Hello Readers, Here are my most outstanding, memorable, take-forever moments from EME5050. Perhaps some of you all can agree:
1. Online courses do not always equate to EASY, and easy is not always what makes us learn.
I was forced into a challenge with this class, and I think it has paid off. I have learned so many new techniques, technologies, and ideas to bring into the classroom...to better my classroom. And I don't think I would have had to dive in as deep (and learn as much) if the class were easy.
2. Technology is here to stay, and here to evolve.
And it should be. I've learned so many ways to enhance the classroom with it--not to mention make the teacher more efficient and effective. So what's next?
3. Reading other educators' blogs is much more enlivening, enriching, and inspiring than reading text about microprocessors and hypertext transfer protocol.
So let's take this lesson to heart, and to our classrooms.
4. Creative Commons is still confusing.
Every time I use a picture I still feel the potential to be sued :)
5. Working and interacting with all of you was great.
Thank you for helping me learn more than I could have on my own.
The video "Engaged" presents so many questions about our purpose and effectiveness as educators.
In her interview, Connie Yowell says:
"We don't make room for curiosity"
Are you able to kindle your students' curiosity for learning amidst the pressures to cover content?
Learning is..."decontextualized because we are focused on outcomes" and not the Experience.
Are you committed to providing authentic learning experiences to your students?
Do you feel that your class' learning suffers because of demands to perform to "outcomes" such as standardized testing? Do you provide experiences where students can "try, fail, and come back to the failures to do again?"
To paraphrase Connie Yowell, ulimately, we want our students to view their learning experience as a "page-turner." Are your students engaged and anxiously anticipating what comes next in their learning experience?
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References
McCleod, Scott. (2012). Dangerously Irrelevent. Retrieved November 19, 2012 from
These days, technology is most often educationally useful... and if not, there is probably a means to make it so!
However, I grapple with how useful certain technologies are for students in my arena of experience: the Early Childhood Classroom.
I concluded that digital media authoring is not educationally appropriate for 4 year olds, and I jumped into a ficticious scenario for students a few years older than I am used to teaching. I estimated that by the First Grade, students working in groups could benefit from researching a curriculum page about Dental Health and creating a simple Prezi to share with the class.
Please view the type of digital presentation I expect from my [fictitious] First Graders:
Are my expectations for First Graders to work together and author a digital presentation realistic? Would this be educationally useful--and further--beneficial for students in the First gGrade? Any other tips / feedback? Thank you!
Friday, October 26, 2012
What are some of the best technologies to implement into the Early Childhood Education Classroom?
I've been thinking about how to best utilize appropriate technologies to benefit preschool students. I don't want to use a technology simply to say that technologies are being incorporated into the preschool classroom. Just like any teaching tool, I want technologies to be used because they are utterly beneficial, they enhance the learning, and because they are the best way to convey a message.
So what have we talked about that is appropriate for the little ones?
Smartboards, certainly. I know many Orange County Schools have received Smartboards and the proper training for all grades...and the results are exciting.
But most importantly of all, I think it is essential for Educators to have the proper technological training and to be able to decide what is helpful, essential, or best for their students' learning.
I've come across several good blog postings about the importance of teachers continuing their professional education...to include current technologies, of course. Here are some from Scott McCleod's blog, http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/
The more I learn, the more it seems that if educators have the right knowledge and training, technologies of all kinds will come to mind when planning lessons, even in the Early Childhood Classroom.
Texting is the method of communicating for the younger generation. Texting has a 100% read rate (Lublin 2012).As the video points out, every text sent to a young adult will be opened and read.
Thus, Lublin describes an action plan to help children in all manners of crisis, brought to her attention via texts received to social campaigns within the organization http://www.dosomething.org/
Now major steps are being taken to help children succeed and be healthy in all areas of their lives.
The video really counterbalances some of the negatives heard about texting.
And now for another topic frequently dismissed as having any merit or worth: Video Games--don't discredit anything yet!
Are we keeping up with the "digital natives?" (Blackboard video) What strategies can we use to further engage them?
What makes us hesitant to change? Are we afraid to fully switch over to digital templates? Is it even necessary to do away with methods we believe have been effective for years? How can we incorporate technology and also hang onto "lost arts," like even pen & paper?
How do educators achieve a balance of methods while integrating technology?
