Topics for today:
1. EDUC 504
2. Reaction to Sheskey Article
3. Digital citizenship
Technology is a means to an end. It gives access to information, opens lines
of communication, and provides new ways at looking at old (and new)
things. Using technology for every
lesson is not the end goal, but using technology to enhance learning in
meaningful ways is a great means to opening new possibilities for my future
students.
It was reassuring in class on Friday when one teacher said
that technology is not always the best option; sometimes notecards with a
specific purpose fits the lesson the best. I was expecting this class to be
even more “plugged in” than our other classes, but I was pleasantly surprised
when we had a great old-fashioned conversation, face to face.
The conversation, one of my favorite means of learning, was
about an article by Bill Sheskey. The
players included my classmates/cohorts and professors for whom I have great respect. We talked about why the students in the
article enjoyed seeing their projects & photos on a big screen. This boiled
down to ownership and accountability. In
the same way that the students wanted to put forth their best effort, I want to
take ownership of this Blog. However
when trying to decide on a URL name I came across many blogs that only had one
post, or had been abandoned even before starting. This is the problematic use
of technology. Anyone can start a blog,
post to a social media network, or upload a photo, and then it stays
there. This is wonderful if the “thing”
you are posting/starting/uploading is your best work, but when its not, it
still stays. For the young man in the
article that wanted to redo his project, that idea was enough. He wanted the permanence to reflect his best
work, not a mediocre job. For others it
is scary to put forth something so permanent and they choose to not put their
work “out there” even if that means starting a blog and never posting or in an
academic setting not completing the assignment.
There was some mention, in class, about being shy and how displaying
work can be counteractive to learning because some students might shut down. So
then how do you use technology in a way that motivates some students (ownership)
and protects some students from feeling vulnerable to the point of shutting
down? Will anonymity give the introverted students the courage to display their
best work, but still motivate the extrovert students enough? What is the
balance between privacy and publicity?
We also talked about Digital Citizenship and how there isn’t
a well-defined etiquette for the World Wide Web. I agree with this to an extent, but I don’t
know what the long-term effects are. I
heard a few personal anecdotes about how kids were using Facebook for “drama”
(bullying, gossip, and embarrassment).
This would lead us to believe that there should be etiquette online, but
all three of those things under the umbrella of “drama” were around way before
technology gave it a new forum. Kids
were bullying each other long before it was made public. I don’t know if the etiquette we need to
teach is online etiquette or simply human interaction etiquette. Technology may
make it easier to bully someone from another school or across the country, but
it didn’t invent the idea of bullying.
Does technology make bullying last longer because you can look at the
history of the abuse and therefore never escape it? Does it make it easier to
fight against because if adults are monitoring then the evidence is out in the
open to see and stop?
The digital age is now which means that it is hard to gain
perspective. I agree that there should
be some etiquette online, but I also agree that real life could use some
etiquette as well. Technology is a means
to change but it is how we use it that enacts the change. As a teacher I’m hoping to create a safe
place for learning, this includes digital space as well, so I am excited for
this class to explore the ways I can make sure my students are motivated by
ownership, but not worried about the vulnerability that comes from publicity.
