I've been to a good number of meetings this year (both formal and informal) that involved discussions about the best ways to use technology with children. I really enjoy these conversations, and I'm excited about all the possibilities that the digital domain presents for teachers and students in schools. However, time and again I have heard teachers turn a phrase that disturbs me a bit, and it goes something like this: "Sometimes, I think the kids know more about technology than we do. We should be learning from them!"
Really?
I mean......really????
Okay, there are two ways to look at this, I'll admit that. On the one hand, it is fair to say that the children of this digital generation probably are a bit more acclimated to certain technologies and devices than some adults. If an adult hasn't had a chance to play with a new iPhone and a child has, then the child will have a bit more experience with the device and could therefore be considered to "know more" about iPhones than the adult.
On the other hand, just because a child has played with a device and knows a good number of its apps, that does not automatically mean that the child "knows more" about how to use that device than an adult might. I try to point this out to teachers who make the claim when I'm talking to them. A child who has played with multiple devices, has e-mailed and IMed numerous times, and who has a social networking page is not necessarily better prepared to explore ways to use that technology to create products and respond to the world than his or her teachers.
I often joke, "Just because a kid can tell me about hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches doesn't mean that I'm going to let him or her try to fix my bathroom or car." Knowledge of a tool does not trump the knowledge of how to use tools to create things. Surfing the web a lot doesn't displace a well-earned Master's degree; having your own webpage doesn't counter a decade of experience in education; and when your first impulse is to "ask Google" or "go to Wikipedia" (two of my students' common solutions), that doesn't hold up against the knowledge about how to evaluate resources and refine research.
Yes, I agree that the children of the modern world know quite a bit about technology. What they do not need are teachers who defer to that limited knowledge and are afraid of knowing less than the kids; instead, they need teachers who are ready to show them how to use those technologies to be a integral part of the world.
Showing posts with label digital classrooms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital classrooms. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Doing School...Differently
I just posted this to my classroom blog, and realized that it also belonged here:
As I prepare for this school year, it is becoming increasingly clear that this will not be a "business as usual" year. With our classroom's expansion onto the web, the very nature of our learning will begin to change drastically. Students in this digital classroom will be challenged - not to learn a set of information or to prepare for state tests, but rather to become creators and innovators on their own. Yes, there will be information learned, but in many ways, that will be the secondary focus behind students learning how to learn and create for themselves.
This will require a lot from the students, but I'm confident that they will be up to the challenge. We need to move past the notion that I (as the teacher) have all of the answers and the students need to "receive" the education that I am "giving" them. Instead, I want to be a facilitator and give my students the tools to develop themselves as learners. As I think back to my own education, I realize that I wanted to have more control, too. I remember coming to a point where I began doing what I knew would make the teacher happy and gave up any of my own opinions and interests. My goal now is to not let that same thing happen in my classroom.
So, welcome to a new way of doing sixth grade. It won't be perfect, and I'm sure that I'll make mistakes along the way, but if I can allow myself to be a member of this community, rather than the leader of it, we'll be moving in the right direction!
As I prepare for this school year, it is becoming increasingly clear that this will not be a "business as usual" year. With our classroom's expansion onto the web, the very nature of our learning will begin to change drastically. Students in this digital classroom will be challenged - not to learn a set of information or to prepare for state tests, but rather to become creators and innovators on their own. Yes, there will be information learned, but in many ways, that will be the secondary focus behind students learning how to learn and create for themselves.
This will require a lot from the students, but I'm confident that they will be up to the challenge. We need to move past the notion that I (as the teacher) have all of the answers and the students need to "receive" the education that I am "giving" them. Instead, I want to be a facilitator and give my students the tools to develop themselves as learners. As I think back to my own education, I realize that I wanted to have more control, too. I remember coming to a point where I began doing what I knew would make the teacher happy and gave up any of my own opinions and interests. My goal now is to not let that same thing happen in my classroom.
So, welcome to a new way of doing sixth grade. It won't be perfect, and I'm sure that I'll make mistakes along the way, but if I can allow myself to be a member of this community, rather than the leader of it, we'll be moving in the right direction!
