Technology Questionairre

I was asked by a student in a Communications class to answer the following questions. My responses are as follows:

1. Has the use of technology changed in the classroom changed since you started teaching? If so, how?

I received my education degree in 1999, although the Internet was used in my college classrooms, it was not widely available nor was it used in schools. The advent of wikipedia, and other Internet resources have greatly changed the way content is taught. Another major change for technology is affordability. When I began teaching desktop computers were in labs and classrooms, but projectors, document cameras and smart boards were not widely used or available. Now laptops, and their flexibility have transformed classrooms, by having the computer labs come to them.

2. Have you seen technology use in the classroom as an advantage or a disadvantage?

I personally see technology in the classroom as an advantage in the classroom. In order to prepare our students for the 21st Century, we need to be providing them with the skills they will need after they graduate.

3. Are you required to take classes when a new form of technology has to be applied in your teaching? If so, are they helpful?

When I was in the K-12 classroom I was required to take Continuing Education Units, these were not always technology workshops, but reading, differentiated instructions, etc. The quality of these classes varied, but I always enjoyed finding out about a new technology and how teachers were using it in their classroom.

4. How do you think technology in the classroom will be used in the next ten years?

I believe (actually hope) that technology will change the classroom dynamic that we currently see. With the advent of ubiquitous computing, I foresee every student having their own laptop. That technology will be as common and as required as pen and paper are. Lessons and classrooms will need to be student and project focused rather than lecture and teacher focused.

5. When students are given the opportunity to use online courses it means that they are to be trusted to do their own work. When you observe students taking online course, do you think that they're benefiting from having full responsibility or do you think they take the easy way out?

I think you need to change the dynamics of your assignment. If everyone is given the same assignment or quiz, the temptation to share information is too great. Students need to be given projects or activities that either require collaboration and group work is encouraged, or individual projects.

6. How do you think technology use can be improved so that students can do honest work and gain from online courses?

I don't believe that the technology needs to be improved, I think the classes need to be changed to a different medium. (See answer above)

7. The Internet is a helpful tool when researching. Some sites are so helpful that the students don't even have to do much work. How do you feel about this?

If your class is the simple regurgitation of facts, rather than a synthesis of what appears on the Internet, than the class is flawed.

8. Do you think that technology will replace teachers altogether?

If as a student I could learn something by reading it in a book, then reading it on the Internet would be no difference. Even dynamic interaction of online games, etc. is not as conducive to learning as a teacher is. Computers will never replace teachers, because we need them to challenge, adapt, encourage, and assist us in ways a computer could never do.

I feel that the questions are a bit skewed towards "Internet Bad" and that my answers were probably a bit too "Internet Good." But that's what they get for asking a Tech Facilitator :)

VoiceThread in Elementary School

Technorati Tags: education voicethread digitalstorytelling

I am working again with students in our elementary teaching program on creating a VoiceThread. They will be creating them for an Oral History Project for their class. I have bookmarked some of the VoiceThreads I will be showing to the class on del.icio.us and hope to continually add to this group. I have also created a wiki page to go along with the workshop.

So far I found some really great example VoiceThreads:

5th Grade Federal Holiday Proposals

Kindergarden Sponge Activity

Civil War - Carolina's Campaign (Middle School)

North Carolina & Kuwait - students learn culture through pictures

I'll also be talking to them about blogging and our new CED Video Server. I'll follow up on not only the class, but also what other topics I end up covering.

The Economist Debate

I just recently came across The Economist Debates about Education, thanks to Ewan McIntosh's blog - he is a "formal debater" for one of the articles. I am a big fan of The Economist and am impressed with this venture into combining online polls, fact-finding, and blogging in a familiar term of "Debate."

One of the previously debated questions catches my eye,

The house REJECTED the proposition that "The continuing introduction of new technologies and new media adds little to the quality of most education."

Proposition: 46%
Opposition: 54%

First and foremost the "Harvard Model Congress (Class of '94, '95) Member" in me - gets all excited about the debate format. But Secondly, I am impressed with the way the question is phrased. They do not question technology itself, but new technology. The use of technology for its own sake is ill advised, but the concept of new technology being automatically bad disturbs me. I would also be concerned about the term of new technology in education. What is New to me may be Old to someone else. Considering the budgetary cycle of education, implementing new technology is not as "lightening fast" as it may be made out to be. Overall, I am pleased that the proposition was opposed, but it is still by a close margin.

Point of Personal Privilege (I used to love yelling out that one!)

The Current Proposition is: Social Networking: does it bring positive change to education?

Ewan McIntosh heads the Proposition and I agree with him in that Social Networking is not just MySpace, it is not Facebook - it is the online network we create for ourselves. The concept of Personal Learning Networks is growing, and how you may not realize you have a social network - but the blogs you check, the IMs you send and the e-mails you recieve all create a social network and connection of friends that you may have never met in real life.

The concept that Social Networking is bringing a positive Change strikes me as odd. Social Networking exists and is being brought into education by our students. Are cell phones negative in the classroom? Some would say Yes. Are laptops negative? Is the Internet? The answer to these questions all depends on the context and the way it is used in the classroom. Social Networks, in whatever form they take - are only positive when facilitated correctly.

I am looking forward to the debate....

Wikis

This is based on a discussion in my 21st Century Learning Class:

I think Wikis are the poster childs for the entire concept of the Read/Write Web or AKA Web 2.0 (I personally dislike that term). The whole idea of making the web be the new OS, and be our applications has enormous possibilities. Wikis are the best example of this, they are a web page, a presentation, a word processor, all rolled into one.

