Reflection of Module #4

Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the Wall" experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity and peer interest.  What hit me the most was the fact that he kept pushing that these kids performed better when they shard computers and did not work 1:1 on computers.  It was the interactions with their peers that helped them gain the knowledge.  What a wonderful concept that I think we all knew as teachers but Mitra pointed it out in his experiments.  His studies found that younger children were teaching the older children.  I see that at my school, the younger teachers are showing the older teachers how to use various technologies.  At the end of Mitra's talk he says he needs:

1 Billion children

100 Million Mediators

10 Million SOLEs (Self Organized Learning Environments)

180 Billion Dollars

10 years

In my calculation that is a 10:1 ratio students to mediators, that is almost as good as my special education classroom 12:1:1.

I found the "Hole-in-Wall" experiments to be so interesting that I e-mailed my entire family and asked them to watch the ted talks and ask their thoughts.  My father a retired public school administrator loved the philosophy and was emotionally moved.

I completed an Anthro Tech Assessment Guide.  If you are reading this blog and from P141K then please add to my answers, I would like to hear your thoughts.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b1RY5QI-KiJZ-_Bos_VB-ZeWyOu1apaZbjiuwUDekRw/edit

Reflections on Module #3

I reviewed the Essential Conditions Necessary conditions to effectively leverage technology for learning I began to get disappointed.  Untill I spoke to the Adaptive PE instructor at my school.  He talked about bringing an xBox or Wii into the school.  He thought that it would both motivate the students to participate in gym as well as engage them.  My thought has always been to get my students off the couch and in front of a book or go outside, but maybe I am thinking at this all backwards.  Maybe I should be engaging them with the things that excite them the most.  If our teachers presented more with technology as a model then maybe when they go home they might be more will to use the technology more wisely then to play “Man of War” or whatever game is popular at the time.  Before I moved to District 75 I was in a community school in Washington Heights.  Just as I was leaving they were about to try “SMART Response PE interactive response system”.  To the best of my understanding, students will receive a handheld wireless remote and students are to answer questions from their own remote.  The buttons of the remote look similar to that on a cell phone.  Students would then answer all kinds of questions from true/false, multiple choice to short answer.  The answers are then tallied by the software and then can be shared with the class.  This type of technology I think would motivate students. 

Putting education in a digital age perspective

Module 2

1. From your readings: How would you summarize the importance of digital citizenship for you as a teacher? How do the emergence of “digital natives” (Prensky) and “the media collage” (Ohler) impact your teaching?

I have always thought of myself as a “digital native”.  I grew up in a house with a Franklin computer (a sibling of the Apple 2E), the only one on our block.  As a youngster I would boot up the computer with 3 floppies (and they did flop).  I even thought I was the cool kid on the block with a two line phone, all before that call waiting (interrupting) stuff.  My best friend had a phone which was mounted on the wall had a cord so long that she could sit on the couch in the next room and talk on the phone.  Ours was better we had a desk-top phone cord that the entire phone could go room to room.  After a few trips and falls my parents bought a phone for each room.  I look back and see that my parents (both public school educators) had the means to bring the new technology to our family.  Today, as an educator in the public schools, I see the haves and have nots.  Unfortunately it all leads back to money.  In some instances the money is not an issue if it means higher test scores or better ratings on parent or teacher surveys.  In those cases the teachers are not the ones that are making the decisions.  And therefore are not the ones that are using the new programs/technologies to their greatest potential.

Now back to the question, digital citizenship for me means taking ownership in the knowledge that I was not able to keep up with the digital boom.  While my friends were on Facebook and tweeting about the latest gossip I was home building a relationship with my wife, a relationship that started on My Space (LOL).  As a Speech Pathologist I was always looking at new technology that I could incorporate into my therapies.  I will now classify myself as a “Digital Immigrant” and push for SmartBoards to be used as such and not as glorified white boards.  I will encourage my students to use the internet as a source to get information.  I will find a way of having my students post information to the internet as a means to bring the media collage to the classroom.

2. From the viewings: What trends will impact you the most in your professional practice?

As a Speech Pathologist I think that the popularity and availability of computers accessing the internet with impact my profession.  Consumers who are looking for Speech providers will not just find the local speech provider but will be given the opportunity to “Google” the provider.  When someone “Google’s” me I want them to find my blog that will reaffirm my expertise and dedication to my field.  I want the internet to be an asset to my work.  Using a blog to help me communicate with parents will definitely bring them closer into my therapy sessions.

3. From School Train: What is your initial reaction to this piece? Did students meet the requirements of the assignment? That is, do you feel they demonstrated an understanding of “metaphor”?

Metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that does not literally denote in order to imply a resemblance, for example he is a lion in battle.” (Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10^th Edition 2009)  What is more important?  Did I like the video “School Train?  Did I think it demonstrated an understanding of metaphor?  I did not like the video, not sure if I did not like the image of school being boring and repetitive like a train or the video itself.  I did not like the music, but I did think it resembled the monotony on being on a train.  It does it look like the kids had fun making it, of course, students were given an opportunity to make a video, write the dialogue/song, come up with a catchy name, direct the video and edit the video.  That alone is something to be very proud of.  Back to the assignment at hand, I do think the video represented an understanding of metaphor.  To stay in school or on the train you need your homework or ticket.  The train makes stops writing and math.  The classrooms are train cars; the cafeteria is the dining car.  The students are the passengers while the teachers are the conductors.  The principal might even drive the train.  The students sit for long periods of time as they would on a train.  I would like to think that the teachers reviewing the tape of their students would make changes in their school or even in their classroom to make their student feel less on a train but more in a zoo.  Student will be exploring and seeing new things around every corner, where the teachers are not the animals, but facilitating learning about the animals, like a tour guide.  The animals are different areas of learning and can been seen from many different angles.  The subject areas change and grow and warrant more studying.  At my zoo there is very little sitting more walking and traveling.  While walking and traveling there are plenty of things to see and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEk21oGKs  (school train)