For my service learning project I will be working with Julie Bagley, a Physical Education Teacher/ Coach / Heath Teacher for K-6. Her phone number is 801-879-8303. She is a brand new teacher, and is working her first full time job as a teacher and so far is really enjoying it. She's excited to have somebody helping her out with a couple of simple projects this year, and hopefully I can live up to her expectations. I'm most excited about creating projects for something other than English, which is what I do for every other Education class that I take here at UVU. So taking on a new subject, and a new grade level will be really fun for me I think. At the same time, that's what I'm most nervous about too! I feel very confident writing projects and lesson plans for high school English students, so this may stretch me a little, but also open up my eyes to other sides of education. I just hope that the material that I present to Julie is done well enough for her to be able to use them, not just for me, but because she's counting on it too. So we'll see how it goes!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Beliefs.
My personal beliefs about technology are two fold. One of the first things that comes to mind when I consider how I personally feel about technology with regard to teaching, is that it is absolutely going to be a part of my world, my children's world, my students' world, etc. There is no escaping it, if anyone was going to try. It is inevitably going to be one of the most used resources in our classrooms, and it seems eventually, one of the most prevelant in each one of our lives. So even though I didn't grow up with a computer and an Ipod and cell phones, etc. my students will. They will know what instant media is, and they will understand how vast the opportunities are to gain information with the touch of a keyboard. They will want and crave and learn best through media instruction. So no matter where I come from, and how little or how much technology I'm used to, digital and media communication and learning are going to be essential as I become a teacher within the next year.
My second thought on pedagogy with regard to technology is that I don't think technology is the "say all" when it comes to learning. I don't believe that we can give our children a computer and have the computer teach a child everything that a teacher could. Technology can be an incredible resource, especially when used with guidance and moderation. But there are other parts to learning that are so incredible as well. Face to face communication, expression, socializing, physically interacting in the classroom, etc. are a part of learning and growing as human beings. Putting everyone behind a computer screen may make us computer savvy and uick with technology but it doesn't necessarily make us happy, communicative, socially mature individuals. I also believe in reading - actual textbooks - and writing - with a pen and paper - as a part of personal discipline and education. Not everything has to be instantly gratified - I believe a lot of what we do educationally should be a process of discovery, found within contemplation, thinking, meditation, trying things that don't work, and having to find the answers for ourselves. What joy can we find in the beautiful process of discovery if we simply went to Wikipedia.com? There is so much more to educating ourselves and our students than that.
My second thought on pedagogy with regard to technology is that I don't think technology is the "say all" when it comes to learning. I don't believe that we can give our children a computer and have the computer teach a child everything that a teacher could. Technology can be an incredible resource, especially when used with guidance and moderation. But there are other parts to learning that are so incredible as well. Face to face communication, expression, socializing, physically interacting in the classroom, etc. are a part of learning and growing as human beings. Putting everyone behind a computer screen may make us computer savvy and uick with technology but it doesn't necessarily make us happy, communicative, socially mature individuals. I also believe in reading - actual textbooks - and writing - with a pen and paper - as a part of personal discipline and education. Not everything has to be instantly gratified - I believe a lot of what we do educationally should be a process of discovery, found within contemplation, thinking, meditation, trying things that don't work, and having to find the answers for ourselves. What joy can we find in the beautiful process of discovery if we simply went to Wikipedia.com? There is so much more to educating ourselves and our students than that.
Lessons Learned
Educating the Net Generation: How is it possible that students from ages 18-20 years of age use 20 hours of technology every single day? There are only 24 hours in a day, it seems so outrageous that we are plugged into technology for the majority of our lives. I'm 25, I wasn't born in the 50's or anything, and I feel like I'm pretty up to date with a lot of today's technology in the general sense. I can't imagine using technology for that many hours in the day. What about playing sports? Hanging out with friends and family in a face to face situation? Accumulating skills that have nothing to do with any type of keyboard? It also mentioned that 80% of students use it on a daily basis. This is definitely the technology era and we either get to embrace it or fall behind.
Why Integrate: "New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding.. students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom." It's an interesting perspective to look at it through these eyes- that viewing results in graphic ways can aid understanding for students. I guess I wonder if that's because they don't know anything else, and they have to see things graphically to actually uderstand it, or if it's necessary? Our parents didn't have to every little thing graphically to understand it. They read it in a book and they learned what they needed to know. It's just an interesting way to look at things.
