Fall Semester

We wasted no time this first semester of the ITS program jumping right in with interesting readings and important activities.  Part of the semester focused on the tools, databases and telecommunications.  Introducing these tools into the classroom offers exciting experiences.  The challenge for the teacher is to create well-constructed lesson plans focusing on an authentic task, clear outcomes, thinking skills, and software skills.  The following links take you to a variety of activities we completed over the course of the semester focusing on these components and collaborating on best practices.  Equally interesting were activities that we completed incorporating themes from the wide selection of books we read.  This semester we read and discussed the role of technology in our lives to better understand ourselves, our students, and society.  A major theme drawn from our discussions was the use of information, and teaching our students to be good users of information.  Click on the links below to follow the work and discussion of this fall semester.

Summary of Readings and Reflections
Summary of Database Activities
Summary of Telecommunications Activities

In further reflection, my thoughts on this semester can be categorized in the following ways. 
What I Learned This Semester About Technology
What I Learned This Semester About Teaching with Technology
What I Learned This Semester About Teaching
What I Learned This Semester About Myself

What I learned about technology...
The text readings this semester framed much of what I learned about technology this semester.  I feel my understanding, acceptance, and application was broadened by such readings as The Victorian Internet.  We looked at the historical effects and parallels technology has had on various aspects of our daily lives, including culture and environment.  We completed an interesting activity using Inspiration, in which we made connections between the telegraph and the Internet and examined how they have touched many aspects of growth as a society.

The discussion was widened by Alvin Toffler's The Third Wave.  By tracing intellectual and technological development through three revolutionary stages, it brought more questions of applicable use but not necessarily more answers.  In our Reader's Theatre presentation of The Third Wave, we ended with the question:  where do we go from here? 

With such questions of acceptable and appropriate use, we continually looked at technology from our students' point of view.  Don Tapscott's Growing Up Digital reminded us that children are a part of a new generation which has always had computers in their lives and as a part of their education.  Such a realization must be play a major role in the teaching of this generation.  Their reliance on technology for entertainment, shopping, education, and communciation has taught me that I may never catch up to them in skill and prowess.  However, this is okay.  I can learn from the n-generation, and begin to make the shifts Tapscott discusses such as moving off the stage and into the role of a facilitating teacher.  This leads into what I have learned about teaching with technology.

What I learned about teaching with technology...
Tapscott outlines the need for the shift from broadcast to interactive learning.  I like the term he uses "broadcast learning".  That is how I spent my career as a student in my early education--being broadcast to.  I think I did absorb the material, but I don't think I learned how to learn.  Technology can play such an important role in this--learning how to learn and constructing knowledge to lead to lifelong learning.  There was a quote I particularly like in Tapscott's Growing Up Digital.  Seymour Papert said, "The scandal of education is that every time you teach something, you deprive a child of the pleasure and benefit of discovery" (p. 143).  With the variety and abudence of tools and information available to students, the role of the teacher remains critical.  There are great opportunities for us to help facilitate discussions and collaboration.  My biggest lesson in this area of teaching with technology is the re-direction of my efforts and relinquishing some control.  For example, in the past I have taught web evaluation by providing a web evaluation checklist and a list of sites to evaluate.  My new approach would be to begin a discussion of what makes a good website by design and content, and have students develop their own web evaluation checklist, similar to the activity we completed in class.  That checklist would then be used often and in all classes with different resources.  My goal is that students approach research with awareness and openness by looking at websites differently, stopping before simply conducting a google search and considering other alternatives, and becoming comfortable with issues of relevancy, accuracy, authority, and currency.

What I learned about teaching...
I think the biggest lesson this semester is the need for authenticity in the classroom.  The proof is in the task!  While this is not a new concept for me, it is clear that I needed to be reminded of it.  And, the pay-off is a big one.  When provided with an authentic task, students are energized, invested, and motivated.  I believe that this is an easy change for teachers to make in their design and plans.  At the same time, it can be time consuming in developing the task and the well-crafted lesson that must follow.  However, when presenting students with a problem, task, assignment, or project, the real world application is directly tied to enjoyment.  Likewise, I enjoyed working on the construction of  lesson plans with the task as the exciting entry into the learning. 

What I learned about myself...
First, I think I was surprised by what I already knew.  However, that previous knowledge and some great teaching experience was a bit buried.  The work and readings of this course made me think of my early teaching days where despite the newness (and trepidation) of teaching, I spent a lot of time reflecting and thinking about the practice of teaching.  I feel at that time, I also had a bit more control of my classroom and curriculum.  While now within each of my days there is a feeling of rush and trying to catch up.  The demand of our time within the school day and all that we need to cover within a school year, eats into the creativity and thoughtfulness of teaching.  However, I have learned to find pockets of time and take the time to think about the messages I am sending out to my students, in particular focusing on quality rather than quantity. 

Another thing that I learned about myself is the way I communicate with colleagues.  Through email and asychronous discussion, I have the ability to share my thoughts and experiences--my reflections--with others.  This is something that was not available to me in my early days of teacing, and I am sorry of that because I feel that can bind people within a common experience.  And, it provides great learning and sharing experiences.  I enjoy email and asychronous discussions instead of chat.  I like the opportunity to think through and edit my responses.  As well, as I prepare my communication, I can provide links to good sites and resources or even examples of work.  Email provides a great time and place to share that is not always available to teachers during the day.

In conclusion, the semester work and readings provided a great time to reflect and share.  As well, it showed me great techniques and activities that can be quickly incorporated into my classroom and shared with other teachers.