But how does this make a difference to our students? By giving them the ability to 1) Create a webpage easily and effectively. 2) To share information with their group or classmates as a whole.
In regards to sharing information, have a wiki page for a subject in class, say the history of North Carolina in 8th grade, and build your own wiki page. Have students collect all the information they find into one resource to be shared. Not only have you created a worthwhile project that you can go back to, as a teacher you can view individual contributions and assign different grades for the same product! For those of us that love th concept of group work, but hate the grading of it - this is a lifesaver.

But, this brings up another point - how do we know the info in a wiki, such as wikipedia is factual? Well how do we know what is in Encyclopedia Britannica is factual? We place our faith in a few people that write for Britannica, and ASSUME that it is correct. Just because it is in print, doesn't make it any better, it just makes it harder to correct. Wikipedia depends on a community of people and corrections can be made easily, economically, and quickly. However, ALL sources, print, web or otherwise should be corroberated. In doing research, nothing can be taken for a fact unless two other sources can confirm that fact. Wikipedia nor should Encyclopedia Brittancia be our primary and only source for information - it should be a starting point, but not the be end and end all.

For reference, Nature did a study of Wikipedia vs. Britannica in 2005 http://www.news.com/2100-1038_3-5997332.html
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/6984

Google Reader

I am addicted to my RSS feed, and in the past I have sung the praises of Net News Wire, but in this age of the Read/Write Web and for the sake of trying new things, I looked into Google Reader.

I was worried at first that I would need to start my subscriptions from scratch, and with 80+ RSS feeds I peruse - this was not an exciting idea. However, I discovered an Import/Export feature. I was able to Export form NetNews Wire a .opml file. I was then able to upload that into Google Reader. Now, I did have to reorganize my subscriptions and tag them, but that wasn't too painful.

The advantages of Google Reader include:
-Being able to get my feeds from any computer
-Changing the way I look at my feeds
-Sharing items with others
You can view my favorites here.
You can subscribe to my best of the best feed here.

Evaluating Websites

I believe web design has changed significantly since Jakob Nielsen devised his guidelines. The impact of graphics is severely underrated in his opinion and design has moved from a frames based environment to tables, css, and php. As a webmaster myself that is currently undergoing a redesign, it has been interesting to see what "general consumers" of websites value as well as what they take for granted.

Usability: ADA compliance is a big issue in my book. The ability for those with disabilities to be able to get access to the same information as others is imperative, especially in a school based setting. Also, ADA guidelines just ensure good practices, by including alt tags, using headers to designate information, etc.

Navigation: It is key that users can get to the information they need. A hierarchical structure needs to be established that is consistent throughout the site. There should also be an easy way to go backwards, without having to use the back button, etc.

Design: The design needs to not get in the way of the message, but help convey it. Animated gifs, garish clashing colors, frames, all get in the way of getting to the information, they are distracting or cumbersome.

Authority: Using the google model, who links to this site and what sites do they link to. Does the site provide references or links to claims that it makes? Is it ranked in any websites such as digg, technorati, or the buzz? Are author or group credentials provided? When was the last time it was updated?

Of all of the criteria, I believe that having students understand that anyone can put information on a website, and that the fact it exists on the Internet does not mean it is correct or factual. They need to backup claims made on pages and corroborate them with either other methods of evidence, or other authorities on webpages. (On a side note: I would also like to point out that just because something is in a book does not make it authoritative either).


One issue I'd like to get more discussion on. As a general rule you should not have to scroll down a webpage to get information. Do you think that is true anymore?

Asking Permission

From Cool Cat Teacher Blog

We should be discussing privacy concerns in amateur videos. We should learn about and be educated on what is it proper to share and what is not.

I run into this issue all the time as webmaster for my school. Teachers and administrators are constantly wanting to put more pictures up of our students on the site. As much as I love adding graphic elements, I constantly have to remind them of the laws that govern pictures and video. Any pictures or video taken in a private setting (including a classroom), need permission to be published in a public form - like the internet. I am trying to "train" my faculty into getting permission while they are taking pictures. The university helped us create a form for this purpose (which can be viewed at http://ced.ncsu.edu/ltrc/studio/)and it has worked wonderfully (when it is being used!)

Google and PageRank

Search engines are interesting creatures. How does a database decide what is the ultimate authority on the subject? Google for instance uses PageRank - an equation that takes alot of factors into account. In essence it looks to see what is the page that is most LINKED to on the internet and that basically establishes its importance. It also takes into account how many links link out of the page. A page that exists as just text for instance with no links, would have very low rank, even if a good deal of people linked to it.

In other words, Google finds the most popular pages, not necessarily the pages that have the best or most accurate information.

Internet Safety Paradigm Shift

via Educational Technology & Life

Multi-faceted Refractions
" If people were to Google you, what conclusions would they make?

From observing your on-line communication, what kind of person would they believe you are? What type of thinker are you? What skills do they think that you have?

From looking at your digital self, would people think that you are full of creativity or are you a copy-cat, mimicking the works of others without any new original thought?

What do you do if your work is being misappropriated? What if you discover that there are images of you on other’s sites which are unflattering or potentially damaging?"

This reminds me of being in a workshop with David Warlick about copyright and the Internet. We discussed the concept of ownership and how if students felt they owned their work, they would not want someone to take ownership from them. How sometimes it is perspective changing that makes all the difference.

This gives me a great idea for a new way to discuss Internet Safety. Now how safe will it be to demo this and google myself in front of everyone :)