21st Century Skills: This short acritcle gave an interesting perspective on the actual skills that are being developed as students use technology in learning. This particular quote stood out to me... "They're learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page." It's true, that students who's learning is adapted digitally will learn a certain part of life that would otherwise not be exposed to them so early on. "Managing a public identity" - could easily come through Facebook at the age of 12. I'm not sure that I agree, however, about "learn to get along with others" - maybe so. But not in person. It's one thing to say that you have 500 friends online. But it's another thing to say that you have close relationships in real life, where people meet face to face and share and touch and interact one on one. There are just so many ways to look at it.
Online Teens are Learning Skills: In a similar perspective, this article represented media from a perspective of all of the benefits that can come from all of these many hours spent online. It seems so strange, however, that anyone would assume that the basically unlimited time that students spend using technology isn't at all a waste of time. I can buy that certainly some skills are being learned, as mentioned in the previoius article. But there are also a lot of things that are absolutely pointless that we do online. They mentioned that some parents like to limit the time that students spend on those things and I can't imagine what it would be like to have unlimited access, with nobody watching how much time you spend watching TV, or playing games on the internet. Because while some skills may be getting enhanced, so many skills are being left behind. What about running? Physical activity? It's not all about the "global" world, it's also about being happy, healthy people.
The New WWW: One of the quotes that I really liked from this article that to me, seems to sum up a portion of it, reads, "Children believe that getting whatever they want will make them happy. As adults, we know otherwise." The article talks about instant gratification and I really like reading it. Children these days do feel that everything they want is at their fingertips, and it becomes very problematic for some if they don't get it. I'm not much older than the students in high school but I can see how that "instant gratification" could yield some problems down the road. Life isn't about getting what you want all the time. The article goes on to say that child stars, who truly are given everything they want when they want it, for the most part ends up causing huge trials for these people down the road. If we are going to provide technology and sort of instant, constant media for our children, then it must be meaningful. We can't just give them endless resources to do absolutely anything they can imagine and expect that they'll guide themselves appropriately. They need morals, discipline, and they need to be able to recognize technology as a tool - not as a relationship.
Engaged Students: This was probably my favorite of the videos/articles. I feel like it opened my eyes, even if only for a few moments, to how our world is changing so quickly. From talking about India and China, becoming the largest English Speaking countries in the world, to the fact that 1,000 words are added to our dictionaries every single month, it shows that the world as we have known it will drastically transfigure between our generation and the next. It talked about "Instant Information" and multimedia being the world that they live in, and contrasted today's classroom to the classroom that I grew up in, especially in elementary school. No matter what we think, or how we resist technology, if we don't give it to them in the classroom, they will learn it at home. So a strong part of me thinks that we need to be actively involved in the technology world if we are going to access the very nature of our students' learning.
Games: This was yet another perspective on the skills that are potentiall gained from the active use of technology. It talked about a student who was very introverted, and never participated in class. Once the teacher opened up his classroom to online networking, she became one of the most active students within the classroom. She commented constantly and posted opinions about whatever was on the subject board. Perhaps without that resource, she would have never felt comfortable expressing herself. It talks about networking, and all of the many opportunities that the internet gives students to get to know people globally, and to network within those online communities. Given these perspectives does help me to understand that technology for our children isn't necessarily the scariest thing to imagine, or a black hole of pointless information that we are spoon feeding our children. There are, perhaps, with guidance, many quality positive things that can come from the use of modern technology, even in our very own homes and classrooms.
Why Integrate: "New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding.. students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom." It's an interesting perspective to look at it through these eyes- that viewing results in graphic ways can aid understanding for students. I guess I wonder if that's because they don't know anything else, and they have to see things graphically to actually uderstand it, or if it's necessary? Our parents didn't have to every little thing graphically to understand it. They read it in a book and they learned what they needed to know. It's just an interesting way to look at things.
21st Century Skills: This short acritcle gave an interesting perspective on the actual skills that are being developed as students use technology in learning. This particular quote stood out to me... "They're learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page." It's true, that students who's learning is adapted digitally will learn a certain part of life that would otherwise not be exposed to them so early on. "Managing a public identity" - could easily come through Facebook at the age of 12. I'm not sure that I agree, however, about "learn to get along with others" - maybe so. But not in person. It's one thing to say that you have 500 friends online. But it's another thing to say that you have close relationships in real life, where people meet face to face and share and touch and interact one on one. There are just so many ways to look at it.
