kids lack access to the cloud and are forced into a course management box
When speaking about technology integration, the first option people suggest is the notion of course management system. Just create one online hub where all things are accomplished. While I think a program like Moodle has great potential, the course manages the student rather than the student managing the course. It becomes an extra, inauthentic layer that students must maneuver. This fails to meet the realities of a constructivist-based education as well as the current method of how students tend to use computers in their personal time. Things become hyper-organized in a way that does not represent the true flow of authentic learning.
A second, more organic stream exists through the connective programs of the cloud. Here, teachers can have students use PBwiki for wikis, Blogger for blogs, Google Docs for documents and allow the students to work their way through the cloud by picking programs that fit their own personality, learning style and project parameters.
However, I run into a few problems. First, students at my school often do not have access to internet at home. While programs like Google Gears would allow them to use some programs on and offline, not all of the cloud works this way. I've had days where the internet fails within the whole school. Call that the Digital Divide 2.0. Kids have computers, but lack access. For all the talk of "digital natives," I still work in a world where less than half of my students have internet access at home.
The second issue I run into is that many of my students are too young for the age requirement on many of the sites. Often, a teacher will jump to Ning networks only to find that her fifth graders cannot access the class social network. This forces teachers to lie about age or get into a gray area of digital citizenship. I realize that sites will work around teachers and create educational sites, but it is more work than I had initially imagined. (Mindomo comes to mind here)
The second issue I run into is that many of my students are too young for the age requirement on many of the sites. Often, a teacher will jump to Ning networks only to find that her fifth graders cannot access the class social network. This forces teachers to lie about age or get into a gray area of digital citizenship. I realize that sites will work around teachers and create educational sites, but it is more work than I had initially imagined. (Mindomo comes to mind here)
A final issue I have is a bit more philosophical. With the cloud hovering over them at all times, I am concerned about potentially dehumanizing aspects of constant access. I've had days that I spent on Twitter and Blogger and Facebook until I had to shut the machine off, walk into the sunlight and feel the grass beneath my feet. I need the earthy reality to remind me that the best tweets are in my orange tree. I'm concerned about the loss of geography, the vaporization of identity and the loss of the parish concept.
I have a feeling that the first two issues will be solved easily as the internet becomes a cheaper commodity (it's already an entertainment device bundled in with cable television in our area) and companies find an easier way to create parent permission systems. I'm not sure my third concern has such easily solutions.
"Things become hyper-organized in a way that does not represent the true flow of authentic learning"
ReplyDeleteDude, have you seen my Moodle pages? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Anyway, I agree with everything you stated, and having been in a tech environment for some time, still use a good ol' composition book, provide "multiple access points" to learning, and recognize that the technology is not a panacea, but another tool. I have felt like a voice in the wilderness for some time about the 'digital native' myth; thank you for recognizing it, too. (Multiple Access Points sounds painful, and it is...!)
Hmmm. Interesting thoughts, especially the dehumanizing aspects.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw in something else too- distractability. I find that I want to do classroom things digitally just for its own sake. It ends up being a distraction of time and attention.
Some things could have been better implemented without all the fuss from computers. But then I might not be as cool.
"I've had days that I spent on Twitter and Blogger and Facebook until I had to shut the machine off, walk into the sunlight and feel the grass beneath my feet."
ReplyDeleteI love technology and marvel at how much new technological devices and websites can help students learn. I wonder, however, how much longer technology will progress in classrooms before we see "push-back" from students and parents.
All of my students are technologically savvy and all have Internet access at home; therefore, I can include technology in everything I teach. At the end of the semester when kids talk to me about assignments and activities they liked and disliked, class discussions where we sat in a circle and discussed literature and controversial issues were the activities they most enjoyed. While students do indeed flock to technology, the classroom remains the main place where they can participate in organized, face-to-face interaction with many different people and clarify their own thoughts and beliefs.
Everything in moderation, right? I believe teachers need to incorporate the use of technology, but we will do students a great disservice if we replace all human interaction with technological devices. In another decade, I suspect educational gurus will encourage teachers to bring back some of the older instructional techniques that do not require electricity.
http://www.gladlywoulditeach.com/
I agree with Edie and I know you are not advocating anything to the contrary. For many of us, the focus is on incorporating instructional technologies into the learning process. These technologies continue to reshape our culture and of course simply reflect our culture in new ways. They ought to shape and reflect learning too. We know best practice and we know healthy living. Everything in moderation and balance. I teach elementary school and part of my role as teacher (substitute your preferred term please)is to know when to shift the group(s) into new directions and when to let activity continue. Not only do people learn in different ways, but we should encourage them to try learning in different ways.
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