent resource for classrooms. It is an online encyclopedia that is free to use. The pages are constantly updated with new information. It even provides sources at the bottom of the page to verify if the page is valid.
There are also some drawbacks to Wikipedia, especially in the classroom. First, there is always the chance the Internet will be out just like it was for much of the weekend in my dorm. I was unable to access Wikipedia, and there is always the chance that could happen in a classroom. Hard copy encyclopedias do not require Internet access, but they are also not as regularly updated. One major drawback is that Wikipedia pages can be edited by everyone and do not need to be peer reviewed like journal articles. This could lead to some inaccuracies. However, there is a disclaimer for Wikipedia that states something should be cited to be trusted. Students may become too reliant on Wikipedia and take everything stated on there as truth.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
We will need to teach students how to use Wikipedia as a starting point for research, but not also how to be cautious and determine the accuracy of statements on each page. Students will need to be taught how to use Wikipedia and how to access the sources used to write the articles.
By having the class creating a Wikipedia page or something similar, we will also need to teach students how to edit pages.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
The way I would use Wikipedia would be having students create a page about the topic we're studying. I would teach them the basics about the topic so they can work together to create the main summary. Then I would let students work on their own or in groups about specific subtopics to add to the article. Much of teaching will be how to use the technology and determine the accuracy of sources. Learning would be done through outside research.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
I like to think of doing a class Wikipedia page about a topic as a modern day collaborative research paper. The entire class works towards one goal of creating a detailed page about a topic and does outside research. However, much of this collaboration would take place online. Eventually everything will be online: books, newspapers, journal articles, so knowing how to edit pages online is a definite 21 century skill the students would obtain from this.
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
As described before, I would have students create a classroom Wikipedia page about a topic we're studying. They would add to it throughout the unit and would work in groups on different subtopics to add to the page. Ultimately, all students would have to edit and approve editing the page in order to make the information on there as accurate and important as can be.
I would also use Wikipedia to demonstrate how to get started on finding sources for a research paper. I would show how you can find an interesting line on Wikipedia which you can further develop into a well researched topic.
Ultimately, there are many ways to use Wikipedia in the classroom that I may not have covered. There are some definite benefits of using it, but there are also some major drawbacks.
So I'm asking you, do the benefits of using Wikipedia outweigh the risks of it being constantly edited by ordinary people?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
1/30/11
What are the "affordances" and "constraints" of the technology? In other words, what does the technology allow us to do or prevent us from doing? The answers to this question might be "messy."
Skype and iChat allow us to communicate with others "face to face" online. Both are free services and allow for a lot of different types of usage. Although it is great that you can use it for so many things, this might be a downfall of the technology as well. If students use this to socialize, they might not want to use it for educational purposes. It may also be distracting using all the different tools available. I actually found myself distracted in class on Thursday when using iChat. I ended up playing around with the technology at first because I was unfamiliar with it. Students in our classrooms can find themselves in that situation as well.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
Students will first need to learn how to use iChat and/or Skype to communicate with others. They will then need to learn the different types of tools available other than just talking with another person. A great way to do this would be to show the students how to communicate with another person, but then allowing them time to discover the different tools available themselves. In addition to this, we need to teach the students expectations of using this technology and what we expect from them.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
Because it involves communicating with others, I would have to coordinate with another classroom or another person as to what is going to be taught and what the students should discuss with each other. Teaching in this case will be more constructivist. I would provide the students with some basic content knowledge, but they will discover more by communicating with others different. Learning in this case will be done on the computer and through discussion rather than through a typical lecture. Something that I will need to do especially is ensure the students are on task.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
This technology will help me foster creativity and innovation by allowing students the freedom to discover things on their own. It allows them to work with a wide array of individuals from all over the world without leaving their computer. This presents students a unique opportunity to do communicate with individuals and this communication can serve as primary sources in education.
I can use this technology in my classroom by communicating with students who are absent, either for a short period of time or a long period of time. This would be great to use for peer tutoring with other students around the world. It also allows for more constructivist type lessons which are difficult to develop in mathematics classrooms. I would also possibly be able to teach an entire class via Skype or iChat. Dr. Hartshorn taught my Higher Geometry class once last year via Skype while he was in California. Most of our work was done on Geometer's Sketchpad. If he had used iChat, he could have connected our screens so we could see what exactly he was doing on Sketchpad. Although it wasn't a perfect class, it showed me that this type of technology can be used in the classroom.
This helps foster 21st century skills because more and more communication is done online rather than face to face.
Skype and iChat allow us to communicate with others "face to face" online. Both are free services and allow for a lot of different types of usage. Although it is great that you can use it for so many things, this might be a downfall of the technology as well. If students use this to socialize, they might not want to use it for educational purposes. It may also be distracting using all the different tools available. I actually found myself distracted in class on Thursday when using iChat. I ended up playing around with the technology at first because I was unfamiliar with it. Students in our classrooms can find themselves in that situation as well.
