tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post2018944534910450254..comments2024-03-29T01:46:51.442-04:00Comments on Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Technology: Tool of Engagement or Distraction? Lisa Nielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07759123507185453030noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-74639657406973391312012-12-01T17:10:39.941-05:002012-12-01T17:10:39.941-05:00Perhaps it would make more sense for students to d...Perhaps it would make more sense for students to do deep learning with technology instead of the superficial learning that can occur. Given that they will live surrounded by technology, wouldn't it be more relevant to focus on projects that use technology in sustained, thought-provoking ways in which students engage with it for concentrated periods of time to produce a dynamic, impressive piece of work? Is this project perhaps counterproductive, and asking students to return to the past, a time in which their teachers lived, but not in a time in which they will live? Just because we learned through focusing on great works of literature by reading the text and critiquing it, does this mean that students of today need to do the same? And if so, do we also have the responsibility to create learning environments that provoke deep thinking with the technology as an integrated part of that path? Just some thoughts, as I play devil's advocate, as well. Maybe it is us who needs the metamorphism. Too many teachers are still teaching lecture style and not creating interactive student-led learning environments. Technology can propel a more constructivism environment, and we need to create environments that use technology in sustained ways, not for instant gratification. Just my two cents, for which you can disagree. <br /><br />Moreover, if this unit of doing without technology is implemented, why not add to it some of the texts that have been authored to help us understand how we use technology for distraction? If those kinds of readings could supplement the project, they will also give students a way to self-reflect on their experiences in a wide scope, to understand how writers have described the phenomenon in which we live and how to make better use of the technology as a learning and communication tool.<br />Judyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15467341120077033854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-64099283867556941262012-11-24T02:29:19.081-05:002012-11-24T02:29:19.081-05:00Technology is doing its part, but every technology...Technology is doing its part, but every technology can't be helpful..we need to adjust ourself according to situation or bend situations for us. anyways education is what you learn from everyday life<br /><br /><a href="http://studentpickup.com/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">Education in USA</a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09959902810746931974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318734518772387227.post-70661934445949221832012-11-23T08:55:17.838-05:002012-11-23T08:55:17.838-05:00I've actually done the project that you talk a...I've actually done the project that you talk about and I've had mixed results depending on the group of students. Very often, they freaked out about the specifics of the project and it took multiple reassurances on my part that no, they wouldn't fail if they couldn't take it anymore and played Call of Duty one night, and that the journaling of the experience was the key part of the project. Some of the journals I've gotten back showed that the students really learned something about their individual world (my favorite observation--"I never realized how many stores just had so much background noise"); some of them are lazily written or not done at all. It's a fun project and one I might do again if I can fit it in to one of my courses this year or next year.<br /><br />But when it comes to gadgets and gimmicks ... you know why this happens, all this effort to amaze and overdo it with bells and whistles? Because the rhetoric in our current climate of professional development tells us that we have to do it. Not a year goes by when I'm sitting in a PD session with someone who is telling me five different ways to get students out of their seats, or why gadget #2353 will enhance English. And not a day goes by when I'm on a Twitter chat and am told that I have to expand my classroom beyond the classroom, that something as simple as writing in a journal isn't good enough because the audience isn't authentic.<br /><br />I've heard about how I steal dreams, about how I hurt children, about how I am part of an archaic system. I've heard about how I cannot lecture, about how I have to be the "guide on the side," about how I don't have a monopoly on knowledge. And yet, it's my fault that students can't think critically, that they fail, that our system is what it is because I choose to do my job in the best way possible instead of opting out or something.<br /><br />The conversation we're having is just as detrimental to our students' learning as this apparent need to add bells and whistles because we're made to feel that if we don't, we're "bad" teachers. I use my fair share of technology (when the resources are available in the building, of course), but I try to balance that with a certain quietness because I think that the quiet helps with many of the critical thinking skills and creativity I'm trying to cultivate.<br /> <br /><br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379096331960338241noreply@blogger.com