Online Teens are Learning Skills: In a similar perspective, this article represented media from a perspective of all of the benefits that can come from all of these many hours spent online. It seems so strange, however, that anyone would assume that the basically unlimited time that students spend using technology isn't at all a waste of time. I can buy that certainly some skills are being learned, as mentioned in the previoius article. But there are also a lot of things that are absolutely pointless that we do online. They mentioned that some parents like to limit the time that students spend on those things and I can't imagine what it would be like to have unlimited access, with nobody watching how much time you spend watching TV, or playing games on the internet. Because while some skills may be getting enhanced, so many skills are being left behind. What about running? Physical activity? It's not all about the "global" world, it's also about being happy, healthy people.
The New WWW: One of the quotes that I really liked from this article that to me, seems to sum up a portion of it, reads, "Children believe that getting whatever they want will make them happy. As adults, we know otherwise." The article talks about instant gratification and I really like reading it. Children these days do feel that everything they want is at their fingertips, and it becomes very problematic for some if they don't get it. I'm not much older than the students in high school but I can see how that "instant gratification" could yield some problems down the road. Life isn't about getting what you want all the time. The article goes on to say that child stars, who truly are given everything they want when they want it, for the most part ends up causing huge trials for these people down the road. If we are going to provide technology and sort of instant, constant media for our children, then it must be meaningful. We can't just give them endless resources to do absolutely anything they can imagine and expect that they'll guide themselves appropriately. They need morals, discipline, and they need to be able to recognize technology as a tool - not as a relationship.
Engaged Students: This was probably my favorite of the videos/articles. I feel like it opened my eyes, even if only for a few moments, to how our world is changing so quickly. From talking about India and China, becoming the largest English Speaking countries in the world, to the fact that 1,000 words are added to our dictionaries every single month, it shows that the world as we have known it will drastically transfigure between our generation and the next. It talked about "Instant Information" and multimedia being the world that they live in, and contrasted today's classroom to the classroom that I grew up in, especially in elementary school. No matter what we think, or how we resist technology, if we don't give it to them in the classroom, they will learn it at home. So a strong part of me thinks that we need to be actively involved in the technology world if we are going to access the very nature of our students' learning.
Games: This was yet another perspective on the skills that are potentiall gained from the active use of technology. It talked about a student who was very introverted, and never participated in class. Once the teacher opened up his classroom to online networking, she became one of the most active students within the classroom. She commented constantly and posted opinions about whatever was on the subject board. Perhaps without that resource, she would have never felt comfortable expressing herself. It talks about networking, and all of the many opportunities that the internet gives students to get to know people globally, and to network within those online communities. Given these perspectives does help me to understand that technology for our children isn't necessarily the scariest thing to imagine, or a black hole of pointless information that we are spoon feeding our children. There are, perhaps, with guidance, many quality positive things that can come from the use of modern technology, even in our very own homes and classrooms.
Strengths and Weaknesses
When it comes to technology, I feel like my weaknesses stand out much far more than do my strengths. While reading over the ISTE, I initially felt a little overwhelmed by the expectations for teachers and the digital world, since in my opinion, I have so little experience with the digital world, especially in comparison to so many high school students today. Even though I went through school in a very technology centered era, the majority of my teachers still had very traditional classrooms, that used very little media other than an overhead or word processing for essays and such. At home, it was the same thing, and so I have sort of gotten through life knowing that there is more technology out there, but I don't jump at the opportunity to embrace it in my every day life.
But that was just my first instinct, to say that I can't offer much at this point in the digital department. However, after some contemplation, I realize that I'm not quite as inept as I make myself sound. For example, in the first standard, "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity," I found that I may have something to contribute to it. It reads, "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness." I feel like in my life, while not always technology-centered, I do search for ways to be creative and innovative whether at school or in my every day life. I can take that desire for innovative thinking and apply it to the digital world. I also appreciate and can grasp the idea that it's important to promote student reflection using collaborative tools. Collaborating with tools can make all the difference for students. Each student has strengths and weaknesses, and allowing them to collaborate from a variety of sources makes it so that while they learn some new things, they can also apply their skills with other devices.
Finally, where it reads, "model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues and others in a face to face and virtual environment," I found something most interesting there. To me, this is essentially "group work" - the process of working together as a team to discover. Some people resist group work, and on some days I do too, but overall I can recognize the importance of it. What stands out, however, is the "face to face and virtual environment" part. While I may not have a lot of experience with the most up to date technology, virtual environments play a bigger part of my life than I initially thought. Facebook, email, blogging, skyping, etc. are all virtual environments essentially, that I have embraced for years. And I can see the impact that they can have on our lives, our creativity and our productivity. What I need to learn is how to apply this more specifically in a classroom setting, with specific goals and objectives to accomplish using this resource. But I would consider this a strength of mine, that the virtual environment is absolutely not a stranger to me, while I have much more to learn about it.
