As You Like It
Dear Reader,
As the semester comes to an end, as well as my obligation to this blog, I feel as though I have learned a great deal. When I started this project, I was so ignorant to the importance of technology in education, but I was ready and willing to learn all that I could to become the best educator possible, and to uphold my future promise of preparing students for the real world. As the semester progressed I explored the use of social networks and how their components are so much like wikis that they may actually work in promoting student’s use, interest and willingness to participate in class discussion while using technology. My success of learning about technology did not come without a bump in the road as I explored the IPod Touch, attempting to figure out if technology was reliable enough to be used in education, but only neglecting to relate that to my main goal of figuring out how to utilize technology to facitlitate writing instruction, especially at the secondary level. I learned from that mistake as I later used my experience with Dr. James Shapiro and Shakespeare, to travel back to the path I had strayed away from. I later explored the ways in which utilizing student’s tech-smarts can create a situation where teachers actually listen and learn from their students, the ways in which technology can facilitate writing instruction. Exploring the aspects of the Give One, Get One program showed how technology can be used to not only facilitate writing instruction, but can also help others. Exploring the generational divide that some teachers feel seperates the views on technology of the baby boomers from those of their children, made me want to work that much harder to work with technology instead of against it to close that gap. Exploring an effective use of technology in facilitatung writing instruction provided me with a sense of hope that the thought of a generational divide took away. Lastly, exploring the best or most productive technology for students helped me to become critical of my uses of technology and to not always reach for the newest or seemingly best product, but to search for the most accessible products for my students.
Not only did I learn alot from my own research and writing, but I learned a lot from others as well. I learned about bullying and the lastest news on NCLB. I learned about bilingue education, its benefits and its challenges. Most of all, I learned how to communicate effectively with my peers or future collegues to graps a better understanding of issues that we will face everyday as educators. Through this blog, I have learned all that I set out to learn and so much more. I hope that everyone who read my blog took the opinion of the article, along with my interpretation to create their own meaning and understanding. I hope that everyone has learned as much from me as I have learned from others. Good luck!
Shakura Weathers
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)The Best
As many school districts strive to produce the best students possible, they must search for the best technology to help do the job. Athough their intentions are good, many school distrcits focus so much on providing students with the newest and seemingly best technology, that they disregard other important factors that may make that software less appealing. As I explore the ways in which technology can be used to facilitate writing instruction, for my last article-based post, I decided to explore the heart of technolgy use in education: The computer and ultimately the operating system. An article provided by FoxNews addressed the issue by exploring the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of the most popular operating systems used. As I read this article, I thought back to high school, sitting in the honors lab, staring at a Mac OS computer screen, trying so hard to figure out how to use the thing, that I never got a chance to do the assignment at hand.
As Microsoft’s Vista operating system has entered the scene and is being eaten up by schools everywhere, ready and willing to experiment with this operating system at the expense of the students, consideration of factors such as accesibility of programs, easy of use and etc., should be considered. Sascha Segan, the author of the article jumps right in with her opinion of the best operating system stating
“…it’s [Windows XP] the only PC OS that can satisfy 100 percent of the people, 100 percent of the time”.
If this is the case, why are so many schools using Mac OS, upgrading to Vista, or using some other operating system? A few computer geeks (Sorry) may be thinking that the thought of XP being the best is laughable, but is it really? As the article points out the best and worst components of each operating system, the true champion emerges.
Although many people love Mac because of its stability, security and modern foundation, does the bad aspects of the Mac OS make it hard to utilize effectively for educational purposes? One of its downfalls is definetly that it is not the easiest piece of technology to use. As many school districts barely have the funds to incorporate technology into education at all, the thought of hiring someone to educate students on how to use Mac OS is out. On her other hand, I have to agree that XP is pretty straightforward and easy to operate. As I project my thought to my future classroom and think of myself as I walk around helping my students as they type a paper to accompany a bigger project, I have to agree that XP would allow me to help my students with more assignment related issues and less technological ones.
By no means am I or the article for that matter trying to say that XP is the greatest OS around. What I am trying to say that it may be the best to utilize in an educational atomosphere for its accesiblity, a component that needs to be explored before technological decisions of any kind are made.
Windows XP: Still the Best By: Sascha Segan
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (3)An Effective Use of Technology
After my last post, lashing out against the supposed war between teachers and technology, I need a breath of fresh air. An article from FoxNews, displaying the importance and benefits of technolgy on writing instruction provided to be just what I need.
