Thursday, July 23, 2009
The use of Technology must be focused
As I was watching the societal changes group present in our 649 class, we talked a bunch about how technology can be used in the classroom. One of the major issues that I had during this presentation was my lack of focus when it comes to the technology involved. We were offered the chance to get on twitter and ask questions while the presentation was taking place. I tried to make some comments on twitter, then I found myself reading all of the other comments first, then I tried to figure out how to comment, then I read more comments. By the time I had done all of this, the discussion in the classroom had passed me by. I realized that I had tuned out for approximately 8 minutes. So, as I stated before, the technology usage needs to be focused and incorporated into the lesson. When I was given the opportunity to explore and use the technology on my own, I struggled. While some of the students will have more knowledge and be more familiar than myself, I will also have to show others how it can be utilized.
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long time, no see... nice to have you blogging again, phil!
ReplyDeletei've thought about this a bit myself, though more in reference to student use and "abuse" of technology in the classroom. it's interesting to see someone critique the ways we've been using technology in the mac program, though, because i think we've all recognized it as a bit frivolous at times... in defense of the societal changes presentation, i think it was important for everyone to see the ways technology can be used as these societal changes take place, particularly to connect students to resources that weren't previously available. that being said, seeing tracy and todd struggle to communicate with the class via webcam was a reminder that technology doesn't always yield the results we hope it will...
Phil, there's a lot of talk these days about the current generation of HS kids, and how they're wired for multi-tasking in a way that old timers like yours truly definitely are not, and maybe not even the vibrant, youthful people of your generation ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely right to raise this issue, Phil. It touches in part on what kinds of learners and thinkers our students are, and it also connects with a set of issues around learning curve...the second time may go better than the first, etc.
Here's something else that's relevant to your topic...
Phil
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up an important point about technology and learning. YOU (the teacher) need to be comfortable with the technology use in the classroom. Therefore, you might use Twitter before or after class to get feedback or start discussions, but not use it during class because it is causing too much static among the students. It is good to try variations of learning activities with these tools to see what might work best for you. That is what this year is all about! Thank you for posting!