Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

"Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?"
Source: Karl Fisch

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After reading the post published by Mr. Fisch, I found it to be a very straight forward piece. He seems to drive home his point of view. Although, I found it to be encouraging. I am a teacher who is returning to the teaching field after several years of being a stay-at-home mom. It is amazing to see how far technology has come while I was raising my babies. I feel as if I have a lot of "catching up to do." I am a self motivated person with a lot of enthusiasm and energy and usually do not back down from task easily. However, I am finding the learning of all of the new inventions of technology overwhelming. I also a dedicated persona and a very driven person on making my teaching a better thing for my students. So, I will continue to reach out and strive to learn as I go. Mr. Fisch's piece encourages me to do just that.

I liked what he stated when that technology should be all of the education, but used a indispensable tool for teaching. It should help us learn and grow to be better students and teachers. It is, after all. a part of everything we do today...even communication. He referred technology illiterate teachers to teachers from 30 years ago who could not read or write. At first, it is okay, and one can still "get by." Then, it reaches a point of providing more opportunities to finally becoming a point of reaching success or not. To teach it, we have to implement it. We should model it to our students by experiencing and exploring it with our students. By doing this, we are demonstrating to them the positive effect of continuous learning. I hope that you will take the time to read his post at http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/is-it-okay-to-be-technologically.html. He won an award for this piece.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

Title: "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
Source: Graphics by Chrissy Henderson



I really enjoyed reading this post. It has by far been my favorite piece. I agree with so many factors that Mrs. Hines addressed. She stated that technology is an innovative tool for teaching and learning, yet it is not the first thing to initiate change in our classrooms. Students and teachers should recognize the need for change with technology, yet the mindset of students should also be there. She listed four key factors of technology with education.


The first factor was stating that we, as teachers, must also be learners. I agree that we should always invest in our profession. We are never "too old to learn" and should model that for our students. Education is so much different for today's students than when we were students and things are changing all the time. We should keep up with where they are so we can teach in a way that reaches them. Mrs. Hines stated that we should be up to date on current trends, research and tools. We should know our students that walk through our doors. I agree with her. We must do this now more than ever if we are to reach our students. We have to do this more than any other occupational job out there. We can no longer depend on manuals and workshops. With the economy the way it is today, a lot of educational money has been stopped for workshops. We must take on our own initiative and be self- motivated to pursue learning and implement it in our classrooms.


The second factor she gave was on learning and teaching. She stated that these two are not always the same thing. I loved how she related this to physics law. She stated that regardless of how much effort has been applied, no teaching has been done if the students do not learn the subject matter. Her third factor related to technology being useless without good teaching. I agree with her statement about money being wasted if technology goes to a teacher who is not willing to learn how to use it.


Her last factor spoke about being a 21st century teacher without technology. I enjoyed this piece a lot. She spoke on the issue of teachers teaching students to be creative and innovative so that they can face the future. She stated that teachers who teach critical thinking and problem solving are doing students a HUGE favor...more than those who are misusing technology. I agree with her statement on how teachers should teach communication and collaboration in the classrooms to equip students to apply their core skills to more areas in their lives.


In conclusion, I feel that we as teachers should embrace several things that Mrs. Hines had to offer as suggestions. Students are now listeners and watchers instead of readers and writers. We should embrace these teaching tools and add technology as enhancement. Teachers who take their "old-fashioned ways" of teaching and incorporate the technology with it have unlimited possibilities. We just cannot be afraid to learn. We can do wonders in our teaching and can take our students to a whole new level of learning. Technology should not be a substitute for our teaching, yet incorporated in the proper training of our children today. I highly recommend to all teachers out there to read Mrs. Hines post found at http://www.eduratireview.com/2009/04/its-not-about-technology.html.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

"A Vision of Students Today"
Source: Michael Wesch



Watching this video (http://is.gd/2c0V0) really captivated my thoughts on how far education has changed. My experience in college was nothing like the video. We were just being introduced to computers when I was finishing school. We had one computer class with one computer lab. The lab did not have enough computers for all of us, therefore we had to share. This made it hard to receive "hands on" benefits most of the time. Computers were expensive. As a college student, it was hard to get ONE. Now, college students have the labs, a desk top, a lap top, I - pods, and a blackberry that will all accomplish one goal. Technology is at their finger tips.

It was amazing to see that most students will spend MORE time on their computers or cell phones than anything else. I know that technology has several benefits and conveniences for us. However, I feel as if it has consumed our younger generation so that they are not using their minds and creativity as much. Most of them probably don't use a dictionary or encyclopedia anymore. I feel that it is so convenient for them, that they can face book or text while instruction is going on. Therefore, they could be missing their whole class lesson. Maybe I am old fashion, but I feel like hands-on experiences is the best way of learning. I feel that reading and listening should also be involved in learning along with the enhancement of technology. As a teacher today, I find that comprehension skills are the students weaknesses. This comes from a lack of reading to learn and find information. Instead, they use technology. I just feel that practice and hands-on activities bring learning to life. This would be my addition to the movie to make it more accurately represent my experience, because it is definitely how we learned. Read, go to class, take notes and study!

