למידה, אינטרנט ... ומה שביניהם

Learning to use the bathroom, a new and exciting piece of technology for a toddler, is somewhat like learning to use new technology of any kind but, especially, I think, technology in education. Really.

The analogy holds together well for the most part, but it is that sense of necessity and critical mass that concerns me. Too many teachers are comfortable in their diapers or training pants to bother finding out where the bathrooms are. When whole schools of teachers are wearing diapers, where are they going to see teachers who are not only using the toilet but are handing out maps to where they are in the building?

תוויות: טכנולוגיה, שימוש בבתי ספר

novels, short stories, plays, poems, reference texts, the spoken word, charts, maps, graphs and timetables, advertisements, promotional leaflets, comics, newspapers and magazines, CVs, letters and e-mails, films, games and TV programmes, labels, signs and posters, recipes, manuals and instructions, reports and reviews, text messages, blogs and social networking sites, web pages, catalogues and directories.

a text is the medium through which ideas, experiences, opinions and information can be communicated.

recognises that the skills which children and young people need to learn to read these texts differ from the skills they need for reading continuous prose.

תוויות: אוריינויות

Better yet, I love that this kid -- along with ALL of his classmates -- are writing responses like this to daily/weekly writing prompts that ONLY grant them a 'participation' grade at the end of the semester...all while still maintaining a crazy academic pace and writing program that actually serve their GPA far more directly.

Note to self: Guess my students now gotta go global and be a poster children for something esoteric and divisive that some new age guru will frame in yet another bestseller spanning the bookshelves of educators and business tycoons alike, something that will pit IT jocks against old school librarians and everyone in between, all piggybacking on the good will of my kids in the process.

It sounds like a classic writing workshop, as opposed to a global project.

But here I am today, back in a real-live classroom with a kid-driven blog that is far surpassing my early expectations, ready and able to go global, a hop-skip-n-jump away from winning some tech-friendly award (I imagine) and in the process getting more Google Juice and digg-love than I can hold in 2 really, really, really big hands, no matter how much I tried to hold back the rising tide of good will.

And I'm not even sharing the links. Or caring if my kids are the only ones that ever cannonball in these waters when all is said and done.

Why?

Because that kid whose response lies above is kicking 'backside' (along with all of his classmates) without ever stepping over the garden wall. And without any link love. Or virtual podium clapping.

Nope.

They're doing it the same way we would have done it a generation ago. Inside the classroom. For their immediate peers. And without needing to carry anyone's systemic banner in the process.

תוויות: בלוגים, מורים

I heard a number of teachers say that they are able to use wikis or make podcasts at their schools, whereas blogs were discouraged or blocked.

But as I thought more about it, I don’t think it’s that simple. I think it reflects a larger issue of assessment and comfort with the status quo. In most schools, curriculum focuses on student product rather than process.

A wiki is a means to collaboratively get to an end product, something a teacher can look at, assess, and grade. It’s easier to adapt existing curriculum to use a wiki, since most curriculum is also product focused....

But blogs reflect the process of learning, of going through a learning experience that may not result in a final product. Where’s the report, the culminating evidence of mastery, the final draft? How do you grade a student who might be changing over time?

תוויות: בלוגים, ויקי, שימוש בבתי ספר

Technolust is in its advanced stages at T.C., where our administrators have made such a fetish of technology that some of my colleagues are referring to us as "Gizmo High."

Science and math teachers, for instance, have been told that they can't use traditional overhead projectors to present material to classes, even though the teachers say that in many cases, they're far superior to computers for getting certain concepts across.

Math grows out of the end of a pencil. You don’t want the quick answer; you want students to be able to develop the answer, to discover the why of it. The administration seems to think that computers will make math easy, but it has to be a painful, step-by-step process.

Many students send their papers in over the Internet, and while the margins are correct and the fonts attractive, the writing is worse than ever. It’s as if the rule is: Write one draft, run spell check, hit “send” and pray.

For these teachers, the computers are not just a symptom, they are the problem. But the computer isn’t making students worse writers or setting these “rules”. Do the teachers have any responsibility for standards, for requiring excellent writing. Are the computers to blame for this too?

But from my point of view, blaming technology, even extreme “technolust” for the problems described here is only half the story. The other half of the story is how many ways school reform efforts can go wrong, and how fragile and rare it is when it goes right.

תוויות: טכנולוגיה, שימוש בבתי ספר

Among teenagers who said they were familiar with the laws, more than eight in 10 (82 percent) said illegal downloaders should be punished. In contrast, slightly more than half (57 percent) of those unfamiliar with the laws said violators should be punished.

