Unfortunately, an often overlooked problem with the new wave of technology in classrooms is that there are still many children that have no or little access to computers outside of school. There is no question that incorporating technology into a classroom where all the students have outside access is a great way to prepare them for the technological future. However what happens if some of the students do not have outside computer access? The nice thing about Vancouver is that there are a few branches of public libraries and they all have public computer access. In addition most of the high schools here have some sort of computer lab where students can complete work. Even if the student doesn’t have access at home come computer lab time after class or time at the library can easily be achieved.
If for some reason the student has absolutely no ability to access technology outside of school then it will be a great opportunity to diversify my lesson. Taking the same assignment and creating a technological and traditional way of completing the assignment will allow as many students as possible to benefit from technology in education while not disadvantaging those who do not. In addition it could be a good teaching opportunity to discuss both methods and socio economic status that can lead to a lack of technology. Fortunately I will be teaching PE so the only technology I hope to utilize is heart rate monitors and things along those lines.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Can you hear me now? How about now?
The answer to these questions, unfortunately, is yes the entire class can hear you. I am fully aware that my position on this topic will make me sound sixty years old and crotchety however I am who I am. I am a vehement no vote on the issue to utilizing cell phones in the classroom.
I must admit I had an opinion coming into this assignment and the reading of these articles did nothing to persuade me for or against my view. I must admit I was minutely persuaded by Liz Kolb’s viewpoint and arguments. I thought she made some wonderful points about how, “cell phones can also be assistive technologies for special needs students” and that, “there are businesses that are completely mobile, and job interview that are done via phone.” Both of these are very valid points to support her argument that students need to learn to navigate new technology to survive in the new world and that cell phones are not all bad. In reality I thought her arguments were better structured and that she provided many more real life examples to back up her points then Josh Allen did. If this were a debate and I was scoring based on skill Liz would have won. However, unfortunately for Liz I think she is wrong.
I am vehemently opposed to the use of cell phones in school. Although I think the argument that phones can be used as research tools in the classroom is a good one I also think any teacher that thinks it will only be used for that end is very idealistic. I think the temptation of using cell phones to receive phone calls and text messages is just too great. Shoot, I am in a class of graduate students and half of us can’t keep our cell phones in our pockets all of class. If I struggle with it how can I not expect my teenagers to struggle with it? I understand the potential for good but why tempt someone? I think human beings are good and most people don’t want to steal but that doesn’t mean I leave my laptop on my car seat in broad daylight in Seattle. There is a lot of talk of how we must engage kids and I agree with it. So let us engage them and let us make it easier for them to be engaged by removing a few distractions. I think the collection of phones at the start of class and re-distribution at the end of class is more than fair. I agree to ignore my phone for fifty minutes so I can devote myself to helping you and you agree to forgo yours for fifty minutes out of respect for me, your learning and your classmates.
The one of the wonderful things about technology now is that there are many different devices that can accomplish the same end. If there is a special needs student that needs technological help there are many devices that can help besides devices that can call people, text people and play bejeweled. I also think that students who own cell phones do not need our help to learn how to use them. Who are we kidding; they probably know our personal phones better than we do. I don’t think we need to teach them those things, I think they learn them on their own well enough. Additionally I think Liz was a bit presumptuous in her argument for the use of phones. I think using them in class creates a real potential for socio-economic bias. I think there is a very real population of students in this country that cannot afford phones. In addition, I think there is a very real population of students that can afford them but they are not sophisticated enough to text or have web access. What do we do with these students? Also, do we really want to point out to the rest of the class that little Leon can’t afford something that so many children take for granted?
Ultimately I think the idea of using technology in a class room is a good one. However I think we have to pick and choose wisely. IPods, cell phones, lap tops and similar technology all have the potential to help out in the class room but the temptations and dangers are very real too. For this teacher I will ask students to pretend they are watching a movie and turn their phones off.
