Dr. Roberts
I thought Dr. Roberts presentation was fascinating. The idea that kids spend increasing amounts of time with media is not earth shattering, but to see studies with statistics and charts really highlights the issue. My reaction to the presentation was varied. I think the natural reaction is to recognize that technology is becoming ever more present in the lives of teenagers and we, as teachers, need to figure out ways to use it in the classroom to keep them engaged. However, I also found myself having doubts about the idea of using more technology in the classroom. If students are spending SO MUCH time with technology, maybe school needs to be a break from it. The newsweek article talked about the negative impacts that overuse of technology can have on the brain. According to Dr. Roberts, our students are exposed to about 16 hours of media every day. It might be our responsibility to force them to step away from it while they are at school. I don't think we should reject technology altogether, clearly we need to teach tech skills. But maybe we don't need to rush to figure out how to allow even more technology use in the classroom when students are being inundated every other waking hour of the day.
Online Classes
I think the increase in online classes is bad for education in general. However, I think online learning can be an excellent resource is used in a specific and limited way.
Generally speaking, school is about a lot more than the content of the textbook. Even bright students who can learn content on their own gain from the socialization aspect of school. In a classroom students learn how to work with others, how to moderate behavior, how to express themselves in a variety of ways, how to meet deadlines, and various other non-content skills. The more online courses students take, the more they lose out on learning these skills.
Furthermore, I do not think that it is a good option for remediation. If a student did not do well in a course and needs to re-take it, I don't think taking the online course would increase the opportunity for student understanding. I have subbed for an online summer school course and observed students doing the minimum requirements to pass the class and move on. It does not appear that the classes encourage higher level thinking or complex understanding of the topic.
However, I think online courses could be a good option for higher level senior classes. High performing seniors can be more self directed and, therefore, more successful with these types of classes. These seniors have already had the socialization aspect of high school. Classes could be designed to be rigorous and encourage higher level thinking for student that don't need a teacher scaffolding and pushing them. In the words of Vygotsky, I think online learning could be a good educational opportunity for students who are able to manage their own zone of proximal development.
Technology Resources for the Teacher
1. http://www.dropbox.com/
Drop box seems like a great resource for students to use when working on a group project that is electronically based. If the project is housed in one place on drop box, then all of the students can access the project from different computers at different times to work on it.
2. http://www.techsmith.com/download/jing/
This allows you to record your self narrate a slidehow or powerpoint presentation. I think it would be cool to have a powerpoint recorded with my narration and then assign that for homework, rather than do the powerpoint in class. By having the students listen to and watch the powerpoint at home, we can use classtime for more hands on activities
3. http://prezi.com
I have seen people use prezi and it is a lot more engaging than powerpoint. I would like to spend time learning how to use it in my classroom.
4. http://docs.google.com/
Last year I had students keep notebooks that they used to do classwork and homework assignment. I think google docs could be used to serve this same purpose, but online instead of a physical version. Students would create a google doc, share it with me, and the continually add to it with each assignment throughout the school year. This would be beneficial because (a) students can't lose their notebooks, (b) students can't forget their notebooks at home, and (c) I don't have to haul a stack of notebooks around when I am grading them Of course, this is only an option is all students have laptops or tablets in the classroom.
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