Information on Podcasts

I chose the view the link http://langwithces.org/blog/category/podcasting. I really enjoyed the article on "Reflections of Podcast Project." This means that teachers, students and ourselves should reflect a moment on what we have created. The article addressed giving students reasons for completing projects. Certainly, all projects should be age appropriate. It addressed emphasising to students that they will be the "voice" going into the ears of others. It also addressed that technology tools seems to take the least amount of time and effort for students to learn. Technology tools help students by reinforcing and practicing academic skills. Through technology, some students will come to realize that they have the personality for radio. The article spoke on the importance of encouraging students to take their time when recording for podcast. It should be clear and connect to subject matter. They should simply rush to "get it done".

I also viewed the link on podcasting with third graders. They were studying endangered animals in their area as a part of their science curriculum. Students were encouraged to not only research the subject matter, but become experts about what they were studying. Then, take their knowledge and share it with others around the world by podcasting. What a fun way for students to learn! Just knowing they are going to "teach" something to other kids is a strong motivation for them to get involved and strive to do their very best! In this, they are completing research skills, communications skills and oral fluency.

Improvements on Podcasting

I enjoyed watching the podcast which was done by Dr. Strange and his fellow students. It gave me some insight on podcasting. However, I did notice a few changes that I would make to improve the podcast. During the first part of the podcast, students were giving introductions. They were looking down as if reading their introductions or looking at each other. I think this should be done speaking to the camera. This way, the audience who is watching could see their faces. It would make it seem as if they were speaking to YOU!

I personally thought the podcast was a little monotone. I would create more expression in my reviews and insights. The students seemed to look away as they were speaking. They looked down a lot when others were talking. Kitty seemed to do a better job with expression in her voice. I enjoyed hearing her the best. Although I received information about the ways of becoming a better technology teacher, I found it hard to pay attention with the little expression. I also think, I would make the background a little more interesting. For example, using props that relate to the subject matter on which we were addressing. With more expression and creativity, I think the attention of the audience would be better captured.

The interview was full of interesting facts and information on becoming a better technology teacher. It provided ways of sharing building blocks of learning and putting them into use in your classroom. If you would like to know how to become a better technology teacher, please view Dr. Strange's podcast on the following link: http://edm310podcasts.blogspot.com/.

Plagiarism

The definition of plagiarism basically consist of buying, stealing, or borrowing something from someone. It is taking others thoughts or words and making them yours. Hiring someone to complete the work for you is also an example of plagiarism. We should not re-use media originated from somewhere else. For example, we should not reprint other's work and claim it as our own.

There are ways to avoid plagiarism. We can do this buy reprinting illustrations, charts, pictures, etc. We can simply take their insights and put them into our own observations and conclusions on the subject matter. It is okay to use someones thoughts and ideas in our assignments. However, we should always give credit where it is due. This can be done by referencing their work or simply adding quotes around their words.

For further information on Plagiarism use the following link to view the referenced site for copyright rules and regulations.
http://www.copyright.gov/

Alternative Web Browsing

Alternative Web Browsing
The site referenced five separate versions of Alternative Web Browsing. They are:
· Specialized Browsers – These are browsers that are specifically designed for persons with disabilities. BrookesTalk seemed to be an intriguing browser. It was a browser under development by Oxford Brookes University which focuses on facilitating intelligent web-searching.
· Adaptive Browsers - These browsers are all designed for general use, but are of interest because they may give enhanced accessibility with particular adaptive systems. Some have enhanced screen magnification or navigation options.
· Screen Readers – A screen-reader is used to allow navigation of the screen presented by the operating system. It used speech or Braille output. Therefore it enables use of any mainstream application.
· Voice Browsers - Systems that allow voice-driven navigation, some have both voice-in and voice-out. Some allow telephone-based web access. The one that seemed to be most interesting to me was Telweb. TelWeb is an experimental telephone-based browser allowing access to any site using voice and dialled commands.
· Other Access Methods - The site referenced that they would be expanding this section to include links to reference lists of other access technologies such as screen magnifiers and voice recognition programs that can be used in conjunction with Web browsers.
Evidently there are a number of systems that filter, or transform existing pages making them more accessible.
Agora is a system that allows web-pages to be retrieved by E-mail simply by sending a message containing the URL of the desired document.
Page Getter is powerful and has the ability to offer flexibility in retrieval of web-pages by E-mail; options to include images are offered, or text only request.
The Voice this technology allows representation of images in sound using Peter Meijer's "image sonification" technique.
Screen magnifiers were also referenced, which can be used in conjunction with mainstream browsers. Further information was available at The Screen Magnification Home Page