I must admit I had an opinion coming into this assignment and the reading of these articles did nothing to persuade me for or against my view. I must admit I was minutely persuaded by Liz Kolb’s viewpoint and arguments. I thought she made some wonderful points about how, “cell phones can also be assistive technologies for special needs students” and that, “there are businesses that are completely mobile, and job interview that are done via phone.” Both of these are very valid points to support her argument that students need to learn to navigate new technology to survive in the new world and that cell phones are not all bad. In reality I thought her arguments were better structured and that she provided many more real life examples to back up her points then Josh Allen did. If this were a debate and I was scoring based on skill Liz would have won. However, unfortunately for Liz I think she is wrong.
I am vehemently opposed to the use of cell phones in school. Although I think the argument that phones can be used as research tools in the classroom is a good one I also think any teacher that thinks it will only be used for that end is very idealistic. I think the temptation of using cell phones to receive phone calls and text messages is just too great. Shoot, I am in a class of graduate students and half of us can’t keep our cell phones in our pockets all of class. If I struggle with it how can I not expect my teenagers to struggle with it? I understand the potential for good but why tempt someone? I think human beings are good and most people don’t want to steal but that doesn’t mean I leave my laptop on my car seat in broad daylight in Seattle. There is a lot of talk of how we must engage kids and I agree with it. So let us engage them and let us make it easier for them to be engaged by removing a few distractions. I think the collection of phones at the start of class and re-distribution at the end of class is more than fair. I agree to ignore my phone for fifty minutes so I can devote myself to helping you and you agree to forgo yours for fifty minutes out of respect for me, your learning and your classmates.
The one of the wonderful things about technology now is that there are many different devices that can accomplish the same end. If there is a special needs student that needs technological help there are many devices that can help besides devices that can call people, text people and play bejeweled. I also think that students who own cell phones do not need our help to learn how to use them. Who are we kidding; they probably know our personal phones better than we do. I don’t think we need to teach them those things, I think they learn them on their own well enough. Additionally I think Liz was a bit presumptuous in her argument for the use of phones. I think using them in class creates a real potential for socio-economic bias. I think there is a very real population of students in this country that cannot afford phones. In addition, I think there is a very real population of students that can afford them but they are not sophisticated enough to text or have web access. What do we do with these students? Also, do we really want to point out to the rest of the class that little Leon can’t afford something that so many children take for granted?
Ultimately I think the idea of using technology in a class room is a good one. However I think we have to pick and choose wisely. IPods, cell phones, lap tops and similar technology all have the potential to help out in the class room but the temptations and dangers are very real too. For this teacher I will ask students to pretend they are watching a movie and turn their phones off.
Monday, July 26, 2010
I thought I told you not to log back on to facebook Mcfly.
To me the definition of cyberbullying is the intimidation, persecution, or harassment of anyone by another using the medium of the internet or computer. I personally have no experience with this as a victim or a perpetrator. I have never used the internet or a computer to harass anyone nor have I ever been harassed using those means.
The problem schools face with cyberbullying typifies the problems the legal system faces with the internet in general. The veil of anonymity that the internet provides along with our constitutional right of free speech makes for a potent combination. Of course schools want to help when a victim or perpetrator of cyberbullying attends their school but what can a school really be expected to do. If the perpetrator is using a private computer to exercise her constitutional right of free speech and disseminate that message anonymously over the internet what place does the school have to do or say anything? The reality is they don’t. Often I feel like people see schools as the answer to everything having to deal with young children. The school should do this, the school should do that but the reality is that schools can only control children for the time they are there and their academic future. Yes, schools should attempt to teacher character and model behavior fitting of a good human being. However we cannot expect our schools to regulate things far outside of their walls.
