Welcome to E Jonah Greene's blog on education. I am a Walden University student studying the integration of technology in the classroom. If you have any views, comments or ideas on how to integrate technology into our classrooms please feel free to share your ideas. I am also open to issues associated with technological use of software or hardware in the classroom.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Hi Ezra,
ReplyDeleteDo your students all have cell phones and if so are they smart phones with internet access? I am finding my students are researching applications that they can download to their phones that are quite interesting and useful. Our school is limited in terms of available technology but the advent of free applications is allowing us to somewhat circumvent limitations. I think that portable devices are going to keep becoming more capable and powerful as well as affordable. This will make them more readily available for student use. What do you think? Petra
Almost every student at my school has a cellular phone. Not all of them are smart phones, however, smart phones are quite popular. There is a no use policy with respect to cell phones at my school. This is a Ministry of Education driven policy. Teachers can use them in the classroom, but cell phones should be seen, used or heard otherwise. Do you have a similar policy on cell phones?
ReplyDeleteWe will soon be receiving open access in a few months - hopefully. The discussion on the ground, presently, is censorship. What do you think of censorship?
Ezra
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ReplyDeleteYour blog looks great. I liked the survey widget.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir.
DeleteEzra
Good Day Everyone
DeleteMy comments below on my reactions to the website was too large to be posted all at once. I divided it into two parts.
Sorry about that...
Ezra
Reaction to the website: Partnership for the 21st Century
ReplyDeleteThe proposal written in this website is well written and professionally articulated. It is simple to follow. The bridge to 21st century learning is nicely presented and the pictorial view highlights the various competencies of the proposal. It is backed by an impressive following of educational institutions and organizations. I wonder though of the vested interest in the document by the telecommunication and technology companies.
Information on the site that surprised you or helped you develop a new understanding of the issues surrounding 21st-century skills
As educators, our first reaction to new initiatives is that it will increase our workload. Proposers to this initiated noted very early in their proposal that it will not be a daunting list of “add ons” to the workload of teachers (p. 5). They do observe though that it is an “ambitious challenge” (p. 5). They propose that it will give educators more time to concentrate on teaching and learning. I pondered quite a bit on these statements. When I first looked at the proposal that was indeed my first reaction; more work for teachers. However, after much thought, it caused me to conclude that they may be correct. Technology does not have to be an additional burden to teachers. If it is implemented the way it should, it could make our lives easier. Incorporating those standards into the curriculum, with good planning, should improve our output and the educational product that we offer our students.
I liked the concept of teaching 21st century in context and that the core curriculum will not be replaced. I am a firm believer that basic content must be taught with technological implements. We can teach students to become 21st century citizens by sensitizing them and modelling those skills in our classrooms. This can be simultaneously done. I note though, that we should not simply teach students core content, but we must teach them the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. This is a very important skill to teach any child.
Information or opinions on the site that you disagree with along with an explanation of why you disagree
ReplyDeleteI noted very early in my evaluation of this document, that there isn’t much to disagree with as the document is very skilfully written. However, the political will must be clearly supported by action. Many times, stakeholders (genuine and otherwise), force policymakers to make proposals that they are in no position to support. Financial constraints and very importantly training for educators are given second thought. Cuts in education have been on the rise for a very long time. There must be a thrust in the area of training for teachers (especially on-going training for educators who have been in the system for over five years). Fear of technology on the part of educators is a real issue. Policy makers must make a concerted effort to address this as a priority. Although I believe that educators should take some responsibility for their own learning, but, all cannot be left on our shoulders. Policy makers and administrators alike, cannot expect change in the way of teaching 21st century skills if the teachers do not possess those very skills.
The implications for your students and for you as a contemporary educator
The implications are far and wide. They propose that it provides an excellent opportunity to align standards, assessments and accountability with 21st century skills (p. 4). The reinforcing element in this bridge (pictorial view of bridge on pg. 3), includes 21st century assessment. I am not sure how this will be done, but I see this as having a significant impact on the learning environment and what happens in the classroom. Additional assessment is not the answer. Maybe they would have to intertwine technology into the assessment that already exists.
I am not sure how easily they will be able to implement those ideas as I foresee many challenges in the form of teacher preparedness, teacher resistance, lack of resources and the needed foresight by administrators and policy makers to ensure that this proposal is smoothly transitioned into the classroom. All of these have great implication for students and teachers alike.
DIGITAL NATIVES? MILLENNIAL LEARNERS? WHO ARE TODAY'S STUDENTS?
ReplyDeleteMany educators are of the view that our students are hardwired differently and as a result they learn in a new way. They believe them to be digital native(Prensky, 2001) who cannot survive without technology. This podcast provides a demographic profiling of grade nine students of the Clare Hall Secondary School in Antigua/Barbuda. The group was selected randomly from both genders. It provides a candid discussion about their use and views of technology in their lives. Lets listen to what they have to say, and we could determine if they are digital natives or millennial learners. Share your opinion.
http://archive.org/details/DemographicProfiling-DigitalNatives