The goal is to build upon previous methods of effective teaching.
Integrating technology is part of the evolution of effective teaching.
Check out the Teaching Channel's webpage to watch a video about how a 37-year veteran teacher in Finland incorporates and balances technology in her classroom. Essentially, the story is about how technology can further the learning--and the learning network--of any subject.
The students in the video are active, engaged in learning, and they use technology alongside many other meaningful tasks.
Ok, well... what about Internet Safety? With how often digital learners are connected to the web, how can we effectively teach and encourage students to navigate the internet safely, and independently?
This is a great resource from the Teaching Channel's website. Perhaps it may be appropriate and necessary to incorporate this type of lesson:
The teacher chooses an interactive, true-to-scenario lesson about interet safety. The students clearly are engaged because they identify the material/discussion as completely relevant and useful to their lives. There are many effective and simple ways to confront the "risks" or "issues" that may keep educators hesitant to fully embrace and validate the use of technologies in the classroom.
Some say technological advances provide for instant gratification...a negative with children?
Any way you look at it, students are digital learners, and they are ready to move on.
Are you?
As the following video from Michael Pershan explains, effective teaching in America cannot solely rely on students "watching" the teacher and then "practicing" the methods on their own.
Although Pershan's clip is about teaching math, it poses these questions:
Are we modeling the most effective teaching strategies in our country?
and
What can we use to become more effective educators?
A SOLUTION through TECHNOLOGY
Communications. Networking. The Web.
Utilizing Technologies and Integrating these resources into the classroom.
Networked Resources
Integrating these technologies into the classroom affords
more student interaction
more collaboration
infinite sources of "unlimited educational information" (Shelly et al 2012 p. 54)
real learning experiences
a genuine applicability to everyday, familiar life that will "enhance student learning" (Shelly et al 2012 p. 54).
Photo Courtesy of San Jose Library via Flickr Creative Commons
We can aim to become the classroom's Digital Concierge:
provide learning opportunities through technology to "capture students' attention, eliminate boredom, and...arouse natural curiosity" (Shelly et al 2012 p. 23).
Foster students' motivation to learn by making them "...feel that learning is relevant or important to their lives" (Shelly et al 2012 p. 23). And these days, computers are relevant, familiar, and important to students' lives.
So, about instant gratification: Shouldn't we stop saying kids need to learn to wait? ...when really, students can't wait to learn!
Well...in response to the video Iowa: Did You Know?
No I did not know the statistics in education were that bad! AHHHH. I just finished reading how surprisingly good the American educational system is doing in Best Practice. Ok yes but obviously improvements are there to be made.
In response to the question posed by McLeod's "Iowa" video: "Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us?"
The answer is absolutely what is convenient for us. There is a serious Catch-22 in the educational system: it is a profession that should have the highest-qualified professionals/ relay amazing results in educational gains and yet it somehow is undeniably over-populated with mediocre teachers who (for a plethora of reasons) have stopped learning, have quit educating themselves and are just cranking out the basics, the conveniences, the antiquated methods. Uninspired. Ineffective.
We've all heard the reasons. We've heard colleagues say these things. Let's start with a few: there's enough work as it is for a teacher to do to learn and incorporate new concepts. Just teach the kids the basics--that turned out fine for us, didn't it? Well the kids will have to learn at some point that they can't always do what's fun.
But as the Iowa video points out, the world has changed...and will continue at astonishing speeds! Surely a classroom model that could substitue in 1890 should not work today!
I must point to Karl Fisch's comment on http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2007/05/well_whats_your.html and agree that for the most part, teachers have good intentions! However, if you stop educating yourself on the many aspects of being an educator, good intentions aren't enough!
By the way, isn't it Fisch's original "Iowa" video that he presented at his staff meeting the catalyst for this demonstration?
Educators should be on the cutting edge of their profession; you wouldn't trust a foot surgeon who wasn't up to date in his practice (reference the 1995 Tampa incident). Why should teachers be forgiven continuing education and professional improvement? Our job is supposed to be one of the most important in the country--how can we believe it is with such low competency standards?
So what do we do? Begin by being the example of professionalism and knowledge at your school. Attitudes are contagious and if we want to move our schools forward, it starts with us. Who knows, maybe 100 years from now, educators will be very highly regarded. Or maybe if we are ineffective, a computer will replace us.