If you incorrectly decide that something is a fair use or falls into an exception to copyright infringement, you could be held criminally and civilly liable and have to pay damages. We suggest you talk to a lawyer if you have questions regarding fair uses of copyrighted works.

תוויות: אתיקה, זכויות יוצרים

technology changes faster than people do

what's going on is a sorting out of the tension between cultural ideals and cultural practices

a new generation of technologies that in some ways can't help but tell the truth

תוויות: אתיקה, גלישה בטוחה

תוויות: אתיקה, הרהורים, נוער

I suspect that the tipping point in information overload has tipped. Students' aversion to reading does not necessarily signal a weakness, much less a dislike of reading. For them, and now maybe for me, moving on to something else is an adaptive tactic for negotiating the jungle that is our information-besotted culture of verbiage.

It's taken them just a few years to arrive at the same conclusion that I've reached after a lifetime of sustained reading: The pursuit of knowledge in the age of information overload is less about a process of acquisition than about proficiency in tossing stuff out.

I’m guessing that I scan through about 80% of what comes into my Google Reader, actually read a few full paragraphs and note or tag or move another 15%, and do a “deep” read (and perhaps write, as in this case) of the remainder.

I’m feeling guilty about much of this, though Washington is nice enough to let me off the hook.

תוויות: אוריינויות

I’m sure we are not going insane, but some would probably disagree. Carla and I tried something new and, well a little bit rebellious today. We invited the grade 8/9 ELA class/students to bring their cell phones into class (if they didn’t have one we used mysask for text). Our goal, using cell phones for learning. Our objectives, appropriate use of cell phones (manners and ethics), using the calendar/scheduling, using text to discuss literature (lit circles), tracking progress and assignments/projects, and engaging the new learner. Guess what, it worked like a charm and the kids are peeing themselves with enthusiasm. Welcome to Web 2.0!!!! I needed to share.

As Carla and Gord pointed out, the cellphone novelty will soon pass, the engagement was with the ideas and sharing. Students were not really dazzled by their phones, they simply used them to share ideas, pictures, sounds and videos. The real engagement was with each other and the story. The cellphones were almost seamless.

תוויות: סלולארי, שימוש בבתי ספר

תוויות: דיווחים, כנסים

It's been interesting observing the students through this process. When we first started, I'd guess about 80% "agreed" with Pink and perhaps 20% "disagreed" but most of them were pretty quiet about it. As we progressed through our discussions of the book, and with the help of outside bloggers like yourself as well as discussions with their classmates, now many of the students are looking closer at the ideas of the book and aren't quite as sure. In fact, a few of them have said something similar to, "I don’t know what to think anymore." Which, for me, is perfect.

תוויות: בלוגים, דוגמאות, שימוש בבתי ספר

It is, admittedly, very difficult to listen to a densely packed essay, with many twists and turns, with a thesis, and then a deliberate modification of that thesis, and then generalizations that account for both the thesis and its exemptions. Difficult. Maybe that was what I was after. Hmmmm. There is so much claptrap about new media, it is possible that not only was I aspiring to modeling for graduate students the way one makes a nuanced and careful argument but also the way one takes seriously an idea about which there is a lot of goofball overgeneralization. "Difficulty" isn't just an experience but a performative act of its own, one that says "Focus! Attend! Take this Seriously!" I'm not sure whether or not I pulled it off last night, but I think that aspiration to underscore the seriousness of New Media as a topic was partly my motivation (I had a choice until the buzzer and wasn't entirely sure which I would do, read the paper or talk it more casually). And partly I wanted my paper to be an exemplification of what humanists do.

It is in this context, it seems to me, that teachers are irreplaceable as models of knowledgeable adults grappling with first principles in order to open their students' understanding. Indeed, surveys have shown that such modeling is critical in students' responses to their teachers: The two features of an individual instructor's pedagogy that most engage undergraduates are control of the material and concern with students' understanding of it. No matter how recondite or obscure the ideas may be, the phenomenon of a grown-up person capable of talking enthusiastically and sequentially can show students how they themselves might someday be able to think things through.

תוויות: הוראה, הרהורים

It is not a University facility but a municipal sports arena whose naming rights were bought by UOP for advertising purposes. The school agreed to pay $154.5 million for the 20-year arrangement shortly after the Stadium's construction in 2006.

The government is giving the U.S. burger chain -- along with a rail company and an airline -- the right to award credits toward a high school diploma to employees who complete on-the-job training programs.

It is right that we recognize and accredit employers that have shown a commitment to training and developing their staff.... This is an important step towards ending the old divisions between company training schemes and national qualifications, something that will benefit employees, employers and the country as a whole.

תוויות: הרהורים, טכנולוגיה, פני החינוך