Dude, I'm getting a "del" icio.us

After signing up for "del.icio.us," I realize that it is a very useful place.  One can store their important sites and then travel half way across the world, forget their computer at home, and then be able to access their favorite sites anywhere.  It is also a place to use as extra storage due to the problem of clutter.  I'm always reluctant to bookmark sites because you start to accumulate so many after a while.  Using this site to organize sites into one category is also wonderful. I love organization!  You can't do that on your regular "bookmarks." I'm hooked. 

Sharing sites is a great feature too.  As teachers consolidating sources and then transferring them to another teacher has never been so easy.  Of course this can also be used to help direct students to where information can be found.  Again everything is so neatly organized with the labels we can assign to each group of similar websites.  

The Dynamic 2-0

It is quite amazing what teachers are doing with our new digital technology.  After viewing the website we were assigned to observe about the 1st graders use of technology I was left with quite a nice impression about the tools that 2.0 offers.  Students, even 1st graders were taking part in class discussion.  Our students are starting early (if their districts have the resources).  They had their own "online community" that their teacher (a wiz) coordinated.  And that is one of the traits of 2.o.  It requires "guided mentoring" that the educator teaches, and then allows the students to facilitate their own learning.  

The way students have access to interactive media has changed.  They participate in blogs, wiki, and other online communities that emphasize learning.  Interactive video games are also what our students like.  If fact interactive is a big part of 2.0.  Our net generation is more social than prior generations; they like sharing information through the various forms of media available to us now.  Finding ways to make learning "authentic" or transforming methods in the class with the way kids learn at home should be priority of new teachers. 

The Big Six

As teachers, we need to be focused and on the same page.  Having standards and a similar operating procedure helps our students decipher want it is they need to know across the curriculum.  Our new found NET-S standards are a helpful way of knowing what we need to get our students and teachers to do. Here they are:

1. Creativity and Innovation:  Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products.

2. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and environment to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance. 

3. Research and information fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. 

4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making: Student use critical thinking to plan and construct research, manage products, and solve problems. 

5. Digital Citizenship:Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.  

6. Technology operations and concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technological concepts. 

In my limited experience in the classroom I have seen only a snapshot of the use of technology. I substituted  for a science class and we spent the three days I taught in the library using computers to finish their collaborative group projects.  They were mostly doing what standard 3 promulgates--collecting data, and apply tools to collaborate.  Some were at work stations with regular desktops, others had laptops.  Creativity and innovation was present, but the higher analytical skills associated with standard number 4 was not there.  There is a good reason, because it takes time to design assignments that enhance analyzation, especially on computers.  Finding the right websites for each topic one might cover is time-consuming, and it is up to the teacher to create these tasks (instead of relying on a textbook). There is so much information to sort through that it will take time. 

As far as digital citizenship and technology operation and concepts I think the students I came into contact with have a good understanding of what's on the net, and what is appropriate and what is not.  They like to collaborate, and they do have to be monitored in relation to how they interact.  Kids will be kids.  Using appropriate language, behavior, and attitude is important for a teacher to advocate.  In reference to their knowledge about computers I think it depends on each person, but for the most part many of our youth are well-acquainted with the computer.  

The Digital Natives are Restless

Discussing the students we are teaching today is an interesting and necessary activity.  In order to teach effectively we need to know who our students are, and their preferences for learning. Our students today have been immersed in technology since their appearance in the world.  Many theorists believe that our children today are different thinkers because of their reliance on high-speed, visual, and quickly accessed information. If this is true, keeping their attention will be a challenging and pivotal task. They need visual stimulation infused with graphic images, pictures, and the chance to share information with others.  They enjoy playing video games and watching T.V. more than reading.  Finding ways to accommodate their preferred mode of media will be a task for every teacher to strive for.  

Our net generation students are not getting what they should.  Marc Prensky writes "today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach" (Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants).  Our new students are more immersed in technology at home than in school. Many teachers do not incorporate technology into their lessons, which affects our student negatively, and leaves them unprepared for the future.  Whatever the reasons for not using technology, the more we use the happier everyone is.  Still, students need to learn how to focus on one issue instead of multi-tasking many things at once.  They have to acquire skills that help them focus and think deeply about things.  Using technology to teach Bloom's higher order thinking areas--analyzation, evaluation, and synthesis--to induce the type of abilities students may be losing in their quick-paced multi-tasked world.  

Another important aspect that I want to address is the net generation's need to collaborate and share information.  We have to allow them to work in groups but at the same time make sure the work is shared and they are on task instead or chatting (we know how people love to talk).  They should be able to talk, but only about issues pertinent to their assignments.  Using instant messaging, and games to teach better is a good way to capture the attention of students of this generation.  The business world is big on instant messaging.  I don't know why teachers are not.  They probably do not want to be interacting with kids after their assigned classroom hours.  E-mail is probably a better way to communicate.  