No Time to Slow Down ... Thank Goodness!
There's nothing like the start of a school year to keep a teacher motivated and working! With only a couple weeks left before I'm working with my sixth graders, I've found that the short timetable is the ultimate incentive for me to keep moving as I plan and create for my class. In the past, I've entered the summer with high goals for setting up ways to integrate technology into the coming school year, but I usually run out of time.
Not this year. The difference is small, but important. This year I have the initial structure of my digital classroom in place, and I have also talked at length about it (on the web, with colleagues, on the bulletin board outside of my classroom). I've found this to be exactly what I've needed; in order to ensure that I see my ideas through to the end, I publicly talk about how exciting my ideas will be. This way, if I don't complete what I endeavor to do, I will have an audience questioning me. By "going public" with my own process, I have added motivation to its completion.
I think that I will apply this lesson to the way that I deal with my students in the fall. Rather than having them simply do their work on my timetable or create their own private goals for completion, I am going to move them toward making their intentions known and public. This will cast a light on the process of their learning instead of constantly focusing on the product that is "required". Everything I've been reading lately encourages this attention to process over product, and this little step of bringing others into my own process has opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead.
Not this year. The difference is small, but important. This year I have the initial structure of my digital classroom in place, and I have also talked at length about it (on the web, with colleagues, on the bulletin board outside of my classroom). I've found this to be exactly what I've needed; in order to ensure that I see my ideas through to the end, I publicly talk about how exciting my ideas will be. This way, if I don't complete what I endeavor to do, I will have an audience questioning me. By "going public" with my own process, I have added motivation to its completion.
I think that I will apply this lesson to the way that I deal with my students in the fall. Rather than having them simply do their work on my timetable or create their own private goals for completion, I am going to move them toward making their intentions known and public. This will cast a light on the process of their learning instead of constantly focusing on the product that is "required". Everything I've been reading lately encourages this attention to process over product, and this little step of bringing others into my own process has opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
There's something about August!
As the calendar rolled over to August, I managed to find my way back to my classroom. There's something about this time of year that fills me with excitement for the return of the students. And this year is especially exciting, given that I have switched levels (to sixth), changed classrooms, and established a "digital classroom" in which my students will also be learning. I read the other day that the best modern classrooms are not constrained by the walls within the building and allow for learning at any time, not just during the school day. This year, my students' learning spaces will match those goals. In fact, I have already had students in contact with me this summer (mostly just checking in, but a new development, to be sure).
All of this makes me think about "year-round school". As more and more districts nationwide move in this direction (and our President makes it clear that he's in favor as well), I find myself personally considering this new option. The time I'm going to spend over the next few weeks preparing in my empty classroom will certainly be used well; it's obviously easier to do certain things without having students around. However, I also find myself on August 11th wishing that I had some students here working with me. My classroom (and digital spaces) has always been collaborative, so I feel like I'm missing something as I work here alone: namely, the other workers with whom I share this space. I find myself wanting their advice on how the room should be set up and what I should be planning for this fall, and it makes me realize how long two months can be.
I've never had much trouble with the "summer drop-off" in September, so my lean toward more school isn't really so much about making sure the students don't "lose what they've learned". Instead, I really enjoy working with them, and it strikes me that 180 days isn't enough for what I want to do. Maybe next summer will be different; once the kids are a full part of our digital classroom, I will be able to keep going past June if we choose. Year-round school? Maybe not in my building. But if I don't focus on the building, the possibilities are endless!
All of this makes me think about "year-round school". As more and more districts nationwide move in this direction (and our President makes it clear that he's in favor as well), I find myself personally considering this new option. The time I'm going to spend over the next few weeks preparing in my empty classroom will certainly be used well; it's obviously easier to do certain things without having students around. However, I also find myself on August 11th wishing that I had some students here working with me. My classroom (and digital spaces) has always been collaborative, so I feel like I'm missing something as I work here alone: namely, the other workers with whom I share this space. I find myself wanting their advice on how the room should be set up and what I should be planning for this fall, and it makes me realize how long two months can be.