Martha Groom, a professor at the University of Washington-Bothell, discusses her replacement of her student’s term paper assignment, with a more technological alternative: Updating Wikipedia. The students were asked to either create an original Wikipedia article or to do a major edit of an exsisting one.
Ok, some of you might be thinking that writing a wikipedia article will not display a student’s knowledge of what they’ve learned throughout the semester like term papers are supposed to do, but in my opinion, this assignment accomplishes so much more than that. This project requires extensive research and accuracy, it allows students to use technology to benefit the greater good, and most importantly, it allows them to transfer the writing instruction that they have received, from the classroom to a more realistic experience.
As professor Groom discusses the results of this project, she states:
“…the Wikipedia experiment was transformative and student’s writing online proved better than the average undergrad research paper.”
Ha, in your face Sam Freeman (author of the article New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology that was referenced in my last blog post entitled Technology/Teacher War??)! As displayed here, there are effective uses for technology in education. The teachers must be open-minded, creative, and willing to teach subject matter utilizing technology.
Although on the surface this article was about a university professor joining the forces of technology with writing, I believe that this project as well of others of its kind can be used to change writing instruction at the secondary level as well. Assignments that display the reality behind peer-reviewed research, that embrace technology and that encourage students to use something so seemingly insignificant as words, to change the world, are the kind that should be used in secondary education, to lay the foundation for college and eventually for life.
Universtiy Class Has Students Updating Wikipedia
Fox News
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)My Thoughts on the Blogs of Others!
Les bienfaits d’education bilingue By: Ashley
Congress Reauthorizing NCLB By: Hilary
MCTE Conference By: Jana
Bloodshed in Bartlesville (Figuratively Speaking) By: Christina
Tests Just One Part of The Problem By: Kayda
I like the Way the Brits are Thinking Here By: Eli
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Technology/Teacher War??
After weeks of exploring the ways in which technology is changing secondary writing instruction for the good, I was both disheartened and angered when I read an article posted in The New York Times that shared a much different view of technolgy in education.
The article declares war AGAINST technology use in the classrooms. What? In a society that depends so heavily on technology, why would people want to discourage its use in classrooms? Samuel Freeman, the author of the article, offers one reason discussing a
“…generational divide between teachers and students…seperates those who want to use technology to grow smarter from those who want to use it to get dumber.”
Excuse me. I did not realize that creating wikis and blogs to communicate our views and opinions, not only to our classmates, but also to the rest of the world would make us dumber. Or that using Podcasts to create book trailers and to display our understanding of a piece of literature and to engage future readers would make us dumber. Or maybe we get dumber everytime we create multimedia book reports or even email our teachers. This statement seems to mininize the importance and effectiveness of technology to writing instruction and other academic areas. If that comment did not upset me enough, professor Michael Bugeja of Iowa State University adds
“The baby boomers seem to see technology as information and communication…Their offspring and the emerging generation seem to see the same devices as entertainment and socializing.”
Ok, yes, we do use Facebook and MySpace to socialize, but does that suddenly make us unable to appreciate other aspects of technology? Last time I checked, communicating and socializing are synonyms for one another. Sending an email is now ”communicating” and sending an IM is “socializing”. And teachers wonder why students rebel. Our usage of technology is insufficent but the baby boomer’s works? This is funny to me because these are the words of an educator. He is someone who is supposed to be preparing young minds for society. How can he accomplish that without embracing and encourgaing the use of technology? in addition to this, I also feel that if students were not distracted by technology, they would be distracted by something else. Freeman says it best when he states:
“…inattentive students has escalated from the quaint pursuits of pigtail-pulling, spitball-lobbing and notebook-doodling to a high-tech arsenal of laptops, cellphones, Blackberries and the like.”
Despite our opposing views, we do agree on one thing: If students are uninterested, they will find something to do. In my opinion, the best thing we can do as future educators is to create interactive lessons that leave students little room to fiddle around on social networks. Or as baby boomer’s used encyclopedias to look up information, we can create WebQuests that allow students to surf the web for information that will facilitate writing instrucion.
It is a shame that teachers feel the need to fight against the forces of technology, instead of working with it. I have an “If you can’t beat ‘em, join em’ attitude”, which I feel will prepare me to prepare my students for this sea of technology that surrounds them. I do understand that with so much distracting stimuli available on the web, that students do get sidetracked, but hey, I feel that the best way to teach students responsiblity and accountability is to simply let them explore Facebook and AIM while in class. At the end of the day, if their assignments are not finished, then they receive a failing grade for that assignment and for class participation. By removing the temptation from the classroom, we are also removing a component of everyday life that students must know how to use: technology.