My method of dealing with cyberbullying in my class room would be the same method I hope to
employ to teach character in my class. I hope to invest in my students. I hope to create an environment of acceptance and trust. I hope to use physical education as a vehicle to teach tolerance and understanding. Hopefully I can create this environment as a pre-emptive strike on all forms of bullying and intolerance. If an instance occurs I hope to use it as a teachable moment. I hope to generate group discussion about the problem and how it can affect a person. Maybe through discussion and understanding it would stop. Unfortunately short of that, I cannot MAKE someone do anything. All I can do is show them a path and hope that they take it.
The problem schools face with cyberbullying typifies the problems the legal system faces with the internet in general. The veil of anonymity that the internet provides along with our constitutional right of free speech makes for a potent combination. Of course schools want to help when a victim or perpetrator of cyberbullying attends their school but what can a school really be expected to do. If the perpetrator is using a private computer to exercise her constitutional right of free speech and disseminate that message anonymously over the internet what place does the school have to do or say anything? The reality is they don’t. Often I feel like people see schools as the answer to everything having to deal with young children. The school should do this, the school should do that but the reality is that schools can only control children for the time they are there and their academic future. Yes, schools should attempt to teacher character and model behavior fitting of a good human being. However we cannot expect our schools to regulate things far outside of their walls.
My method of dealing with cyberbullying in my class room would be the same method I hope to
employ to teach character in my class. I hope to invest in my students. I hope to create an environment of acceptance and trust. I hope to use physical education as a vehicle to teach tolerance and understanding. Hopefully I can create this environment as a pre-emptive strike on all forms of bullying and intolerance. If an instance occurs I hope to use it as a teachable moment. I hope to generate group discussion about the problem and how it can affect a person. Maybe through discussion and understanding it would stop. Unfortunately short of that, I cannot MAKE someone do anything. All I can do is show them a path and hope that they take it.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
I've been Googled!
I’ve been Googled! So I ran some searches, did some digging and found out what I already knew. . . I’m not a very interesting guy. I found out that everything I am on the web for is volleyball related:
http://www.madmanvolleyball.com/id2.html
http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/27/nemesis-wins-u-15-challenge-cup-title/
http://www.underdogportland.com/Schedule.asp?leaguechoice=1274
http://www.excelnwvolleyball.com/mobile/18-black-d1.html
http://www.avpnext.com/tournament.aspx?id=1011
Everything about me has to do with playing volleyball or coaching volleyball. I guess I found my MySpace account too but that wasn’t really that surprising.
I live a pretty tame life so there is nothing on the web that I am ashamed of or could reflect on me negatively. What is there to worry about when you’ve never drank, done any drug and refuse to dance cause you’d look stupid?
I think a teacher’s personal life is a teacher’s personal life and should be exempt from examination. Obviously the argument is that a teacher is in a position to influence children but so are the employees of companies to advertise to children. Are we examining the lives of executives that pump information into our children’s brain every day? No. Are we examining the lives of parents and friends parents that influence our children every day? No. A teacher is a citizen of the United States and should be afforded the same rights and privileges as any other citizen. Obviously it is easy to come up with extreme examples of how this philosophy could be strained but if the teacher is doing the job and doing it well I don’t care what she does in her off time.
The article we read on social networking sites wasn’t too surprising. I had been hearing about these stories for years. What I found really interesting was the court cases that had established a teacher’s rights. I was very interested to read about the balance between first amendment rights and the schools ability to run efficiently. Unfortunately I feel like this is another situation when the politics dictate policy over fairness and common sense. The politics demand that teachers be held accountable to unfair standards. I wonder if the same standards would be in place if parents had to be held to the same standards in order for them to be enacted on teachers.
For me the best way to protect my job is to be who I am. As long as I continue to lead a lifestyle that is positive then I will minimize the possibilities of being affected by negative things on the internet. There is no way to truly protect yourself if someone is out to ruin you then it is more than possible. However I will continue to lead a positive life and continue to view everything on the internet as public accessible. What more can we do?
http://www.madmanvolleyball.com/id2.html
http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/27/nemesis-wins-u-15-challenge-cup-title/
http://www.underdogportland.com/Schedule.asp?leaguechoice=1274
http://www.excelnwvolleyball.com/mobile/18-black-d1.html
http://www.avpnext.com/tournament.aspx?id=1011
Everything about me has to do with playing volleyball or coaching volleyball. I guess I found my MySpace account too but that wasn’t really that surprising.