Another impediment that I think affects students from using technology is that not everyone has the same access to computers.  For instance, if two students in your class do not have computers at home it makes it hard to assign homework using technology.  It will not be fair if certain people do not have the same access to technologies.  Still, we have to try to understand what the net generation needs and will need in the future.  Teachers have to design and advocate programs that enhance technological skills.  If not, we will be failing our students. 

Converging Literacy in the "Age of Convergence."

Reading the material associated with this course,  I'm realizing the multiple literacy skills students will need as they assimilate into the "The Age of Convergence,"and onward into the second decade of the new millenium.  Literacy now signifies much more than just books, newspapers, and magazines.  It seems the term has come to represent almost any kind of information available to our sights and senses.  Media literacy, data literacy, computer literacy are terms used nowadays to represent the different information sources people are acquainted with.  The "Age of Convergence" is an appropriate label for the first decade of our new century. People are communicating at an astonishing level.  By the end of this year, the number of e-mails sent daily will exceed 100 billion world-wide and half will be person to person.  Our world is becoming significantly globalized and information driven.  Such leaps in information availability stimulate democratic values, and award people power where they have not had it before.  

Understanding what the different modes of informational delivery will help teachers like us focus our energies on teaching certain skill needed in the future.  Distinguishing among computer literacy, information literacy, and integration literacy will help teachers determine what is important to focus on.  Beginning with computer literacy, I understand it as knowledge and ability to use computers and technology efficiently.  Having knowledge how to use and operate computers is a main component of computer literacy.  Recognizing computer terms and abilities, limitations, and dangers is also part of it.  The ability to solve technological problems at the lower level is a requisite in gaining computer literacy.  Information literacy and integration literacy can be considered part of computer literacy.  Why? They are both domains that increase our knowledge about computer technology. 

Information literacy is the ability to find, analyze, and use information.  It does not necessarily have to refer to the specific use of computers and internet, but the internet is a main gateway to finding information today.  Some other sources of information are videos, radio, television, and compact disks.  Media literacy is a term associated with the garnering of information in this way.  Knowing how to gather information is also a part of information literacy.  One example of this is being aware of the tools that are out there.  For instance our class just learned about del.icio.us as a tool that functions as a gathering point for web addresses.  Now a person can access their preferred information sources from anywhere they can access the internet. Organizing information in this way is a characteristic of information literacy.  

In regards to integration literacy, my impression is that it is educationally focused.  This literacy seems geared towards teachers, and their ability to use computer/technological resources including the internet as tool to enhance thinking in students.  And, by thinking I mean higher-order thinking such as analyzation, evaluation, and synthesis (Bloom's taxonomy).  Working with computers to me is problem solving, and goes beyond collection of data.  Matching appropriate technology to objectives, goals, and outcomes is a characteristic of integration literacy.  Having knowledge about the tools that are useful in technological arena builds integration literacy and helps us to understand why they have named our present era as "The Age of Convergence." Our world is becoming more connected by technology.

Looking towards the future, it is clear that the aforementioned regions of literacy are what students will need to be proficient in as they zoom into the next decade.  Future jobs will require a working understanding of computers and technology.  Currently we are engaging the literacy of the future and becoming proficient in it.  Becoming aware of the new technologies that are out there and their uses is part of our contemporary literacy.  We must be adaptive and versatile because change happens overnight with the new innovations in our world.  Keeping up to date with new technologies will be the wave of the future.  What's next? We will have to stay engaged to find out.   

Educational Theories

Hi everyone,

Well, it was a long weekend but I finally finished my classwork.  I studied about some educational theories, and connected those to philosophical world views.  It is interesting how most theories are connected all the way back to Aristotle and Plato.  Knowledge is something that doesn't become outdated.  It is something that can be applied to different contexts and situations.  And, in my opinion learning should focus on ideas that can be applied in every situation in life.  What good is knowledge if it can't be used?  

My preference on an educational personal assessment leaned towards humanism and constuctivism.  I think this turned out the way it did because I have a preference to emphasize the individual in learning.  Learning should lead to self-realization as Aristotle promulgated thousands of years ago.  As students learn where they stand on issues, whether political or social, they begin to understand themselves better.  An identity is formed.  I also believe that each philosophical idea and educational theory has valid points that should not be discounted.  I believe a good teacher combines different ideas to facilitate learning.  For instance behaviorism may be considered "authoritarian," but it can be a great methodology for teaching.  Students need a somewhat controlled environment in order to learn.  Nothing beats tangible learning targets, and behavioral objectives as a necessary starting point.   

Genesis

This is my first entry for my blog. Hi all teaching with tech students!