Ben’s Blog

As I have moved through literature on Digital learning and the new digital generation I have grown in my understanding of it and have become less cynical allowing my new found knowledge to balance out my ideas and opinions, instead of allowing my ignorance and fear of using technology cloud my judgment. However while I am beginning to embrace technology more and more I still feel the need to use ICT in the classroom in context making sure that it is used for meaningful learning, has clear applications for students and ensuring that teachers do not have to simple compromise their own teaching strategies and philosophies simply to incorporate the use of ICT into the classroom.

With the increasing use of technology in the classrooms there becomes a need for it to become more and more reliable. With unreliability in the classrooms, lessons become pointless and lose their credibility as teachers flounder in a sea of misunderstanding.

The fact that most students in the modern classroom are digital natives (Raine, 2005) also does nothing for a teacher’s confidence in the classroom especially in their use of technology. When students have spent less than 5000 hours reading and more than 10 000 hours on the computer in their lifetimes (Pensky, 2001) it seems that they are being taught more by technology than their teachers and there is perhaps the danger that teacher may be rendered obsolete and outdated in their traditional teaching methods.

While teachers are having technology often forced into their classrooms not all of them are embracing it (Oppenheimer, 1997) just as the American government discovered under Bill Clinton. The danger is when some teachers embrace technology and others don’t, the gap in digital fluency is becoming more and vaster. However when students and teachers are being taught ICT they are taught basic skills such as E-mail and Microsoft word, which means that their digital literacy is not necessarily fluent because they are unable to process complex arguments and ideas through the use of technology. (Resnick, 2002).

A fantastic and simple way for teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom is the use of the Powerpoint presentation. PowerPoint is clear, concise and allows students to learn visually which many of them crave. Parents and students alike are embracing PowerPoint as it offers application into the workplace and into the future. (Bruckman, 2003). I believe there is a place for the increasing use of PowerPoint in our classrooms and as teachers, parents and students are embracing it and its applications and benefits are clear, it is obviously and indispensable educational tool. Unlike the clear applications of PowerPoint and the like, many teachers appear to get sucked in to using technology simple for the sake of using it putting little stock into the fact that technology must be used for meaningful learning and must also fulfill the ICT syllabus outcomes.

While technology such as PowerPoint, internet access, pod casting and interactive whiteboards are becoming more prevalent in our classrooms, school is where their access to technology stops. While modern students are considered global citizens (Wallis, 2006) due to technological access, many students lack access to technology outside school e.g. in country schools. So there is the fear that as technology progresses these students are in danger of falling even further behind in the access to it and the digital fluency.

As I have embraced technology more and more I have discovered its ability to engage all students. I noticed particularly the impact it has on students with learning disabilities e.g. Asperger’s syndrome and Autism. Firstly students with these disabilities struggle with creative play and technology such as blogging and PowerPoint offers a non confrontational way for these students to express themselves creatively. Students with these learning disabilities also learn better with visual cues and instructions, (May, 2005) highlighting again the effectiveness of PowerPoint. Asperger’s and Autism students have also been shown to excel in their use of multi media technology, (Hasselbring and Glaser, 2000) making a strong case for the increase of multi media technologies in our classrooms.

After being ignorant and perhaps fearful of technology, due to my misunderstanding and lack of knowledge, I believe I have come a long way in my research and in my ability to embrace technology as an important tool in our classrooms. With further research and further liaising  with colleagues just as we have done in our blogs there is more to understand and embrace as we discuss with each other, teach each other and learn from each other, because technology as an educational tool is far to effective and important to dismiss, as I may have done earlier in the course.

References

Oppenheimer, T. “The Computer Delusion”,The Atlantic Online, July, 1997

Resnick, M. “Re-thinking the Digital Age,” The Global Information Technology Report: Readiness for the Networked World, 2002

Hasselbring, T. Glaser, C. “Use of Compute Technology to Help Students With Special Needs,” The Future of Children: Children and Computer Technology, vol. 10, no. 2, fall/winter 2000

May, K. “Teaching Strategies for Asperger’s Students,” New Horizon for Learning, September, 2005

Prensky, M. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” On the Horizon, 9 (5), 1-2. 2001

Wallis, C. Steptoe, S. “How to Bring Our Schools out of the 21^st Century. Time, December, 10, 2006

Bruckman, A. “Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies,”  v. 9, no. 2, Summer 2003

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

bens-podcast

This video is fantastic providing some startling statistics about the world, its population and the prevalence of different types of technology including lap tops and e paper. With these sorts of statistics and information this video would clearly be an excellent tool to use in the classroom as it also highlights information about jobs and technology used in the future.

Libby I agree that not only is digital technology, fun, innovative and a fantastic learning tool, but it is also a vital part of fulfilling the syllabus as well. So it is important that we implement it anyway. I forgot all about the syllabus, thanks for reminding me Libby

From our subject on Special Needs I have realised how important the use of technology is to students with impairments, disabilities and handicaps. From the article ‘Teaching Strategies for Asperger’s Students,’ Kelly May says there are 4 main teaching strategies to use for students with Asperger’s Syndrome;

1)The physical structure of the classroom

2)A visual display of the day’s activities

3)An explanation of the type and length of work expected

4)  Information presented visually as well as verbally.