What new skills do we need to teach students?
Students will first need to learn how to use iChat and/or Skype to communicate with others. They will then need to learn the different types of tools available other than just talking with another person. A great way to do this would be to show the students how to communicate with another person, but then allowing them time to discover the different tools available themselves. In addition to this, we need to teach the students expectations of using this technology and what we expect from them.
What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?
Because it involves communicating with others, I would have to coordinate with another classroom or another person as to what is going to be taught and what the students should discuss with each other. Teaching in this case will be more constructivist. I would provide the students with some basic content knowledge, but they will discover more by communicating with others different. Learning in this case will be done on the computer and through discussion rather than through a typical lecture. Something that I will need to do especially is ensure the students are on task.
How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?
What are some ways I can use this technology in my classroom?
This technology will help me foster creativity and innovation by allowing students the freedom to discover things on their own. It allows them to work with a wide array of individuals from all over the world without leaving their computer. This presents students a unique opportunity to do communicate with individuals and this communication can serve as primary sources in education.
I can use this technology in my classroom by communicating with students who are absent, either for a short period of time or a long period of time. This would be great to use for peer tutoring with other students around the world. It also allows for more constructivist type lessons which are difficult to develop in mathematics classrooms. I would also possibly be able to teach an entire class via Skype or iChat. Dr. Hartshorn taught my Higher Geometry class once last year via Skype while he was in California. Most of our work was done on Geometer's Sketchpad. If he had used iChat, he could have connected our screens so we could see what exactly he was doing on Sketchpad. Although it wasn't a perfect class, it showed me that this type of technology can be used in the classroom.
This helps foster 21st century skills because more and more communication is done online rather than face to face.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
1/25/11
Readings:
Flickr - Great Quotes about Learning and Change
The New Literacy
Pew Internet and American Life Project
Learning is continuous, but school is not. That means the majority of the learning takes place outside of school in the real world. While this learning might not be defined by a curriculum, it is still learning. When you're an infant, you aren't necessarily taught to read and write (exclude those "My Baby Can Read" programs) like you are early on in school, but that doesn't mean you're not learning. You learn how to walk and talk just by being around others. You also learn from your environment. If you touch something that you've never seen before, say a pin, and it hurts when you touch the point, you learn not to touch it. Essentially, you learn the fundamentals of being a person outside of school in the real world.
A major component in learning outside of school is through technology. Television, for example, is utilized by people of all ages to learn. If you're a child, you can watch educational children shows. If you're an adult, you can watch the news and learn about what events occurred recently. You can even watch normal TV shows. I knew nothing about crime scene investigations until I watched CSI. Even though a lot of it is outrageous and unrealistic, I still have a better understanding of that than I did before I watched the show. When I watched it though, I didn't realize I was learning. This leads to how I feel people learn from technology in the real world. People learn best from and through technology in the real world without even realizing that they're learning.
I can't begin to describe how many times I've randomly come across something online that I found interesting. Because I was interested in it, I didn't realize that I was learning anything from it. It could be from something as silly as someone's Facebook status. Someone could post a quick thing about what's going on in their life. By reading that, you learned what is going on with them but without realizing you learned it. While it's not in a school's curriculum to learn what so-and-so did, that doesn't mean you didn't learn.
Another example is just by watching sports on TV. Even if you've never played it, you can learn how to play the game just by observing it. Now we even have DVR which allows you to rewind. So you never have to miss anything. You can show a replay and get a better understanding of what happened during a certain play. You could even being watching a sport played in another country, but not even yours. This type of information would not be available without technology.
While reading Clive Thompson on the New Literacy, I found it interesting (but not surprising) that students learned how to write for a specific audience by using technology to communicate with one another, but they were still able to use correct prose for academic work. Obviously, students did not think that when they were texting their friend, blogging or posting a status update would teach them how to address certain audiences. Again, they learned by doing something they were interesting in, but without realizing they learned at all. This is something that is difficult to learn, but many did learn outside of the classroom.
Technology has allowed us to encounter a wide range of information that we may never have come across without it. Technology has also provided us with more ways for entertainment. Naturally, technology has allowed us to combine entertainment with learning.
Since technology plays such a crucial role in our lives and provides us with more interesting ways to learn, it makes classrooms without technology seem boring. Students who not engaged will not learn as well as students who are engaged. Using technology is a way to keep students engaged. This means that all classrooms should incorporate technology if possible to promote learning. This could be just simply show a documentary on the TV, or using PowerPoints to teach your lessons. Technology also allows students to be in control of their own learning. Teachers could give the students the opportunity to do their own research online about a subject and share it with the class. Students would control what websites they decided to visit to find that information and can easily exit out of ones they find uninteresting. They decide what they want to read about it.
