Revisiting Technology & Education

I read a column in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer by a fellow educator and felt it was worth a response.

Hysterical claims sometime obfuscate legitimate beliefs. In the column, Grant Calder pokes fun at the people who exaggerate the importance of the present, and rightly calls into question whether "we live at the most important juncture not just in the four-billion-year history of the planet, but in the history of the cosmos". That is surely an unprovable claim, and deserves to be called out as hyperbole.

But if we put aside the loftiness of the "most important juncture . . . in the history of the cosmos" statement to look at what those claims are based on, there is plenty to suggest that the digitalization of information does have us in a the midst of a sea change in educational objectives and practices. This is a reality that the educational world is grappling with, and the potential outcomes are myriad.

As Grant points out (he also teaches at a Friends' school so I'm sure he is used to being called by his first name), the mere development of new technology is not likely to create a new type of human existence. Analog-era skills like communication and personal responsibility are no less important today than they were in past generations.

Bottom line - there may be drum-beaters who carry their beliefs too far, but let's not miss the accurate notes they strike.

Feedback

I am referencing the post of a friend and fellow educator, Michael Corso, on the Quaglia Institute blog. In it, he relates the experience he had in a school where teachers had made a conscious effort to inform students of the goals of each class. The students reported significantly increased awareness of the practice and engagement with their learning as a result.

In my own classroom, another friend and fellow educator who works with one of my students suggested that student would find a similar focus on lesson objectives beneficial. I agreed, and have begun to write some key-words on the board at the beginning of each class as a way of narrowing students' attention.

The thing is, I knew this already and have known it to be a good practice for years. And sometimes I remember to do it, at least verbally, as we begin class. But I have not been consistent, and I regret the missed opportunities since September to help students better manage their learning. One strategy I am trying to employ is jotting a couple of items on a post-it and sticking it to the board in the morning as a reminder when the daily routines threaten to sidetrack my good intentions.

It's good to have friends in the business - and I always welcome their feedback.

More Technology

One looming sea change in the field of literacy is the emergence of e-book readers like the Kindle or the Nook which will be rolled out by Barnes & Noble this holiday season.

The increased availability of these devices and download-able books will have some people saying, "It's about time!" while others will be decrying the death of literature. Hyperbole abounds.

Literacy is evolving, but not going away. Neither are books. They will simply be joined by new devices that, who knows, may even help boost literacy.

Still Learning Online

One of the criticisms that I have heard about online learning is that it is impersonal and does not provide a community in which one can learn through interactions with others. Perhaps that is true in some models, but it has not been my experience.

There is a robust sense of community that continues to develop as we approach the midway point of the online study group I am facilitating. These are all busy people, juggling a full-time teaching job and managing the courseload in addition to whatever home commitments they have. Yet, through a discussion board, they interact regularly.

I have never met these folks face-to-face (at least that I am aware of), yet I am getting a sense of their personalities, their humor, and their challenges. It is different than the communication you find in traditional professional development settings, but it is still a vibrant learning community.

I suspect that the criticism of online learning is little different from that levied by those who believed that texting, cell phones, e-mail, mp3 players, and even the telephone were going to cripple personal communication as we knew it. Communication methods evolve, but it is hard to imagine a world where communication is not still vital - we might as well embrace the possibilities as new trends emerge.

Learning Online

A generation ago, distance learning conjured up images of remote locales, with stray learners here and there tuning in to a lecture. Now, though, online learning is increasing in popularity everywhere - the city, the burbs, and outlier areas.

Convenience is a big factor. Much online learning is asynchronous, so people can log in and crank out assignments whenever they wish. For people with busy schedules or odd hours, this may be the difference between furthering one's education or not. In many cases, the price is lower than traditional schooling - another powerful factor.

Recent experience has shown me that it is not only about convenience though - an online course may provide students with a better timetable for learning. Instead of spending a finite, predetermined amount of time on a topic, as one would in a live class, online students can accelerate or decelerate their pace, depending on various factors - complexity of the material, background knowledge, interest level.

In the last year, I have taken an online course and am currently facilitating a graduate course for educators online. These courses have been driven by content rather than technology, and the content has been relevant and comprehensive. I can't say these courses are better or worse than a live version would be, only that they are different. Overall, pursuing this line of learning has been a positive, and I am glad I was open to it.

The Forest

Late October in Pennsylvania means fall colors at their peak, and the best way to experience them is by taking a walk in the woods. A forest provides a palette that a single tree cannot.

We all know the saying about missing the forest for the trees, when we miss the colorful palette because we are too focused on a single specimen. This is a time of the school year when it becomes very easy to get bogged down in everyday items like grading homework, giving tests, contacting parents, and attending meetings.

So . . . this post is about stepping away from the tree and seeing the whole palette by revisiting the big picture goals. I want my students to become more literate by developing their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. No single lesson, test or homework assignment will accomplish that, so I need to make sure I keep all aspects of the program in place.

That includes the type of reflection that blogging allows. I hope to avoid a ten-day lapse between posts again.

Six-Word Memoirs

After hearing a radio interview some time ago, I have become a big fan of the Six-Word Memoir. The concept comes from the website of Smith Magazine, a literary publication that allows writers to submit their personal stories in six words. Apparently, the basis of the idea came from a story about Ernest Hemingway - when challenged to write a story in six words, he came up with this: "For sale, baby shoes, never worn."

Earlier this year, my eighth graders tried out the process and came up with some gems. It can be a challenge to make meaning in so few words, but they did so in creative and touching ways.

This week, I posted some of them on a bulletin board and will invite students and guests to add more. (Leave one in the Comments section and it will go up on the board.) I love the activity because it really engages students with content and meaning without being bogged down much by the mechanics of writing. Consequently, students who may normally struggle with certain elements of writing longer pieces get to shine in this format.