New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology
By: Samuel G. Freeman
The New York Times
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)Give 1, Get 1???
Ok guys. I am so torn on this subject that I don’t even know where to begin. As you may have heard, a non-profit organization has launched this “Give 1, Get 1″ campaign where they try to provide students in developing countries with laptops of their own. As the movement has resently begun, I have been doing a lttile research to find out more information about this project.
On the one hand, I believe that this project is great. What is a better way to incorporate technology into writing instruction, than to make sure that each student has a computer in the first place? The article describes the laptop in this way,
“the technology is striking, and strikingly different. A small green-and-white machine that communicates with a wireless, peer-to-peer network and is not running Microsoft’s Windows or Office.”
This seems great. As educators strive to get students to learn independently and with peers, a peer-to-peer network would help to achieve this goal. As i began to research this topic, I found another article entitled Give One, Get One at Newsweek.com that provided more information about the topic. This article provided more positive aspects of this project including the $188 price tag, which is well below the average laptop price, as well as some of its unique features such as
“the XO screen is great in bright sunlight…it can run Flash video…Its Wi-Fi connectivity finds more hotspots than your average Windows laptop can hope to locate… solar powered and OLPC’s drop tests show that the device can absorb a fall more gracefully than a Panasonic Toughbook.”
This project could open so many doors for teachers and students of literature and writing, as resources such as e-readers, enternet and peer networking would becme available where they may not hae been available before. Sounds great huh? So what is the problem? Well, according to my original article, many of the government officials in some of the developing countries meet this project with skeptism. Some of their inhibitions presented by the article are
“even if a government is willing to invest in technology for education, they have to bet on an odd-looking box and unfamiliar software…It is highly decentralized, potentially shifting power to individual students and away from classrooms and state educational bureaucracies.”
Another downfall, is the difference between the price promised and the price recieved. Although a $200 laptop my seem like a steal, the manufacturer originally promised this laptop for only half the actual asking price. This in combination with the other inhibitions are presenting a lack of sales and ultimately the disappointing reality that Walter Bender’s (software chief of the project) dream of changing the world one laptop at a time may not go as planned.
All of this being said, should the ability for students to own their own laptop and use it as a tool to write, and ultimately expand their horizons be trampled by these inhibitions. This article leaves me wondering, how far will we really go to make sure that our students have the resources to excel?
The Larger Challenge (and Opportunity) for One Laptop Per Child By: Steve Lohr
The New York Times
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If I was a student in Linda Christensen’s classroom, I would write the following blog entry about students of this generation and their advanced knowledge of technolgy.
I believe that the article entitled New Technology, New Headaches by Lori Aratani of the Washington Post, not only depicts our generation in a negative way, but also encourages stereotypes about technology gurus.
Firstly, this article describes all of the negative aspect of students containing more technological knowledge than their tecahers. In the article, different situations involving students using this advanced knowledge of technology to manipulate the school system were presented, making us look like common criminals. Of course some students did use there knowledge in a negative way, but a few bad apples should not spoil the bunch. What about the studnets who use their knowledge to educate their teachers and parents, in an attempt to make them more knowledgable and understanding of the technology based world we both live in and depend upon. Alhough the article does make reference to students helping teachers in this area, the article is filled with words such as “criminal”, “police”, “breach”,”wrestling” and “manipulate”, to describe us and ways of “dealing” with us. Out of teh entire article, maybe two paragraphs showed a positive side to this situation. Did it ever accure to school administrators and to parents that we were not trying to make trouble, rather we were trying to experiment with technology. Tecahers and parents alike are always stressing the importance of experimentation and research which may have been one reason for this, if someone would have taken the time to hear our side of the story instead of condemning us. Aren’t we entitled to a fair trial as well? In my opinion, in some ways we should be commended for helping to detect some of the flaws in these computer systems early, to prevent more damage later, but that seems too much to ask. Who says that just because teachers have degrees and the job title “educator”, that it is an astonishment that they can actually learn from us?
Another injustice that I found while reading the article is that the students pictured in the article are Asian, encouraging the stereotypical view of all Asians as computer gurus. On the surface, many people may not see this picture as a biased one, but after combining what we learned in class to the things in my environment, these sorts of injustices seem to jump out. Of all the students that probably help to educate the teachers on technology, a picture of Asian students was taken. Instead of representing a ethnically diverse array of students, I believe that the photographer chose the students that would go hand-in-hand with the stereotypes and expectations of the public. It is sad to think that our generation is being condemned for finding imperfections in computer systems, while the people who encourage and facilitate stereotypes roam free.