As far as my weaknesses go, one of the standards that stands out is, "exhibit knowledge, skills and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society." I feel that I have the basics down: technology is inevitably a part of our educational world. I know there's so many opportunities out there that I haven't taken advantage of. However, at this point I cannot say that I could exhibit knowledge and skills representative of a professional in a global society. I feel that I'm more of a "learner" in a global society but I in no way of mastered the art of applying my skills in a digital world. It goes on to say, "demonstrate fluency in technology systems" - which I would say is another weakness of mine. So while technology has played a part of my personal and educational life for quite some time, I don't feel that the "fluency" has happened yet. So as a strength, I'm willing to embrace the future of the digital world for the most part. But as a weakness, I still need so much instruction on what's out there, and how to use it in a classroom setting.
Goals:
1) I need to be instructed on some more of the tools that are available to use in a classroom. I need to learn specifically what is expected of me as a teacher in the 21st century, and the specific tools that will benefit students the most in my classroom. I can use my skills that I have already learned and apply them to new technology, but I absolutely need to gain a better foundation of what is out there and how to use it in a classroom setting.
2) I need to familiarize myself enough with the use of the digital world and technology in the classroom enough to be able to use it on an every day basis, not just when trying to meet the minimum standards expected of teachers. I need to recognize that even if the classroom that I was taught in high school wasn't digitally based, that the classroom I will teach in, will likely be so.
Essentially -Learn what's out there. -Get comfortable using it.
But that was just my first instinct, to say that I can't offer much at this point in the digital department. However, after some contemplation, I realize that I'm not quite as inept as I make myself sound. For example, in the first standard, "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity," I found that I may have something to contribute to it. It reads, "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness." I feel like in my life, while not always technology-centered, I do search for ways to be creative and innovative whether at school or in my every day life. I can take that desire for innovative thinking and apply it to the digital world. I also appreciate and can grasp the idea that it's important to promote student reflection using collaborative tools. Collaborating with tools can make all the difference for students. Each student has strengths and weaknesses, and allowing them to collaborate from a variety of sources makes it so that while they learn some new things, they can also apply their skills with other devices.
Finally, where it reads, "model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues and others in a face to face and virtual environment," I found something most interesting there. To me, this is essentially "group work" - the process of working together as a team to discover. Some people resist group work, and on some days I do too, but overall I can recognize the importance of it. What stands out, however, is the "face to face and virtual environment" part. While I may not have a lot of experience with the most up to date technology, virtual environments play a bigger part of my life than I initially thought. Facebook, email, blogging, skyping, etc. are all virtual environments essentially, that I have embraced for years. And I can see the impact that they can have on our lives, our creativity and our productivity. What I need to learn is how to apply this more specifically in a classroom setting, with specific goals and objectives to accomplish using this resource. But I would consider this a strength of mine, that the virtual environment is absolutely not a stranger to me, while I have much more to learn about it.
As far as my weaknesses go, one of the standards that stands out is, "exhibit knowledge, skills and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society." I feel that I have the basics down: technology is inevitably a part of our educational world. I know there's so many opportunities out there that I haven't taken advantage of. However, at this point I cannot say that I could exhibit knowledge and skills representative of a professional in a global society. I feel that I'm more of a "learner" in a global society but I in no way of mastered the art of applying my skills in a digital world. It goes on to say, "demonstrate fluency in technology systems" - which I would say is another weakness of mine. So while technology has played a part of my personal and educational life for quite some time, I don't feel that the "fluency" has happened yet. So as a strength, I'm willing to embrace the future of the digital world for the most part. But as a weakness, I still need so much instruction on what's out there, and how to use it in a classroom setting.
Goals:
1) I need to be instructed on some more of the tools that are available to use in a classroom. I need to learn specifically what is expected of me as a teacher in the 21st century, and the specific tools that will benefit students the most in my classroom. I can use my skills that I have already learned and apply them to new technology, but I absolutely need to gain a better foundation of what is out there and how to use it in a classroom setting.
2) I need to familiarize myself enough with the use of the digital world and technology in the classroom enough to be able to use it on an every day basis, not just when trying to meet the minimum standards expected of teachers. I need to recognize that even if the classroom that I was taught in high school wasn't digitally based, that the classroom I will teach in, will likely be so.
Essentially -Learn what's out there. -Get comfortable using it.
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