Classroom Instruction that Works
This is a good resource for both teachers and schools. When you draw a blank over how to use technology for a given objective then you can go to a list like this one. I think this could really win over teachers and administrators who see little application and value in technology.
I think this could become a habit. Once it is teacher will not feel like they are adding technology to a lesson. Teachers will simply ask them selves what tools to use and technology will most always offer great ones.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Class 7 Readings
Critical Issue:
Technology: A Catalyst for Teaching and Learning in the Classroom
The question of how to successfully implement a technology plan in a school is very much a current and central issue in schools today. How do you keep teachers trained, and provide the necessary support for the technology and training. I liked a lot of the debate over whether or not technology is good in schools. Given that students think so, and that they are users combined with research, yes, we need to have schools that use and move with technology. I go back and forth with this one. I agree with the idea of using technology, but I see too much emphasis on formal operational tasks over concrete ones. Students will make the leap if we do a good job with basic skills and concrete activities. I think that technology is the greatest tool to these ends. Part of the solution is accepting technology into the culture of our schools. I think that in time, especially with young teachers entering the field, schools will inevitable move in step with technology. Technology will become a natural part of the educational landscape.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Week 6 reading #2
My reaction to: The Perils and Pitfalls of Wikipedia
This explains why there is a bit of a controversy surrounding the use of Wikipedia as a resource. There are some good arguments to its validity given that anyone can fix an inaccuracy. There are some good arguments to its invalidity given that anyone can add inaccuracy.
Lets face it, you will never find a source written by any human being, and inspired by a human being, that is not subject to inaccuracies. I myself trust and use Wikipedia as a valuable source of information. I have no qualms about recommending it to students. I have not yet found information to be false. I think that given the high publicity of some inaccuracies proves that Wikipedia works and is a reputable source.
This explains why there is a bit of a controversy surrounding the use of Wikipedia as a resource. There are some good arguments to its validity given that anyone can fix an inaccuracy. There are some good arguments to its invalidity given that anyone can add inaccuracy.
Lets face it, you will never find a source written by any human being, and inspired by a human being, that is not subject to inaccuracies. I myself trust and use Wikipedia as a valuable source of information. I have no qualms about recommending it to students. I have not yet found information to be false. I think that given the high publicity of some inaccuracies proves that Wikipedia works and is a reputable source.
Week 6 reading #1
My reaction to: COPY AND PASTE LITERACY? LITERACY PRACTICES IN THE
PRODUCTION OF A MYSPACE PROFILE by DAN PERKEL
This is an academic paper with the sole intent of making the use of sites, especially like MySpace, as a form of literacy. He draws on the opinions of experts in defining literacy and his own field research. He looks at the elements of literacy and then relates that to the creation and maintenance of a MySpace account. People interact, share, and create content: they are consumers and producers through a network of friends who all share, copy and paste content to create new hybrids.
I think that the author, Dan Perkel, has a point that I will not attempt to refute. However, I will challenge the value and significance of his paper. I don't really see this as a new form of literacy, though I would agree that it is literacy. People have been behaving this way for all time. It is the nature of man to copy and paste. People form identities, and self-expression, through relationships with other people. If you like an expression that another uses then you take it as your own, and no one accuses you of being a thief. When you take a little from here and some from there and mix it together you have a new product. What is new is that existing literacy is now expressed through a new medium: MySpace. I would also like to add two points, if I may. One, there is little skill and less rigor in using MySpace, so literacy is not nurtured and does not grow. Two, traditional literacy is still important and I would say more so. If students can't read, write, and communicate effectively then we have lost something. Society is loosing in literacy, we have lowered the rigor and expectations associated with literacy. The average kid today, with all the tools of expression, is at a loss for how to articulate who they are, what they want, and they have even less social and conflict resolution skills. If we are to move forward then we need not water down our children, we need to give them tools and expect them to be used.
