I think this video gives great insight into the life of a college student. Just about every student I know, myself included, has sent text messages or been on Facebook during class. I have seen numerous status updates saying "I'm in class," or "I can't seem to get off Facebook and finish my homework." The girl who wrote that she would read only 8 books this year, but would read 2300 webpages, and 1281 Facebook profiles, shocked me. I think that the internet and social networking sites are a great way to find out information and keep in touch, but I also think they serve as a great distraction.
Another shocking statistic was the average class size being 115, and that only 18% of professors knew their names. Luckily, here at the University of South Alabama, we have class sizes nowhere near 115. The largest class size I've had was about 50, and the smallest was 11, and I think that most all of my professors know my name.
It's Not About the Technology
In Kelly Hines' blog "It's Not About the Technology," she describes what is needed to positively impact this new generation of learners, and "it's not about the technology." As Hines said, "technology is useless without good teaching," and I completely agree. A teacher can have all the resources in the world, but if you do not present the material in a way children can understand, you have taught them nothing.
What stood out to me the most was when she said "When we put innovative tools in the hands of innovative teachers, amazing things can happen. If you put these tools in the hands of teachers who are not willing to innovate, money has been wasted." I think this is so true. Here in the Mobile County Public School System we are striving to put SmartBoards in all classrooms, many of which already have them. I know several teachers who use the SmartBoard, and the tools and resources that come with them, everyday; and then there are others who rarely use the SmartBoard, or that only utilize them as a regular white board. I don't think technology is the answer to learning, but I think it can be a great tool to help!
Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
In the post, Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?, Karl Fisch, answers that very question. I do not think that it is okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher, for many different reasons. First of all, children today are becoming more and more technologically literate at a younger age. We as teachers need to be able to keep up. As we saw last week in the Mr. Winkle Wakes video, technology is changing all around us, and we need to as well.
Also, as discussed in Fisch's blog, some find humor in the fact that they are "illiterate" in some areas. Whether it's computers or math, illiteracy is not something to be made light of. I definitely know people that are content with being technologically illiterate. We as teachers should always strive to learn more.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
I think this is amazing. I started this assignment, then realized 10 minutes later, that I was still just staring at this social media counter. It is hard for me to comprehend what all of this actually means. What will the numbers look like an hour from now? Or tomorrow? Or a year from now? This just puts the rate at which everything is growing into perspective.
That is so great that you added the counter to your blog? Was it hard? I especially like that you connected your reading to what is happening locally. Are smartboards the best choice for MCPSS? What is better?
ReplyDeleteI was actually surprised at how easy adding the counter was! It seems like every web page I go to these days has a way to share it with Facebook, or embed something to a blog.
ReplyDeleteMy group's podcast is about using the SmartBoard in the classroom. I think that student participation has probably improved since the integration of the SmartBoards in the classrooms. I guess we will see when we interview our teacher!