I've never had much trouble with the "summer drop-off" in September, so my lean toward more school isn't really so much about making sure the students don't "lose what they've learned". Instead, I really enjoy working with them, and it strikes me that 180 days isn't enough for what I want to do. Maybe next summer will be different; once the kids are a full part of our digital classroom, I will be able to keep going past June if we choose. Year-round school? Maybe not in my building. But if I don't focus on the building, the possibilities are endless!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Zoller45 (a new digital classroom)
I've just added a feed to my new classroom blog (http://Zoller45.blogspot.com). I am looking forward to getting this up and running in the fall with my new sixth grade classroom. We're going to be completely wired, with a classroom blog, Twitter account, and a school-wide wiki. I can 't wait to see how the students react, and how this influences their learning in the coming year. It's time for my classroom to move completely into the Web 2.0 technology that I have been familiar with for some time. It should be awesome!
Policing the Digital Domain
Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to present some technology workshops to fellow teachers in my school district. Last week, I was part of a workshop on blogging and an interesting discussion came up. We were talking about how we would like to see the students not only become exposed to blogs (and Twitter), but also become creators of personal blogs or contributors to classroom blogs. In the midst of the discussion, a few teachers expressed concerns about how one might "police" the students' posts to make sure that nothing inappropriate was posted to a public classroom domain.
The concerns of the teachers were very real, and spoke to a larger issue when incorporating technology into classroom learning. These teachers' main concern was that they might get in trouble because of something a student posts to a classroom blog. And we didn't really come to an answer for that issue so much as developing an understanding: in the digital classroom, teachers are going to have to relinquish some control and allow for the students' self-expression. Yes, this does create a tenuous situation, especially if one is dealing with a student who wants to create a problem and doesn't care about the repercussions.
However, I can't help but see this as a teachable moment that will begin to define what digital classrooms will look like. For decades, teachers were taught to control every situation and ensure that nothing went in a direction that was unexpected or potentially inappropriate. But with the modern social construct, students are going to be communicating whether we want them to or not. It is best to guide them and explain the ramifications of destructive actions in a public domain. And teachers must also be able to rely on their school districts to back them up and recognize the need for these forms of communication to move forward for the benefit of the whole student population.
Eventually, we made it clear that most blogs or websites allow users to control who can view the site, who can post to the site, and whether the content is appropriate and will remain. The tools are there to censor, if needed, and to privatize the site if one doesn't want it to be universally available. I hope, though, that these tools will not be overused, because a major part of classrooms in the digital age will be that they are student-centered in both focus and in creation of content; the voices of the students will be the ultimate key, and while that might require a shift of control away from the teacher, it's an exciting notion that I can't wait to see play out.
The concerns of the teachers were very real, and spoke to a larger issue when incorporating technology into classroom learning. These teachers' main concern was that they might get in trouble because of something a student posts to a classroom blog. And we didn't really come to an answer for that issue so much as developing an understanding: in the digital classroom, teachers are going to have to relinquish some control and allow for the students' self-expression. Yes, this does create a tenuous situation, especially if one is dealing with a student who wants to create a problem and doesn't care about the repercussions.
However, I can't help but see this as a teachable moment that will begin to define what digital classrooms will look like. For decades, teachers were taught to control every situation and ensure that nothing went in a direction that was unexpected or potentially inappropriate. But with the modern social construct, students are going to be communicating whether we want them to or not. It is best to guide them and explain the ramifications of destructive actions in a public domain. And teachers must also be able to rely on their school districts to back them up and recognize the need for these forms of communication to move forward for the benefit of the whole student population.
Eventually, we made it clear that most blogs or websites allow users to control who can view the site, who can post to the site, and whether the content is appropriate and will remain. The tools are there to censor, if needed, and to privatize the site if one doesn't want it to be universally available. I hope, though, that these tools will not be overused, because a major part of classrooms in the digital age will be that they are student-centered in both focus and in creation of content; the voices of the students will be the ultimate key, and while that might require a shift of control away from the teacher, it's an exciting notion that I can't wait to see play out.
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