Although I have stated the injustices that I have seen presented in this article, that is not enough. I must not only combat injustices with my words, but with my actions as well. I plan to write a letter to the Washington Post, explaining my concerns with this article. This letter will include a copy of this blog post, some of its responses and a promise to boycott and petition others to boycott the Washington Post until such issues are addressed. Thanks to our teacher Mrs. Christensen, I know know the importance of following my findings of injustices with actions. If I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem, so I want to do my part in changing myself, my community and maybe even the whole world.
New Technology, New Headaches
Lori Aratani of the Washington Post
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (4)A Scholar’s View of Shakespeare
In his powerful lecture entitled “Seven Weeks in the Life of Shakespeare,” Dr. James Shapiro of Columbia University, presents a view of Shakespeare much differnt from that of otehrs before him. His competence, passion and careful piecing together of information from the past, opened my eyes to the inspiration behind the written work of William Shakespeare as well as provided some conepts that can be applied to changing writing instruction in secondary education.
One of the most compelling aspects of Shapiro’s work lies in how he came to write and organize his information in its unique way. As Shapiro began to analyze the many ways in which his information could be organized, he creatively combined what he did not want his book to be with what critics wanted of an up and coming biography of Shakespeare. After watching the acclaimed film “Shakespeare in love,” Shapiro realized that he did not want to create another seemingly fictional biography, loosely based on Shakespeare’s real life. While “Shakespeare in love” portrayed a romantic, relationship-having side of Shakespeare, Shapiro’s research inferred that Shakespeare may have had little time for love as he practiced lines for performances all day, performed different plays each night, and wrote many of his greatest works after the day’s end. As much about Shakespeare’s adolescent years are unknown, many authors fabricate information, something that Shapiro wanted to shy away from.
A lot can be learned from Shapiro in relation to writing instruction. This is the kind of digging for information that I want my students to do. I believe that knowing how to write a research based paper is extremely important, and my goal is for my students to be competent in that area. More importantly, I want them to appreciate factual information, and have enough respect and passion for their research that they take the time to figure out what kind of information they don’t want their papers to contain, to make inferences and not fear challenging other’s opinions and findings. One inference made by Shapiro about Shakespeare’s life is where Shakespeare’s inspiration came from. As Shakespeare often performed for Queen Elizabeth’s court at White Hall palace, Shapiro felt taht Shakespeare drew much of his inspiration from the palace and the people of England. As the palace held beautiful artifacts including books, sermons, religious artwork, and even the lavish clothes and jewelry of Queen Elizabeth, Shapiro theorized that this stimulus played important roles in Shakespeare’s work. Furthermore, this may also mean that Shakespeare drew inspiration from visible things that people could relate to.
In this same way, I want my students to realize that they don’t have to be Emily Duckinson or William Shakespeare to write a masterpiece. Just as Shakespeare absorbed everything around him to influence hs writing, so can they. Just as Linda Christensen had her students embrace the worlds around them and to attempt to change them wih actions and more importantly with th e written word, Shapiro showed how even the highly respected Shakespeare used his world to shape his words. Shapiro’s scholarly view offers a new perspective of Shakespeare behind the inspiration of his work and maybe even into his soul. After absorbing everything that Shapiro had to offer, I believe that I have come away with a clearer perspective on what I want for my students, and how I am going to guide them to that.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Technology Smecknolgy
All of this talk about technology got me to wondering, “Is technology versatile enough to be relied upon in the classroom?” As I surfed my Google Reader account, I found the perfect article that displayed an example of this very idea.
Apple has become increasingly popular in resent years with its tech savy computers, MP3 players and most resently iPhone. I remember that a few years ago, a particular university was requiring that their students have an iPod, as they would be using it in for instructional purposes. I remember thinking, ” That MP3 player must do something that the others don’t if a university is endorsing it.” So why would a university put all of its faith in Apple’s iPod? Because of it’s reliablity and versatility of course. After much research and thought, I came up with a few ways in which Apple’s iPod could be used in education. Firstly, students can make podcasts. Podcasts are important because they allow students to receive information via MP3 player pretty effortlesly. This is not only convient, but it is also easy to use. Students have the ability to do such assignment as create their own movie or book trailers for broadcasting or English classes or listen to stories rather than reading them. This technology can also be used for foreign language classes, allowing students to download music in different languages and listen to them on their MP3 players, reinforcing learning. But as Apple introduces it’s latest iPod Touch, BusinessWeek questions this relaiblity and versatility.