PRODUCTION OF A MYSPACE PROFILE by DAN PERKEL
This is an academic paper with the sole intent of making the use of sites, especially like MySpace, as a form of literacy. He draws on the opinions of experts in defining literacy and his own field research. He looks at the elements of literacy and then relates that to the creation and maintenance of a MySpace account. People interact, share, and create content: they are consumers and producers through a network of friends who all share, copy and paste content to create new hybrids.
I think that the author, Dan Perkel, has a point that I will not attempt to refute. However, I will challenge the value and significance of his paper. I don't really see this as a new form of literacy, though I would agree that it is literacy. People have been behaving this way for all time. It is the nature of man to copy and paste. People form identities, and self-expression, through relationships with other people. If you like an expression that another uses then you take it as your own, and no one accuses you of being a thief. When you take a little from here and some from there and mix it together you have a new product. What is new is that existing literacy is now expressed through a new medium: MySpace. I would also like to add two points, if I may. One, there is little skill and less rigor in using MySpace, so literacy is not nurtured and does not grow. Two, traditional literacy is still important and I would say more so. If students can't read, write, and communicate effectively then we have lost something. Society is loosing in literacy, we have lowered the rigor and expectations associated with literacy. The average kid today, with all the tools of expression, is at a loss for how to articulate who they are, what they want, and they have even less social and conflict resolution skills. If we are to move forward then we need not water down our children, we need to give them tools and expect them to be used.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Class 5 article
Confronting the Challenges
of Participatory Culture:
Media Education for the
21st Century
Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
with
Katie Clinton
Ravi Purushotma
Alice J.Robison
Margaret Weigel
The above article is a very thought provoking one. How well are schools and communities using, and recognizing, the power of Media creation and participation by our youth. Schools and communities seem to demonize the On-Line-Culture instead of seeing it as a valuable set of resources. There in now an apparent gap in the whole Socialist line of thinking that no one should have anything, what so ever, those others do not also have. Well may be I'm over reacting but lets face it. The idea of making all things equal is unrealistic. Instead we should provide opportunities. It is not societies fault that some grow up in less favorable conditions. So, society should not try to some how make up for this loss rather it should encourage more favorable conditions and provide as many opportunities as possible to all of its citizens, allowing for the reality that some will distinguish them selves and have, I know it's a bad word, more.
All of this being said, it seems that a partially agree with the article. Participation can be a powerful tool, and yes we should guide and nurture students’ involvement with media and it creation. Ethics are important, as well as on-line safety. Whenever our children are unsupervised they are outside of our protection. The reality is that we want the most for our children and we have a powerful impulse to protect them. Some parents protect their children by limiting the Childs access in unnecessary ways, as do schools, and the rest let their children have unfettered and uninformed access. What is at the root of this problem, why are the adults doing such a bad job?
There are two reasons. One, adults simply have no idea what’s out there, and thus don't know its value or its liability. So, if we don't understand something then we either think it harmless or we are leery of it. Two, technology is evolving faster than adults and institutions can keep up with it. As soon as we find a way to incorporate it into education new technology has taken its place and our kids.
What’s the real solution? Schools need to accept the above realities, and allow teachers and students to freely evolve with it. Schools need to have reps that can in-service the staff and help them adapt. Once schools get use to incorporating, and stepping with technology they will be as use to it a many students already are. Students' with actively involved parents will still be ahead but there will in effect be a smaller gap because schools gave an opportunity.
of Participatory Culture:
Media Education for the
21st Century
Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
with
Katie Clinton
Ravi Purushotma
Alice J.Robison
Margaret Weigel
The above article is a very thought provoking one. How well are schools and communities using, and recognizing, the power of Media creation and participation by our youth. Schools and communities seem to demonize the On-Line-Culture instead of seeing it as a valuable set of resources. There in now an apparent gap in the whole Socialist line of thinking that no one should have anything, what so ever, those others do not also have. Well may be I'm over reacting but lets face it. The idea of making all things equal is unrealistic. Instead we should provide opportunities. It is not societies fault that some grow up in less favorable conditions. So, society should not try to some how make up for this loss rather it should encourage more favorable conditions and provide as many opportunities as possible to all of its citizens, allowing for the reality that some will distinguish them selves and have, I know it's a bad word, more.
