Les’s Technology in Education

Here is Lessson Plan 2on the causes of WWI.  It uses ToonDoo to create three pane political cartoons.

This is a mini-review of Larry Lessig’s talk on “How creativity is being strangled by the law”.  This presentation was on TED.COM.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187

Trust and tradition is difficult for many people to accept.  Common sense is not always used when law and “the way things have always been done” conflicts.

Broadcasters came together and created BMI to publish public domain items.  Before this, there was a monopoly by a company who was charging what they wanted for music.  Competition created a better broadcast world in the long room.  But, broadcasters still controlled the majority of the music.

Today, kids have computers, and technology,  to create their own  works.  This is new.  It also frightens those whose creative works have been sold for financial gain in the past, because they may not make their money.  This brings us to the copyright laws of today and public domain issues.

It is a shame when common sense is not the usual principal that people follow when using the internet.  The internet is becoming the world.  And those items shared by others on the internet must be examined and fair useage must be followed.  But what amount of sharing is fair?  When does tradition and the “how we always did it” get put aside for the good of the masses?

During the presentation, Mr. Lessig mentions the legal case over 50 years ago when two farmers sued the aircraft industry for the tresspassing of airplanes on their property.  You see, for hundreds of years before, any area of your property, including extending into space, was yours and yours alone.  The courts ruled that times had changed and that common sense must prevail for technology to continue to advance.

The same is said of today.  With the internet and computers, anyone can be a creator of any type of work.  Therefore, we must all use “common sense” when sharing and viewing  other’s creative works.  After all, it is only fair!

The following is a mini-review of a podcast by Alan November. Mr. November is a popular presenter and thinker about educational technology. He sat down with the podcasting team for a brief conversation about his FETC presentation entitled “Preparing Students To Succeed In a Global Economy.” You can read more about Alan at his website novemberlearning.com.

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/item.php?itemID=9764

REVIEW:

The global education is expanding to the entire world. Countries that were seen as “third world” in the past, is now surpassing the US in education and commercial dominance. The internet has made this possible.

One of his comments that caught my attention was this. “…there are more gifted students in China today than are the total number of students in America.” as well as this statement “..we cannot compete with $12,000 engineers in this country..” Other countries are motivated to learn, we are not.
Our students are behind the rest of the world. November says that students need to take control of their own learning. They need to be motivated. Kids use the electronic media. I-pods are everywhere. He suggests that all teachers need Skype to communicate to others in the world. Every class should have a podcast and the students should produce it, not the instructor. Blogs should also be used in classes so that the students can communicate in all types of media and the world should be a classroom.

An example he uses is the US vs England regarding the Revolutionary War (the US title) and the events that caused it. He says that students should communicate and debate their facts with each other.

He also talks about getting away from testing and the source for analyzing what the student has learned. Learning should be automatic and we, as educators, should strive to keep the natural motivation that kids have active.

Here is the Rubric to go along with the lesson plan: WWI Rubic

Click on the link below to read about my experience with Copyright and Fair Use regulations in regard to classroom use with a teacher in my school.

http://gljsbts.edublogs.org/copyright-and-fair-use-in-the-usa

This is the Lesson Plan for November 19th and 20th due for class : It is WWI: Causes and Effects for the American People. It involves 2 days of block classes (3 hours) and culminates with the use of a group collaboration of questions presented through Turning Point Technology.

Here is the link to my page which includes reflections of four presentations delivered at the 2007 K-12 Online Conference.

http://gljsbts.edublogs.org/k-12-online-conference-reflections

(Note: Be sure to check back every couple of days for the next section of the three part series)

The simplest (when is anything simple in education?) definition of “Modeled Writing” is writing(s) done by the instructor or facilitator. For “Shared Writing“, the basic definition would be a writing done by the instructor/facilitator and the student. And last, but not least, “Interactive Writing” can be explained as sharing the writing between two or more students with the teacher in a guidance role.

While all of these writings have their good and bad qualities, and can be used effectively in differing situations. But I would like to examine each of these on the basis of instructor preparation and usage.

Modeled Writings

Regie Toutman (in Conversations, 2000) describes modeled writing as “writing out loud”. I would like to expand on that note as saying that it is a writing that takes the least amount of preparation and creativity than any of the others. But please do not take that phrase as necessarily “bad“. On the contrary, it can be great if used to describe how to put a bicycle together or to create a comment to the editor of your local newspaper.

The problem can be, if the instructor is not careful, too factual and bland. The teacher just writes on a board; overhead; computer; paper; etc and the students get to “watch”. There is very little creativity and planning on the instructor’s part, which does not allow for very much student interactivity.

The average student may loose focus on the lesson after a few minutes. This type of writing has been around for hundred’s of years with very little change.

Letters, recipes, informational narratives, and directions are all examples

Shared Writing

When student receive feedback from a teacher, it may not address the student’s personal learning needs.  But when an instructor and student write something together, some student’s obtain a better grasp of what the instructor is trying to convey.  This appears to be the best usage of the shared writing method.

Interactive Writing
Interactive writing is my personal favorite.  When two or more student’s collaborate on a writing project, the best of the students shine through.  If one student can eloquently restate the thoughts of their group, it makes the group grow and expand.  If one student understands the knowledge area slightly better than someone else, the discussion that arises causes the writing to become better.

Some problems that I have seen personally, and that an instructor needs to watch out for, is the student that wants to do it all by themselves, the student that wants to sit back and do nothing; the student that is shy; the student that is overbearing; and the student that disrupts the group.  While these students are seen in every classroom, the instructor needs to make special note of them and see that the group works together as a cohesive unit.

Instructional Technology is a broad term. When you ask a person what it means, the answer will be determined by that persons’ educational, cultural, and economic backgrounds; their use of technology in an educational/Instructional setting; and whether they are even in an academic setting. My beliefs come from a perspective of being an insider in the academic arena via a technology specialist.

Instructional technology is, at least in my mind, a tool to be used in educational instruction. It is as simple as that. Instructional technology contains hardware, software, learning processes, and people.

If a teacher uses a hardware tool within the classroom (such as a SmartBoard, LCD projector, computer, or even an overhead projector), then that is the simplest definition of Instructional technology in most people’s minds. But I would suggest that the actual process that the instructor went through to decide to use that tool, would be a true example of instructional technology. By that I mean, when the instructor began the lesson plan (be it in their mind or written down), they had to decide which tools to use to achieve their ultimate goal. If using a blackboard (the type you write on with chalk, not the educational website) is all they needed, then that is an 100-plus year old example of instructional technology. If you use a computer with software such as Adobe Photoshop to assist in teaching a photography class, than that is another example of a physical instructional technology tool. The thought process that the teacher used to get to that spot, is also a very important part of the instructional technology.

In a nutshell, I would have to say that instructional technology is a culmination of all of the thought processes; the physical tools used in achieving the learning goal; and the instructor’s instructional plan. I will expand on these processes in the coming days.

What is your idea of technology integration within the classroom?  Let me know.