I live a pretty tame life so there is nothing on the web that I am ashamed of or could reflect on me negatively. What is there to worry about when you’ve never drank, done any drug and refuse to dance cause you’d look stupid?
I think a teacher’s personal life is a teacher’s personal life and should be exempt from examination. Obviously the argument is that a teacher is in a position to influence children but so are the employees of companies to advertise to children. Are we examining the lives of executives that pump information into our children’s brain every day? No. Are we examining the lives of parents and friends parents that influence our children every day? No. A teacher is a citizen of the United States and should be afforded the same rights and privileges as any other citizen. Obviously it is easy to come up with extreme examples of how this philosophy could be strained but if the teacher is doing the job and doing it well I don’t care what she does in her off time.
The article we read on social networking sites wasn’t too surprising. I had been hearing about these stories for years. What I found really interesting was the court cases that had established a teacher’s rights. I was very interested to read about the balance between first amendment rights and the schools ability to run efficiently. Unfortunately I feel like this is another situation when the politics dictate policy over fairness and common sense. The politics demand that teachers be held accountable to unfair standards. I wonder if the same standards would be in place if parents had to be held to the same standards in order for them to be enacted on teachers.
For me the best way to protect my job is to be who I am. As long as I continue to lead a lifestyle that is positive then I will minimize the possibilities of being affected by negative things on the internet. There is no way to truly protect yourself if someone is out to ruin you then it is more than possible. However I will continue to lead a positive life and continue to view everything on the internet as public accessible. What more can we do?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Caught in the Middle
In his article, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Mark Prensky asserts that, “Today’s students – K through college – represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.” At the age of 29 I would submit that I am neither a native or an immigrant. I would submit that I am somewhere caught in the middle.
Growing up we had books, encyclopedias and people went to the library to use the card catalog not the internet. However this really didn’t last very long. Once I got old enough to be cognizant of the world technology was taking over. I can vividly remember when the Disney afternoon debuted on television and gave kids afternoon cartoons or when MTV came out. Let’s not forget when I was 7 and got my first Nintendo Entertainment System. I can remember when we played the Oregon Trail game (always pick the banker the increased funds are just too good to pass up) in middle school and at home email was just starting to take hold.
Things really started to pick up in high school. The cool kids were carrying pagers (not me) and the rich kids had cell phones that looked like mini bricks. In the class rooms we had computer and keyboarding classes to teach us to type but most of us just played games cause we already knew how. The internet was emerging but everyone had dial up at such a slow speed that it really wasn’t useful; the nearest book was still faster. Of course overhead projectors, Scantron, and television were being used in the classroom but email and the internet were not even considered.
In college things really exploded. The college I went to had computers in most of the classrooms and they were networked with fiber optics. This was marvelous, especially when I would hear horror stories about how econ students would slave over statistics problems for hours writing everything out by hand. All I had to do was enter the data into excel or the regression program and it spit out the correlations for me. In the dorms napster, mp3’s, riping/burning cd’s and video games reigned supreme. I must say there were many a hour spent on Mario Kart, Starcraft, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy. The best part of the multi player games is you would play for an hour then talk trash for just as long.
There is no question that I started the world as an immigrant but quickly evolved into a native. I know that completely blows his analogy but I don’t care maybe he needs a new category for people like me. I am someone who would rather “play” with a technology and figure it out then read a manual. I do NOT print out my email (who does that) and can edit things quite easily on a screen. I prefer to text rather than call and I’d rather look things up on the internet then go to the library. These are all things mark lists as native qualities. If I didn’t coach I would put myself squarely in this category but the girls I coach are insane. These girls can text faster than I can talk. I can listen to music and problem solve but I cannot listen to music and read for comprehension. These girls can listen to music, read, talk to me AND text their friend and keep it all straight. Compared to these girls I’m an immigrant but compared to anyone older than me I’m a native.