While reading the inspirational quotes on Flickr, I came across a quote from Albert Einstein saying "Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I feel that this describes our school system completely. We teach the same things over and over again in the same ways, but get frustrated when students who are failing continue to fail. Even worse, we don't understand why they continue to fail. That's definitely insane. Utilizing some technology in the classroom can eliminate doing the same thing over and over again and can yield different results.
One statistic from Pew Internet and the American Life Project stated that "68% of all Americans (internet users and non-users alike) said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to communicate with members. Some 75% of internet users said that." I believe this statistic reiterates even further that technology can be beneficial to a classroom. Instead of a group communicating with members, it could be a teacher communicating with students. Sometimes standing in front of a room and speaking isn't enough. By delivering information on the internet, it allows all students to take the time they need to comprehend it and it serves as a review for students to go back to.
Flickr - Great Quotes about Learning and Change
The New Literacy
Pew Internet and American Life Project
- How do people learn in the real world, outside of school?
- How do people learn from and through technology in the real world?
- What are the implications of that for what teaching and learning could/should look like?
Learning is continuous, but school is not. That means the majority of the learning takes place outside of school in the real world. While this learning might not be defined by a curriculum, it is still learning. When you're an infant, you aren't necessarily taught to read and write (exclude those "My Baby Can Read" programs) like you are early on in school, but that doesn't mean you're not learning. You learn how to walk and talk just by being around others. You also learn from your environment. If you touch something that you've never seen before, say a pin, and it hurts when you touch the point, you learn not to touch it. Essentially, you learn the fundamentals of being a person outside of school in the real world.
A major component in learning outside of school is through technology. Television, for example, is utilized by people of all ages to learn. If you're a child, you can watch educational children shows. If you're an adult, you can watch the news and learn about what events occurred recently. You can even watch normal TV shows. I knew nothing about crime scene investigations until I watched CSI. Even though a lot of it is outrageous and unrealistic, I still have a better understanding of that than I did before I watched the show. When I watched it though, I didn't realize I was learning. This leads to how I feel people learn from technology in the real world. People learn best from and through technology in the real world without even realizing that they're learning.
I can't begin to describe how many times I've randomly come across something online that I found interesting. Because I was interested in it, I didn't realize that I was learning anything from it. It could be from something as silly as someone's Facebook status. Someone could post a quick thing about what's going on in their life. By reading that, you learned what is going on with them but without realizing you learned it. While it's not in a school's curriculum to learn what so-and-so did, that doesn't mean you didn't learn.
Another example is just by watching sports on TV. Even if you've never played it, you can learn how to play the game just by observing it. Now we even have DVR which allows you to rewind. So you never have to miss anything. You can show a replay and get a better understanding of what happened during a certain play. You could even being watching a sport played in another country, but not even yours. This type of information would not be available without technology.
While reading Clive Thompson on the New Literacy, I found it interesting (but not surprising) that students learned how to write for a specific audience by using technology to communicate with one another, but they were still able to use correct prose for academic work. Obviously, students did not think that when they were texting their friend, blogging or posting a status update would teach them how to address certain audiences. Again, they learned by doing something they were interesting in, but without realizing they learned at all. This is something that is difficult to learn, but many did learn outside of the classroom.
Technology has allowed us to encounter a wide range of information that we may never have come across without it. Technology has also provided us with more ways for entertainment. Naturally, technology has allowed us to combine entertainment with learning.
Since technology plays such a crucial role in our lives and provides us with more interesting ways to learn, it makes classrooms without technology seem boring. Students who not engaged will not learn as well as students who are engaged. Using technology is a way to keep students engaged. This means that all classrooms should incorporate technology if possible to promote learning. This could be just simply show a documentary on the TV, or using PowerPoints to teach your lessons. Technology also allows students to be in control of their own learning. Teachers could give the students the opportunity to do their own research online about a subject and share it with the class. Students would control what websites they decided to visit to find that information and can easily exit out of ones they find uninteresting. They decide what they want to read about it.
While reading the inspirational quotes on Flickr, I came across a quote from Albert Einstein saying "Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I feel that this describes our school system completely. We teach the same things over and over again in the same ways, but get frustrated when students who are failing continue to fail. Even worse, we don't understand why they continue to fail. That's definitely insane. Utilizing some technology in the classroom can eliminate doing the same thing over and over again and can yield different results.