One of the main things that the article points out is the cost. Although it offers the gift of music, web browsing and video watching, you must pay a pretty penny for it. At $299 for an 8-gigabyte version and $399 for 16GB, this device, like most technological devices, can be unattainable for many of our potential students. In addition, Wi-Fi is the only wirless option costing a whopping $1,400 over a two-year contract to obtain. That means that although this technology is extremely useful and appealing to the students, we may find it impossible to integrate it into our curiculum. Another downfall to this device is that it lacks the ability to open Adobe Flash which prevents many videos and Web pages from displaying properly or at all. This is particularly frustrating because even if we do teach in a school district supporting students with enough financial stabilty to afford this device and it’s web browsing capabilties, they may not be able to access work or other school related information that they may need. This is a problem and down grades the versatility and reliability of iPod. If important information is displaying improperly or not at all, it may be useless to the classroom. The fact that you can download your calendar from Microsoft Outlook but cannot edit or add appointments, nor can you get updates over Wi-Fi, is another downfall of the system. Although students have the ability to view a calendar, they can’t add due dates or homework assignments.
Although Apple’s iPod Touch was not directly created for educational use, I wanted to use this as an example as to the sometimes unrelaibilty of technology. You find something that is both productive and appealing to your students, but then have to worry about its downfalls. Much of technology is machinery, and machinery leaves room for malfunction. Does the benefit of usng technology out-weight the things that can go wrong? You be the judge.
The Elegant iPod Touch by Stephen H. Wildstrom
Business Week September 20, 2007
Filed under Blogroll | Comments (3)Not Another Facebook
Every time I go into any computer lab, take a peak at any computer screen accessing wireless Enternet on campus or watch my peers in my computer class, most of them are accessing a social network, usually Facebook or MySpace. With no end in sight to this growing fad, I began to think: “If tweens, teens and young adults flock to social networks every chance they get, how can their interest, expertise and willingness to utilize this form of technology be used in schools? Unknowingly, Yahoo assisted me in answering this question.
The issue of rather social networks are dangerous because of there easy access to harmful elements of the Enternet or if they are healthy in that they allow students to sociallize, has been an ongoing debate for sometime. As the positives continue to seemingly out-weight the negatives and these networks continue to thrive, Yahoo has begun to test out a new social netowrk of its own. Given the name Mash, Yahoo’s new social network is pretty much just another Facebook. But wait… Yahoo’s site allows users to do something that no other social networks allows: The abililty for users to edit each others profiles. Although I can think of a million problems that can be attributed to this ability, I can also think of ways in which this ability can build a bridge between technology in education and student’s education of technology. The New York Times expands upon my idea by stating:
“Think the Wikipedia version of a social network”
That is exactly my point! This new feature gives students the ability of a wiki. In my opinion, this opens so many doors for the integration of technology into education. For one, it is something that many students already know and love. This is important because educators would probably not have to beat [figuratively speaking] students for them to do there Mash assignments. As I have observed on serveral occasions, they are probably already on these sites to begin with, so its not so much like a taunting homework assignment, but more like an extension of there social life. Secondly, it would cost schools nothing to utilze this. Thinking about the financial differences between school districts, some schools simply don’t have the money for systems such as Blackboard. Social networks such as Mash not only free but also allows for many of the same abilites as software such as Blackboard. Thridly, Mash has a search engine connected to the regular Yahoo search that would allow students easy access to loads of information to expand up there Mash comments almost effortlessly, without giving them the ability to search for any of their friends just by inserting their name like Facebook does. Although Yahoo views this as a negative element that could potentially keep them behind their rivals, it can keep students more focused since they cannot really interact with people with whom they are not friends with. This also eliminates some of the dangers associated with Enternet use.
One of my philosophies of education is “whatever it takes to get students to learn.” Rather my students learn better through rap, poetry, art or social networks, I am willing to try almost anything to promote learning. Although Yahoo probably didn’t intend for this site to be an educational tool, its versitility and knowledge of what students wants allowed me to make this radical assertion. Now I ask you, do you think that social networks can ever be used productively in schools? Are my ideas far-fetched? Let me know what you think.
Yahoo tests new social network by Rhys Blakely
New York Times Business News 17 September 2007
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