Despite all the nostalgia and fun I’ve poked at in this entry I think Mark’s ideas have merit. I think this is something that every generation of teachers face. How do we connect with these youngsters today? They just don’t have the same, . . . . . (respect/manners/discipline/attention span) pick one, that we had. In that way I don’t think his work is that ground breaking however I think because technology increased exponentially during the last 20 years the differences are more dramatic. I definitely think putting technology to use is a wonderful idea. Keeping kids so busy looking up info on their cell phones that they can’t use them to text in class is a GREAT idea! I think, “engage me or enrage me” is crap because I think every generation would rather have been playing outside, playing sports, watching tv or playing video games then being in school. I think using the current mediums to interest students is creative and very useful but I don’t like giving kids an excuse for why they won’t do what they need to do.
Growing up we had books, encyclopedias and people went to the library to use the card catalog not the internet. However this really didn’t last very long. Once I got old enough to be cognizant of the world technology was taking over. I can vividly remember when the Disney afternoon debuted on television and gave kids afternoon cartoons or when MTV came out. Let’s not forget when I was 7 and got my first Nintendo Entertainment System. I can remember when we played the Oregon Trail game (always pick the banker the increased funds are just too good to pass up) in middle school and at home email was just starting to take hold.
Things really started to pick up in high school. The cool kids were carrying pagers (not me) and the rich kids had cell phones that looked like mini bricks. In the class rooms we had computer and keyboarding classes to teach us to type but most of us just played games cause we already knew how. The internet was emerging but everyone had dial up at such a slow speed that it really wasn’t useful; the nearest book was still faster. Of course overhead projectors, Scantron, and television were being used in the classroom but email and the internet were not even considered.
In college things really exploded. The college I went to had computers in most of the classrooms and they were networked with fiber optics. This was marvelous, especially when I would hear horror stories about how econ students would slave over statistics problems for hours writing everything out by hand. All I had to do was enter the data into excel or the regression program and it spit out the correlations for me. In the dorms napster, mp3’s, riping/burning cd’s and video games reigned supreme. I must say there were many a hour spent on Mario Kart, Starcraft, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy. The best part of the multi player games is you would play for an hour then talk trash for just as long.
There is no question that I started the world as an immigrant but quickly evolved into a native. I know that completely blows his analogy but I don’t care maybe he needs a new category for people like me. I am someone who would rather “play” with a technology and figure it out then read a manual. I do NOT print out my email (who does that) and can edit things quite easily on a screen. I prefer to text rather than call and I’d rather look things up on the internet then go to the library. These are all things mark lists as native qualities. If I didn’t coach I would put myself squarely in this category but the girls I coach are insane. These girls can text faster than I can talk. I can listen to music and problem solve but I cannot listen to music and read for comprehension. These girls can listen to music, read, talk to me AND text their friend and keep it all straight. Compared to these girls I’m an immigrant but compared to anyone older than me I’m a native.
Despite all the nostalgia and fun I’ve poked at in this entry I think Mark’s ideas have merit. I think this is something that every generation of teachers face. How do we connect with these youngsters today? They just don’t have the same, . . . . . (respect/manners/discipline/attention span) pick one, that we had. In that way I don’t think his work is that ground breaking however I think because technology increased exponentially during the last 20 years the differences are more dramatic. I definitely think putting technology to use is a wonderful idea. Keeping kids so busy looking up info on their cell phones that they can’t use them to text in class is a GREAT idea! I think, “engage me or enrage me” is crap because I think every generation would rather have been playing outside, playing sports, watching tv or playing video games then being in school. I think using the current mediums to interest students is creative and very useful but I don’t like giving kids an excuse for why they won’t do what they need to do.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)