in the latest news about scandals regarding technology acquisition for schools, it is only fair to ask ourselves: how much involved do we WANT/NEED to be in the decision making process regarding such timely issue. How much do we need to educate ourselves on 1. technology? 2. application of technology in education? compatible choices of technology, including performance, prices and brands? Do we discuss such issues or just let people above us and/or elected by us make the choices? What is your opinion?
What is your opinion about open source and alternative mobile devices?
But the rationale that I find most disturbing—despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that it’s rarely made explicit—is the idea that technology will increase our efficiency…at teaching the same way that children have been taught for a very long time. Perhaps it hasn’t escaped your notice that ed tech is passionately embraced by very traditional schools: Their institutional pulse quickens over whatever is cutting-edge: instruction that’s blended, flipped, digitally personalized.
We can’t answer the question “Is tech useful in schools?” until we’ve grappled with a deeper question: “What kinds of learning should be taking place in those schools?”
Tarting up a lecture with a SmartBoard, loading a textbook on an iPad, looking up facts online, rehearsing skills with an “adaptive learning system,” writing answers to the teacher’s (or workbook’s) questions and uploading them to Google Docs—these are examples of how technology may make the process a bit more efficient or less dreary but does nothing to challenge the outdated pedagogy. To the contrary: These are shiny things that distract us from rethinking our approach to learning and reassure us that we’re already being innovative.
putting grades online (thereby increasing their salience and their damaging effects), using computers to administer tests and score essays, and setting up “embedded” assessment that’s marketed as “competency-based.” (If your instinct is to ask “What sort of competency? Isn’t that just warmed-over behaviorism?”
But as I argued not long ago, we shouldn’t confuse personalized learning with personal learning. The first involves adjusting the difficulty level of prefabricated skills-based exercises based on students’ test scores, and it requires the purchase of software. The second involves working with each student to create projects of intellectual discovery that reflect his or her unique needs and interests, and it requires the presence of a caring teacher who knows each child well.a recent review found that studies of tech-based personalized instruction “show mixed results ranging from modest impacts to no impact” – despite the fact that it’s remarkably expensive.
an article in Education Week, “a host of national and regional surveys suggest that teachers are far more likely to use tech to make their own jobs easier and to supplement traditional instructional strategies than to put students in control of their own learning.”
OECD reportednegative outcomes when students spent a lot of time using computers, while Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) concluded that online charter schools were basically a disaster.
Larry Cuban, Sherry Turkle, Gary Stager, and Will Richardson.
Emily Talmage points out, uncannily aligned with the wish list of the Digital Learning Council, a group consisting largely of conservative advocacy groups and foundations, and corporations with a financial interest in promoting ed tech.
Like the millennials before them, Generation Z grew up as digital natives, with devices a fixture in the learning experience. According to the survey results, these students want “engaging, interactive learning experiences” and want to be “empowered to make their own decisions.” In addition, the students “expect technology to play an instrumental role in their educational experience.”
to cater to the digital appetites of tomorrow’s higher education learners, technology in education will need to play a bit of catch-up, states the New Media Consortium’s 2015 Course Apps report. According to NMC’s analysts, digital-textbook adoption was one of the leading trends helping to reinvent how higher education students learn. But publishers have not captured the innovations happening elsewhere in the digital marketplace.
The Generation Z report ranked the effectiveness of 11 education technology tools:
1) Start Where Your Students Are … 2) Know Where Your Students Are Going … 3) Expect Students To Get To Their Goals 4) Support Students Along The Way http://www.transl8it.com – (English to text lingo conversion – I blogged about this last night – see my post below). Google Translate – Language translation – spells it (correctly and phonetically), and says it. Skype – great for author conferences, social studies (talk to people in other countries), keep a student connected who has been absent, or is away on a trip. https://posterous.com/ – easy way to create your own blog through your email – great for setting up a class blog to keep students / parents informed. 5) Use Feedback edmodo.com – It’s almost like a kind of facebook – but you can set it up for your classroom – post questions, reading clubs, etc. and give feedback to students as they answer questions. ed.voicethread.com https://docs.google.com – Students can use this for their writing assignments, and not worry about bringing files back and forth to school. Teachers have access to the page to make corrections / give feedback throughout the writing process. 6) Focus on Quality Rather Than Quantity edu.glogster.com – I’ve set up an account with glogster so we can make multi-media posters next year. I can so see myself using this with science / social studies. http://www.animoto.com/education – A site for making movies and slideshows. photopeach.com/education – Another site for making movies and slideshows. http://www.jaycut.com – Yet another site for making movies and slideshows – this one looks like it has a few more features (like slow-motion). blabberize.com – Bring your still pictures to life by making them talk – I can so see myself using this next year with my SMARTboard lessons! Wouldn’t it be cool to make a fraction talk and explain how to do a concept during a math lesson?!? http://www.wikispaces.com – I am definitely going to investigate this one further. I’d like to make a wiki for one of my science units next year – assigning students a different part or concept, and then putting it all together. We could even print off the pages later and turn them into our own reference book. livebinder.com – A lot of the teachers at the webinar talked about how they would use this resource to set up student portfolios … hmmmmm … intriguing. epubbud.com – Students can create their own ebooks (which other people can access) and display them on a shelf (similar in looks to shelfari). A great way to publish their writing, and make the writing process more authentic for them. http://www.prezi.com – Another multi-media site great for presentations. Use as an introduction to a new unit, or have students create their own presentations for a certain topic.