This particular point relates back to an ealier blog of mine where I refered to the fact that technologies such as Powerpoint and Youtube are fantastic tools to use with students of learning disability as they allow them to relate to work visually and audibly as well as verbally.

Another article relating to students with learning disabilities is, ‘Use of Computer Technology to Help Students with Special Needs,’, this article states that students with learning disabilities often work better, are more creative and pay much more attention to detail when they are working with multi media technology than they are at any other time. This speaks wonders for the ability of technology to engage students, particularly students with special needs. Technology has shown the ability to be so much more than just a novelty in the way it can engage, teach and intereact with students and if it can help student to learn in ways that other methods can’t then it should be used far more often and on a larger scale.

Bruce I like the sound of your prac school and I am glad that teachers are willing to attempt to use technology even though they may be scard or reluctant to use it. Although I believe there is the potential to overuse technology in the classroom, that is because I am one of those teachers who is reluctant to embrace it. We must embrace technology as it is crucial in almost all aspects of schooling and not just in the classroom for example; lesson plans, lesson presentations (powerpoint etc.), report writing, unit design, student behaviour, classroom allocation and the list goes on. I am starting to agree now that the embracing and use of technology is in mine and everybody’s bests interests, especially students as we seek to move forward and all teachers should be encouraged to jump on board

Lucy I really liked your blog on the use of blogs in the english classroom. Every Key Learning Area in the school curriculum have literacy components and so it is important that our digital technology implements literacy. No subject uses literacy more than english does so in the use of technology english is perhaps the KLA where literacy needs to be at its strongest. The fact that writing and publishing on blogs allows students to engage in verbal, visual and digital literacy is fantastic and should be applauded. I am starting to feel I have been too scathing in my comment towards technology in the classroom for the more I read the more balanced my views become, I am starting to like the idea of teaching using technology

Students in schools today have access to unbelieveable amounts to technology that are able to assist them enormously in their research and study. Podcasts can allow students to learn audibly, technology such as Powerpoint and Youtube allow students to laern visually and the internet gives student access to to copious amounts of information in seconds. In Resonse to the article; “How to Bring Schools out of the 20th Century” even though students these days are considered global citizens and are being encouraged to hop on board with those in the 21st century, once many students go home that is where their access to technology grinds to a halt.

During my practicum in country NSW, many students would take days off school at a time to assist their parents in the running of their farm, due to the drought. Farming is the livelihood of a large percentage of these families and when drought hits, not only is your number one priority the well being of your livestock and crops, but money is scarce and the access and importance of technology becomes obsolete. As Katryce mentioned in one of her early blogs, it is ok to lend pens and stationary but when it comes to a families economic situation and a students lack of access to technology there is little a teacher can do. So while it is great to promote the use of technology in the classrooms, there is a fear that certain students will be left behind, and as education becomes increasingly more reliant on technology those who fall behind may fall further and further behind and eventually get left behind.

As technolgy floods our classrooms and teachers are franticall treading water in an effort to simply up to date, they are making their lessons less and less relevent and compromising their own teaching styles in order just to incorporate technology into the classroom. Technology is not a tool to be used to give a teacher a break from teaching or to add a theme of laziness to a classroom. Quite the contrary, it is imperative that if technology is to be used in our classrooms that it is used for the sake of meaningful learning and to assist students in their education, and it is up to teachers to decide how best to use it. There seems to be an idea that technology must be incorporated into the classrooms and while it is important for teachers to move ahead with the times, it is important not to incorporate technology simply for the sake of it. In Lucy’s blog entitled ‘Digital Dangers’ she uses the example of a teacher encouraging his students to download poetry onto their phones and I-Pods. While this may make it more exciting for students, it has no real educational benefit in terms of poetry analysis, techniques etc. With increasing technology teachers may be sucked into compromising their own successful teaching strategies in order to use technology even if it is without any competence. I am a supporter of embracing technology, however should teachers break from their own mould and use technology even if means compromising the way they teach and interact with students?

1.      Luke I am a member of generation Y myself and I would be the furthest thing from a digital native. Although I have had more than sufficient access to digital technology for the majority of my life, so far I have failed to master the art utilising digital technology and/or multi-tasking.While I am gradually making ground in my effort to familiarise my self with the technology available to me, my ability to multi task or indeed even comprehend half of the caper on the web as well as podcasting and even web cams is significantly lacking. There is no way that I could possibly do a uni assignment to the best of my ability whilst chatting on facebook or shopping on e bay. I realise that each individual has different abilities in terms of multi tasking and I applaud you in your ability to be so efficient in your use of technology, however as some one who struggles to understand technology and to maintain a steely focus on more than one activity I am at a loss, when in comes to multi tasking particularly in relation to technology

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