All of this being said, it seems that a partially agree with the article. Participation can be a powerful tool, and yes we should guide and nurture students’ involvement with media and it creation. Ethics are important, as well as on-line safety. Whenever our children are unsupervised they are outside of our protection. The reality is that we want the most for our children and we have a powerful impulse to protect them. Some parents protect their children by limiting the Childs access in unnecessary ways, as do schools, and the rest let their children have unfettered and uninformed access. What is at the root of this problem, why are the adults doing such a bad job?
There are two reasons. One, adults simply have no idea what’s out there, and thus don't know its value or its liability. So, if we don't understand something then we either think it harmless or we are leery of it. Two, technology is evolving faster than adults and institutions can keep up with it. As soon as we find a way to incorporate it into education new technology has taken its place and our kids.
What’s the real solution? Schools need to accept the above realities, and allow teachers and students to freely evolve with it. Schools need to have reps that can in-service the staff and help them adapt. Once schools get use to incorporating, and stepping with technology they will be as use to it a many students already are. Students' with actively involved parents will still be ahead but there will in effect be a smaller gap because schools gave an opportunity.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
What's Next?
Rise of the Participation Culture
Published by:
Marketing Directions, Inc.
14850 Scenic Heights Road, STE 155
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Main: 952.893.1245
I am reacting to the article sections assigned and the section titled "What's next". This reading continues our discussion on Web 2.0 and its impact. What stuck me the most is how many people are involved in this. I have been pulling my 4th - 8th graders to see how many have both email and a My Space page and half of my students do, including 4th graders. What is more of a shock is that several of my students said that their parents do not know they have email and my space. Just yesterday I overheard a girl complaining to her friend about how a boy had written some rude things on her My Space page. My students are drawn to the Social sites and to the music, and I would say more so than to video games. My students and the Web 2.0 generation are enabled and part of something because of the technology involved. It seems like the web has become alive and organic, both in participation and in the way sites are built and linked together. But, the main concern is the social implications.
This takes me to, "What's Next", a majority of people polled about what is coming said some of the predictable things, better, bigger, and faster. What I was not looking for, but I had thought about, was the social aspect. Could people become effected in negative ways, like and addiction or worse terrorism against the system. May be some people will become dependant on technology while others chose to not participate at all. But, in the end we should be better off. We will have a cheaper Internet and more participation. Will people lose control of them selves: yes. Will we lose control of technology: no.
Published by:
Marketing Directions, Inc.
14850 Scenic Heights Road, STE 155
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Main: 952.893.1245
I am reacting to the article sections assigned and the section titled "What's next". This reading continues our discussion on Web 2.0 and its impact. What stuck me the most is how many people are involved in this. I have been pulling my 4th - 8th graders to see how many have both email and a My Space page and half of my students do, including 4th graders. What is more of a shock is that several of my students said that their parents do not know they have email and my space. Just yesterday I overheard a girl complaining to her friend about how a boy had written some rude things on her My Space page. My students are drawn to the Social sites and to the music, and I would say more so than to video games. My students and the Web 2.0 generation are enabled and part of something because of the technology involved. It seems like the web has become alive and organic, both in participation and in the way sites are built and linked together. But, the main concern is the social implications.
This takes me to, "What's Next", a majority of people polled about what is coming said some of the predictable things, better, bigger, and faster. What I was not looking for, but I had thought about, was the social aspect. Could people become effected in negative ways, like and addiction or worse terrorism against the system. May be some people will become dependant on technology while others chose to not participate at all. But, in the end we should be better off. We will have a cheaper Internet and more participation. Will people lose control of them selves: yes. Will we lose control of technology: no.
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