Week 3 Media Literacy

The Portal to Media Literacy video was interesting but very long.  The list of reading this week was intense and left me overwhelmed and extremely stressed, especially considering the holiday weekend and raising 3 young kids.  I made it to the end of the video but it took me 4 attempts, each about 15 minutes long. 

Could my 7th graders really use technology in this manner?  Could they really keep up with the rigor and demand of a flipped classroom?  Would families support this after school hour demand; certainly it would interfere with sports and part time jobs.  My classroom is filled with students who are bright and capable of learning but how will I bridge this intelligence while teaching them the skills tomorrow's economy demands?  It is important to push students beyond what they are used to.  I'd like them to understand that media literacy is more about learning and serving the world.  Many of them have not found a use for it further than entertainment purposes.

Repurposed a card catalog

The idea of collective intelligence from Kevin Kelly who stated "No one is as smart as everyone else" seems to be a valuable point.  Information is not only getting easier to find, it is much faster to find.  Remember the days of sitting in the library, waiting for help because you could not find a resource to use.  Today, these resources are at our fingertips.  With just a few clicks you can not only understand something, but you can watch videos from the top researchers who are analyzing the data and explaining their conclusions.  Students can do all of this without ever stepping into a college or university.  The high cost of a college or university degree coupled with the economic issues facing the world are also adding fuel to this revolution.  I believe student's (and all life long learners) are extremely fortunate to have this opportunity. 

The speed at which digital materials change creates problems not only for universities struggling to keep up with this constant shift but it also causes teachers to become resourceful.   One way I have been making use of these resources is through student teachers.  When I have a student teacher or pre-service teacher in my classroom I like to have them share with me skills they have learned along the way.  While my student's are busy learning the concepts in their lesson, I've intently watch them use technology in new ways. 

Week 3 Technology Integration

If you had asked me in 1997 what I thought technology integration meant I would have said it is where teachers and students use computers primarily as a tool to make your assignment easy to read or create a motivational way to present their learning.  It would be the technology teachers’ job to teach them how to type and use a few programs.  In 2007 when I received my first LCD projector and SmartBoard I thought how neat it is to display my materials or show a website.  I was so excited to get rid of the overhead projector.  (In fact, if anyone needs brand new transparencies I think I could track down a whole box for you. They make great tracers to introduce the idea of layers in  ArcGIS software.)  During these years I was the one responsible for providing the learning opportunities using a mindset Steve Hargadon describes as WEB 1.0; teach the same thing each year to all the students. 

Jackie Gerstein is suggesting that web 3.0 has already arrived.  (Hold your horses, I just learned about web 2.0.)   While it may have arrived, most of the teachers in my network are still working on implementing web 2.0.  I believe most of my students are still working on the mindset that school should have some technology.  Would they even be able to handle a flipped classroom?  When I question my students about the way they use technology most of their responses were for entertainment alone.  Facebook and gaming were the two choices most frequently given.  Because of this, and my own desire to integrate technology into my teaching, I’ve been trying out new bits of technology in each unit. 

Technology Integration in 1997

My understanding of technology integration has grown at a rapid pace in the last few weeks.  When the Connected Educator class began I viewed technology integration as just that, integrating technology into my lessons. I continued to use websites to teach from, I used web quests more frequently because they were informative, self-paced and a safe way to explore and learn, and Google Docs would be a handy way to complete assignments.  I’ve also tried videos, and most recently having students create websites to display information.  While I am happy to be using technology in these ways I am beginning to understand that technology integration is so much more. 

Web 3.0, flipped classroom, and wiki’s are all great ideas but I still have some reservations.  I think I am grieving what needs to be unlearned.  I think I am grasping for any straw I can find, any reason, just one, to decide it isn’t the way for me or my students.  I think I found one, not all kids have access to technology.  It is a good excuse but it wasn’t going to last long.   I happened to read Corinne’s blog and found an interesting professional learning community.  Ideas were flowing on how to solve the age old problem of not enough access.  Sure students can stay after school, spend time with me during lunch, or be really motivated and come to school early.  The article also offered suggestions that were right in front of me all along,  what about flexible grouping, working with an aid, or providing the students will an old flash drive with the saved video on it just ready for viewing on an older computer at home.  No need for the internet.        

I now hold these truths about integrating technology

• Most of my students do not use technology like what is described in The Atlantic article.  They said it was their source of entertainment and for keeping up with their social network.  I need re-think my lesson planning so it provides more of the possibilities to the students who are not motivated to teach themselves.  This might look like flexible groupings, peers teaching peers, whole group lessons, and mini lessons.

• It may just be the way to break the apathetic cycle students have toward learning and homework. Technology integration reflects new ways of thinking that might be the differentiation I am desperately seeking.

• Students need to be better prepared for this new global economy created by the technology revolution and globalization; many of their jobs have yet to be created.  Integrating technology means teaching the skills to effectively collaborate and crowd-source.

