As someone who considered themselves to be fairly technologically adept - this class is sure pointing out how much that "I didn't know that I didn't know!" It's amazing how many tools that are available to us as future educators (and even as just basic technology users!) that can really save time and effort.
I am really liking the social bookmarking tool Delicious. To be able to access websites that I previously would have bookmarked and had only available on that single computer is really helpful. I am already seeing the benefits of this as a student, so I know that it will help me tremendously in the future as a teacher.
These two chapters provide a basic overview of trends and issues with technology use. I found the external resource links that were included with this lesson most impacting, however there was one point that the text brought up that did invoke further thought. Quoting the US Department of Congress, the text reads "In 2002, a federal government study concluded that education was the "least technology-intensive" part of the U.S. economic system. (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, Woolf 2014) This concept really jumped out at me. Every other part of our economic system is technology intensive, yet our schools are not. If the current goal of our nation is to become globally competitive, how can we expect to do that if our schools are not preparing our students to succeed in our economic systems? In order to become the nation that we envision we need to equip our students with the skills they need in order to embrace the citizenship that is expected of them post graduation.
In my opinion, the trend of high stakes standardized testing is actually prohibiting our students from being able to engage in the type of learning necessary for these changes. There is so much pressure to master test content that our schools are not able to provide the experiences that promote creative and critical thinking skills, problem solving, community collaboration, and so many other necessary life skills. Standardized testing forces all teachers into a role where they are running teacher centered classrooms instead of student centered classrooms. Students are more engaged when they have an active part in their learning, and by pushing teachers to ensure high test scores we are actually reducing time engaged in this process. Another concept that I found particularly interesting which could possibly combat some of these issues is the idea of "flipping the classroom". In this scenario, teachers use video teachings as homework or small group work (depending on home access to internet), then spend class time working one on one with students on worksheets, assignments, and projects. Teachers are then able to provide individual attention and immediate feedback to all students. Salmon Khan presents a great example of this in the video "Let's use video to reinvent education" found on TedEd.
https://www.canva.com/design/DAAzxBJiCDo/MeYYDeVxrgO5D-CbnuoDzg/view
Khan, Salmon (Speaker) Let’s use video to reinvent education. TedEd Lessons Worth Sharing. Podcast
retrieved fromhttp://ed.ted.com/lessons/let-s-use-video-to-reinvent-education-salman-khan
Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, Woolf (2014) Transforming Learning with New Technologies. New York, NY: Pearson
You hit on some fantastic points here - all of which I agree with...but there are many who don't! I do think the pendulum is swinging back to a more moderate stance, but you are correct that the emphasis on standardized testing has taken away opportunities for helping our students get prepared for their futures. Unfortunately, I also think that same emphasis actually disempowered teachers/principals that they started to believe that the results of standardized tests were the big prize, as well.
ReplyDeleteGood addition of hyperlinked video - next try actually embedding the video so the reader doesn't have to link out! :) Unfortunately I wasn't able to access the Canva creation - but part of that might be related to my need to sign in (and I need to look up my password later!)