One statistic from Pew Internet and the American Life Project stated that "68% of all Americans (internet users and non-users alike) said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to communicate with members. Some 75% of internet users said that." I believe this statistic reiterates even further that technology can be beneficial to a classroom. Instead of a group communicating with members, it could be a teacher communicating with students. Sometimes standing in front of a room and speaking isn't enough. By delivering information on the internet, it allows all students to take the time they need to comprehend it and it serves as a review for students to go back to.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
1/20/11
From my past experiences teaching, I definitely think great teaching and learning not only works off previous knowledge, but enthusiasm for the subject. Unfortunately, as students progress in school, many attitudes toward mathematics shift. Although students may have the previous knowledge to work through a problem, unless they're enthusiastic about the new content, they won't be as willing to learn. Great teaching brings the content to life and can instill enthusiasm toward a subject in students even if they didn't have a positive attitude toward the subject previously. So overall, great teaching and learning stems from enthusiasm. If you're enthusiastic about your content area and teaching, your students will be enthusiastic toward learning.
One of my most memorable teaching and learning experiences was when I was in my pre-student teaching. My cooperating teacher often just presented content in a direct instruction type of way. He was able to capture and hold the attention of his students because of his presence and voice. When I was set to teach, it was the opposite for me. My co-op was tall, muscular and had a deep voice. I'm not quite 5'4, not muscular one bit and even though I don't have a high voice, it still wasn't as deep as my co-op's. By comparison, I learned the students didn't respond as well to my presence in front of the room at first. So, I needed to think of a new way to keep the students engaged in the lesson. I realized that direct instruction alone would not keep the students' attention when I was teaching. I decided to make my lessons more constructivist. Instead of just telling students a rule, I had them figure out a rule from a chart that we completed together. This allowed me to grab the students attention and then present the rule as well as promoting deeper learning for them through Constructivism. I used this type of format for my entire unit on exponents and the students performed quite well on the test.
The ideal that I try to strive for in my classroom is to keep the lesson engaging and to keep the students on track while having a consistent schedule. Engaged students are better learners. The same old routine does not lead to an engaged class, but it leads to a well managed class. On the other end, if a classroom gets too engaged, sometimes the students can get off topic. To solve this, I try to keep my students as engaged as possible. If they get off topic, I try incorporate that topic into the lesson or just make a quick remark and transition back into the lesson. The students will see you someone who gets down to business, but also is willing to deviate from the set structure of the day.
The main challenge that both teachers and learners encounter is the question "when will I ever use this?" When a teacher is asked this question, sometimes it is difficult to come up with an answer on the spot. If the student couldn't think of a reason and you can't think of a reason immediately, the student(s) may not have the enthusiasm to learn the new content, which makes learning that new content challenging. So one challenge that teachers need to overcome is having relevant examples for students for each lesson as to why this is useful. One challenge a student needs to overcome is learning a subject they don't feel is relevant to them by "learning for learning's sake."
Some of my most pressing questions are:
1) How can technology be incorporate into mathematics classrooms?
2) How can I get more comfortable with using technology in front of others?
3) How will I be able to adapt to ever-changing technology?
One of my most memorable teaching and learning experiences was when I was in my pre-student teaching. My cooperating teacher often just presented content in a direct instruction type of way. He was able to capture and hold the attention of his students because of his presence and voice. When I was set to teach, it was the opposite for me. My co-op was tall, muscular and had a deep voice. I'm not quite 5'4, not muscular one bit and even though I don't have a high voice, it still wasn't as deep as my co-op's. By comparison, I learned the students didn't respond as well to my presence in front of the room at first. So, I needed to think of a new way to keep the students engaged in the lesson. I realized that direct instruction alone would not keep the students' attention when I was teaching. I decided to make my lessons more constructivist. Instead of just telling students a rule, I had them figure out a rule from a chart that we completed together. This allowed me to grab the students attention and then present the rule as well as promoting deeper learning for them through Constructivism. I used this type of format for my entire unit on exponents and the students performed quite well on the test.
The ideal that I try to strive for in my classroom is to keep the lesson engaging and to keep the students on track while having a consistent schedule. Engaged students are better learners. The same old routine does not lead to an engaged class, but it leads to a well managed class. On the other end, if a classroom gets too engaged, sometimes the students can get off topic. To solve this, I try to keep my students as engaged as possible. If they get off topic, I try incorporate that topic into the lesson or just make a quick remark and transition back into the lesson. The students will see you someone who gets down to business, but also is willing to deviate from the set structure of the day.
The main challenge that both teachers and learners encounter is the question "when will I ever use this?" When a teacher is asked this question, sometimes it is difficult to come up with an answer on the spot. If the student couldn't think of a reason and you can't think of a reason immediately, the student(s) may not have the enthusiasm to learn the new content, which makes learning that new content challenging. So one challenge that teachers need to overcome is having relevant examples for students for each lesson as to why this is useful. One challenge a student needs to overcome is learning a subject they don't feel is relevant to them by "learning for learning's sake."
Some of my most pressing questions are:
1) How can technology be incorporate into mathematics classrooms?
2) How can I get more comfortable with using technology in front of others?
3) How will I be able to adapt to ever-changing technology?
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