• I need to model what it means to collaborate.  I want to build a new relationship with them where we become co-learners. 

 

Week 2 Chapters 1 & 2

The book, The Connected Educator by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall, has opened up a whole new world for me.  I relate it to the feeling of earning my driver’s license when I was 16.    It was a new feeling of independence, freedom, and the chance to see the world on my own.  I wanted to drive the car whenever I could, even jumping at the opportunity to drive a short distance or run an errand that just the other day I would have balked at.  Do you remember that feeling when you used cruise control the first time or drove yourself to high school in the morning; forgoing the early wake-up call to catch the bus?   The more I immersed myself into the reading the more quickly I experienced a sense of urgency.  How could I share this with my colleagues at work?  Are my student’s really un-plugging when they come to school?   I need to learn this new literacy, and fast. 

As I scored myself on figure 1.2: Self-evaluation rubric for new literacies of the 21^st century on page I4-17, I quickly realized how far behind I was.  I began to wonder how this could have happened to me.  Why hadn’t I felt more comfortable with these new literacies and advances in technology?  As I continued to plug along at the assignments for week two I began to realize that it has a lot to do with the cost.  I watched that very interesting video on Karl Fish’s blog, Fischbowl.  Karl Fisch was interviewing Clay Christensen a professor at Harvard’s Business School.  During the video Professor Christensen spoke about the about the high cost of emerging technology eventually followed by a decrease in price as competitors introduce their versions.  (It was fascinating to hear from Professor Christensen, an opportunity that most certainly would have been missed.) I was able to correlate what he was saying directly to my pocketbook.  My husband and I simply choose not to buy the “latest and greatest” devices including cell phones and computers.  We know the price will eventually come down (We learned that the hard way).  Additionally, neither one of us were particularly fond of playing video games when we were younger, opting for the great outdoors instead.  Probably the most important reason was because both our mothers told us that if we sat and played those games our minds would turn to mush and we’d go blind.  So perhaps the idea that technology has been around now for 3 or 4 generations makes it that much easier for the younger generations to just use it because life has always been this way for them. 

I grapple with the ease at which people connect.  While I see the benefit of becoming a global learner, I wonder about the loss of people skills.  Are these technologies important for everyone?  I argue the point that you lose touch with the people who are right next to you.  You cannot infer emotion from text messages the way you can when you are looking in the eye of the person you are speaking to.  Many youth send message to the very people who are in the same room.  What about a handshake and old fashion hello?  What is the cost benefit of these emerging technologies?

First Thoughts Week 2

Here I am.  Just me.  Wondering what exactly a blog is and why I should use it.  So, I decided to search Google and found several websites.  After reading several I settled upon Daily Blog Tips.  I found it ironic when the article asked this question, "It is 2008; do we still need to ask ourselves what a blog is?" Apparently, the whole world knows what a blog is, except me. 

Then, I wondered how to set up a blog? After reading and viewing videos it seemed easy enough.  My confidence was up, after all I was understanding and comprehending, isn't that a quality of a good student?  I should have recognized that neon signal flashing, "Warning, trouble ahead."  Again more irony, I had cookie issues.  (And not the chocolate chip variety.) That lead to another Google search.  What the heck are cookies and now what?   

As some of you have already guessed, my journey is just beginning.  I can't believe how far behind in technology I feel.  While eating dinner at the neighbor’s house on Sunday, I found out that he Tweets.  It was totally unexpected.  But over dessert he introduced me to Twitter. (Nice to meet you, Twitter.  I think I might just find a purpose for you.)

I'm not sure how I ended up this way.  Sometimes I think it is because I am not surrounded by "techies" other times I am really scared about being too visible.  Sometimes I am afraid that I won't know how to do something on my own.  Perhaps learning how to do things on my own is fun.  After-all, time seems to fly by each time I sit at the computer to do work for this class.  One thing is for sure, unless I am a shipping vessel you won't find my picture on Flickr.   

No matter what my personal feeling is or how small my digital footprint is, my students are going to be using it. If I want to continue to differentiate and show that I am invested in what they care about, I am going to have to do this.  At school on Monday, I asked my classes about blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and Diigo.  Not many of my students knew what I was talking about.  Later, in a faculty meeting the principal asked staff to share websites they were currently using.  No one really offered any up.  Was it just too late in the afternoon, are teachers shy, or do we have a bigger issue with collaborating?  

Today I learned that searching can be my friend.  I  gained confidence by quickly accepting "Google Search" as my ally.  (Thank you Google for making it so easy to find out how to do something new by just typing a simple phrase, “How do I set up a blog?" "What is a digital footprint?”.)  I look forward to figuring out how to link things the way others are doing, with  that little arrow thing.  I am going to hunt around school in the coming days to find someone who has created a classroom blog so that I can see how they implement it.