Technology, Teaching & Aftrica

There were several features of Edna Dach’s presentation that struck a chord, The most powerful of these was the statement to the effect that the technology was a tool that allowed students to learn in spite of us. This idea translated itself into organizations, like the one Edna worked with, striving to provide the people in Africa with a tool (technology) and instruction on how the tools works. This model facilitates these groups wielding the tools in a way that suits their circumstances, culture and more importantly, their needs. Critical thinking is a significant goal in our educational system – this is a definite example of providing a base level set of tech tools and skills and allowing individuals the autonomy to make critical decisions in how these tools are applied. Sounds like a form of inquiry to me! A lesson to remember in my own teaching.

The convergence of technologies is not something that I had given a lot of though to beyond enjoying the novelty of them. Edna spoke to the idea that the convergence of technologies like wireless are changing African nations. This is an interesting idea in that something that as a North American, I see as novel, has the power to change culture, education and possibly political economies in Africa – a place I would see primarily as low tech. This is a topic that I would like to explore in more detail.

Edna addressed the larger picture behind going to Africa to provide these services. I like the idea of investing technology PD in a variety of teachers from a variety of schools and regions. They are building experts, who will then transfer these skills to other teachers in their area. This reminded me of the ‘Building Champions’ approach that Phil had spoken about. It was interesting to hear about the application of this model in another context. It was a testament to the power of this particular model of PD to impact teacher practice.

On Stan Ruecker & Rich Prospect Browsing

I did not necessarily understand what Rich Prospect browsing meant until the magnetic browser was demonstrated. An ongoing issue with regards to using the Internet for research is the shear volume of information that the students need to sift through in order to find what they need. The concept of having a visual ‘magnet’ that pulls relevant information, and visually represents Boolean searches is fantastic! I’ve been down the road to teaching Boolean searching to Grade 7 students, this concept of limiting searches is often abstract and difficult for students to understand and apply. The idea of using a new form of searching, that visually represents what they are looking for seems amazing. I look forward seeing a tool like this applied to the Internet.

There are several concerns over the ability to work this efficiently and effectively with a complex volume of information. Should we be ‘data mined’ or profiled by individuals with the ability to gather and work with information in this way, this could present a threat. What’s more is the ability to use this information for cooperate interest, to tailor spam, advertisements, etc. is a scary prospect. I would ague, however, this work is already being done and is in fact common place. How often do we hand out a phone number when purchasing goods, or use a ‘Safeway card’? Do credit card companies track out spending? The difference lies in the efficiency at which the information is reorganized and grouped. Question: Is this a real threat or a perceived threat?

Rich Prospect browsing seems to be a very apt term. Having been through frustration of searching through databases for articles, and seeing a linear flow of text that was often without meaning for me, I welcome a visual representation of my search. Seeing the relationships between ideas, articles and texts is definitely advantageous in an environment where we often feel overwhelmed by the volume of information that we encounter. Tools like these browsers may be one more tool as we attempt to build information literacy in today’s student.

Blogging & Writting Styles

In writing a blog entry for an assignment in my Humanities Technology Integration class I was thinking about how to use blogging in my own instruction. My background in in teaching Junior High School, specifically Grade 9. In Social Studies I've focused in teaching the art of the argumentative paragraph or position paragraphs. This demands developing a very specific writing skill set in our students. The end goal is to build a base from which students can begin to write position essays. In fact, Language Arts 9 teachers typically teach two forms of writing - the functional business letter and the essay. Each of these demand the learning of a specific writing skill set.

There is a big 'but' here. Given that our students are increasingly becoming Internet producers, the question is now whether we are teaching the 'right' kind of writing skills? I noticed that in completing my assignment, I had to change how I wrote for the blog entry. What I wrote and how I was writing was influenced by this little 'box' for text entry. The box seems to hold one large paragraph or two smaller paragraphs per screen. This on its own limited how much of my writing was available for me to review at one and pushed me to limit and compact my thoughts. Suddenly, the 'design' and structure of my text had to change (something that I obviously need to work on). In the preview, I was struck by how long my blog entry seemed. I definitely was unsuccessfully at creating a 3 paragraph response!

The new writing skill set may be something like writing 'sound bites'. Short, to the point text crafted to efficiently make a point the move on. In a system where students are often writing to meet length demands (word counts or page counts), this is not necessarily what we are teaching in our existing writing formats. I'm not advocating that we modify out existing writing skill sets, rather we may need to teach a third writing style for Internet publishing. (Could the business letter, or functional writing component evolve into an email letter?) There is research into how people read websites, and the volume of text that gets read on websites. Can we apply this research to developing writing skill sets for blogging etc.?

Video Conferencing

The presentation on video conferencing (VC) struck me as a very even look at the benefits and issues surrounding the use of VC as an educational tool. I have had the impression in the past that VC has been widely adopted as a new technology that will eliminate financial pressures and scarcity issues surrounding a need for specialist teachers in smaller and rural schools. In particular, as a response to the second languages initiative, and more specifically, the need for high school physics/math teachers.

My concern has always been that we are adopting a flashy, 'cool' new technology at great cost but not necessarily looking at how this technology will impact the 'how' behind teaching. So much of what we do as teachers relies on the relationship between teachers and students that facilitates the transaction/interaction behind teaching and learning. The question that I've been left with is how do we facilitate this relationship and prevent VC developing into a talking head style, broadcast like learning environment? I have worried that we are honeymooning with a new, novel technology and investing a lot of our resources in in an unproven technology . The question in my mind is where will we be when the honeymoon is over? Are we investing in developing the required skill set in our teachers so that we are not left with unused, but expensive VC suites?

Danny's presentation addressed many of these concerns and, in turn, was a very even analysis of the potential of VC as an educational tool. I was struck by his list of what was needed in a productive VC environment. Specifically striking were the lessons learned:

• Student Engagement
• Blend of Technologies (Improved Student Learning:
  
• Shared Learning Space
• Focus on concepts & Content
• Structured Collaboration clear purpose and goals)
  
• Active learning technologies
• Extra Planning Time
• Tech Support Required
• Social, reflective & interactive
• Engaging - connected to actual practice.

Danny also spoke of the kind of teaching needed. He described the kind of teaching approach of needed as being dynamic - "learning doesn't just happen". This reminded me of the early lessons of teaching where I learned that a teacher need to develop a presence in the classroom. In order to teach a class, a teacher needs to hold the room. VC demands a new form of presence. I recall a presentation on VC from last summer where we saw some footage of a teacher teaching a second language. This teacher used a lot of 'flashy', high energy strategies to hold her students via VC. This was complimented by some face to face time with her students. In effect, the issue of teacher PD is being addressed by these lessons of VC. However, PD is expensive, do the technology budgets address this need? I hope the from these lessons learned in VC, that it will.

I have by far exceeded my three paragraphs ... but the were short paragraphs ...? does that buy forgiveness?

Summer - In Class

The last time i used this account - was January. It seems that I'm not a finisher when it comes to Blogging ....

Resurrected again ... geocaches in the sky: Personal Reflections for learning!