Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Feb. 16th's class
I really got thinking about Graham's comment about the girls that drowned in the car. I went home and talked to my husband about it. Here's the thing....I have always held the view that technology is the new wave and as teacher's we better get knowledgeable about it and be able to teach it and understand the new devices, etc. in order to keep up with the students. This is primarily my reasoning for a pursuing another degree in educational technology. I find myself defending technology to other educators and making a strong case for letting the students "get away" with using devices in class because it it the new thing and it is the teacher's that must start to change and get familiar with this. My husband on the other hand is the complete opposite. He gets very upset with students using devices in class and thinks that students are getting away with far too much and is dead set on not changing his ways in the classroom. So this topic comes up quite a bit between us. We find each other's view a good compliment. However, I went home last night and told him I agreed with him...to his shock, he asked why. I told him what Graham had mentioned about having items stored in long term memory and that eventually sometime in our life they will re-surface whether we find them valuable at the time that we learn them or not. I told him the exercises we did and how we used many parts of the brain and how problem solving comes from long term memory and the ability to use it. I mentioned how the students today are so programmed to use technology as a way of problem solving or perhaps using technology instead of problem solving that the girls in the car may have resorted to using a cell phone to save their lives rather that using their knowledge of pressure or tools to get out of their car. I took back everything I said to my husband about defending technology because now I understand how technology may hinder these students from using their common sense. I say this quite quickly and still do find value and merit in using technology and still feel that teachers need to get on the technology boat, but now understand that it may be dangerous to solely rely on it. Another story is from a trip my husband and I took to Nova Scotia a few years ago. We went to Lunnenberg, stayed at a bed and breakfast with a fellow who used to man the lighthouse there. After telling us it had been shut down and is now a tourist attraction, I asked if GPS had caused that. He said maybe, but just months before a ship had crashed right infront of the lighthouse because the batteries in their GPS had died and they were staring at a broken device rather than using the light from a lighthouse. All the people on board died. There has been conversations about using an ipod touch as a textbook for schools considering they hold much of the information from a textbook and it is relevant to today's use of technology. Also, they have google at their fingertips so that they can find answers to anything. My husband of course was outraged by this. However, now I am second guessing "google at your fingertips". It may not save your life or atleast teach you to problem solve.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry, I see a typo: teachers not teacher's. I hate publishing errors like this, but now I don't know how to go back and edit it! Sorry everyone.
ReplyDeletewow. seems that we picked up on the same point for our blogs. you can read my blog as a comment for your entry.
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology use in classrooms is most definitely useful, but as with everything else, in moderation!
ReplyDeleteJust a side-note about the girls in the car...according to news stories, one of the calls that was made was a plea for help stating that they were NEAR a lake and water, so they don't believe that all the calls were made IN the water as they were drowning. Also, they said with the pressure from the water they might not have been able to get the doors and/or windows open, hence the calls for help.
Also, I think it is difficult for any of use to judge what happened and what should have been done in this situation without being there.
A) The mind does crazy things when we are terrified (I remember one Halloween when a strange man walked right into our house - the door was unlocked for Trick-or-Treaters - walked through the living room where my dad and I were sitting on the couch, through the hall and back into the living room while my dad and I sat there dumbfounded and frozen! Luckily, it turned out to be a friend playing a trick on us, with a mask and wig - but rather than saying anything to him, trying to stop him, or reaching for the phone, we sat there in silent disbelief!). I also remember when I hit two deer on McGillivray Blvd, going about 95K. After hitting them I blacked out and woke up to deployed airbags and a car still slowly moving down the road. The shock from such accidents totally affects everything you think and do. Because of the airbag "smoke" I thought the car was on fire, put it in park, and left it in the middle of the road while I had a crying meltdown on the side of the road. Luckily people stopped to help and pushed the car onto the shoulder - otherwise I would probably still be there...haha! P.S. I did use my cell phone to call my parents :) And the shock was so prevalent that they didn't realize I had a concussion until 3 days later, and I didn't notice the dislocated shoulder or torn chest muscles until 2 weeks later (after which I was in physio for a year)! So unless we are in the situation, we can't always know what is happening in a person's mind.
B) Accidents like this one (the girls in the Jeep) happen so quickly that you really only have seconds to think.
And C) When you think about it, had these girls not made those two cell phone calls, it could have been months before they were found. Perhaps they knew they wouldn't make it out of the car, so they called for help!
Anyway, not to say that anyone is being judgemental - just giving another point of view on this incident!
But yes, I think that everything is good in moderation. Unfortunately there are no surivival courses that teach us how to get out of situations such as drowning in a car, and we can only hope that we give our students the skills to figure out the best possible means of getting out of (or simply dealing with) situations such as these.
I don’t consider myself to be tech savvy and I lead a relatively low-tech life, but I see the need to address technological issues in the classroom. My personal choice to lead a low-tech life stems from my desire to retain my independence and not feel trapped by social networking, work email, and access to too much knowledge. Yes, I think too much knowledge can be problematic, depending upon the type and source of the knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI feel that we need to welcome technological advances into our classrooms because we need to act as a filter to the information that our students receive. They can access anything from anywhere at anytime with little to no monitoring. Our only hope to develop critical thinking skills in our students to process the information they find. They need to know how to critically examine websites, how to identify bias in news sources, and how to develop responses to what they read on the web.
Internet safety is an important topic to address with our students. Pedophiles and other criminals see the Internet as a hunting ground for their prey. Socially isolated children who use the web as a means to communicate with the world can easily fall victim to these people. We need to show students how to identify the risks associated with Internet usage and how to deal with problems that may occur.
Technological advances show us that we still need to address traditional social skill development with our students so they can foster positive face-to-face relationships.
Schools have a responsibility to model for students how to use technology in a socially appropriate way. How many times have you been in a meeting where a cell phone rings? Adults bring cell phones to meetings, but some still need to learn proper etiquette. How often have you seen adults use their phones to record presentation notes, interesting thoughts, record important dates, or schedule meetings? Students lead busy lives and could use their devices for the same purposes. We need to show them the positive capabilities of the technology that they have. Could you image the power of having a distribution list of student cell phone numbers where you could send a text reminder about homework? I’m sure they would be much more likely to check that than any paper agenda that would be lost in their binder.
If we show students how to use technology appropriately and the way we can use it to access and manage information, we should be helping to promote problem-solving skills rather than hinder them. If students are left to their own devices, they won’t learn the capabilities of the technology they hold in their hands. I guess that’s why the government made a curriculum for it.
While technology may be used as a crutch for problem solving - I don't think that an absence of technology automatically equates with students who are better problem solvers. For example, I remember doing a role-playing exercise with students in an area where technology as basic as electricity in their homes was a rarity. The educational model predominantly used in the local schools was rote memorization and teacher directed lessons. These students really struggled with doing a role-play and with any type of problem-solving exercise because these methods were very different than the type of learning they were used to.I thihk regardless of access to technology, skills such as critical thinking and problem solving need to be taught to students. However, perhaps the absence of technology allows students more opportunities to implemet these skills in the "real world" instead of just in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Brad is on the right track with his comment about the positive potential of technology such as sending text reminders about homework. Perhaps getting students to record things in a paper agenda is akin to the old people in the Sabertooth Curriculum fable who are unwilling to adapt to fishing with nets instead of using their hands. After the shootings at Virginia Tech, didn't the U of M collect students' cell phone numbers in the event of having to communicate urgent information to students via text (or am I making this up)? I suppose that personal opinions of technology aside, the wide use of technology is a reality and it might be worthwhile to attempt to make technology work with and for us, instead of trying to work against it.