Oceans Video

Lesson plan, Ocean Exhibits Video:

http://www.intime.uni.edu/video/004kshs/8/

This was a really interesting video. Basically, what is going on in the classroom is a group of older students are teaching two different groups (first graders and fifth graders) various information about oceans through several different exhibits. I really like the interaction that took place between age groups as a result of this project. Not only did the older students learn about the ocean, but they also got a chance to teach others about what they learned. Thus, it was also a learning experience for the younger students.This type of activity can also create a rich in-school community between students. 

Because the video is a little bit old, there wasn't much relevant technology that might help classrooms today. However, I'm sure that there are plenty of technological aspects that could be added to a project such as this. For example, students could create a WebQuest type of lesson, a PowerPoint presentation, or show videos using the Internet. 

Students Using WebQuests

Video based on the following WebQuest:

http://www.intime.uni.edu/lessons/026iams/Solar_System_Webquest/INDEX.HTM

I was really interested in how well the students seemed to work together in their groups. They were really engaged in the activity and looked like they were interested in the research aspect of it. The teacher also did an excellent job of facilitating the students' learning, I thought. Her comments to the class were helpful, timely, informative, and concise.

From this video alone, it seems that WebQuests would be a beneficial activity to use within the classroom. It promotes the use of technology and enables students to better research for things using the Internet. It also promotes group work and good communication between classmates and the teacher.

Something that might be difficult in doing a WebQuest with a large class is being sure that all the students are on task and not surfing the web.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Are students digital learners?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

The idea that students are solely digital learners is a little bit fluffy to me. I am surrounded by technology, but that doesn't mean that I need to use it all the time in order to learn something. A classroom shouldn't be wholly dependent on technology in order for students to learn. However, that also doesn't mean that a classroom should never use technology.

A teacher should use technology to the extent that he or she feels that it is going to be beneficial to the student, taking into consideration the opinion of his or her students. Too much technology can create a negatively dependent classroom, so that when the student doesn't have a chance to use technology they don't know what to do and they don't know how to learn. Too little technology used with students can make a subject seem irrelevant, inapplicable.

I like the idea that teachers need to engage their students - that is part of their job. I think that one of the most detrimental aspects of technology in education is the development of lazy teachers because they can just use technology to teach students. Yes - students enjoy technology. But they still need a teacher. They need someone who can utilize the latest technology in a way that doesn't waste time or effort, in a way that helps the students learn better. Students don't need technology; they need a teacher who can use technology.

A Vision of Students Today

College students today are surrounded by technology, but is that technology helping them or harming them?

http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=119

Often times, technology in college can be extremely helpful: word processors, search engines, online research programs, instant information through the Internet, the ability to communicate quickly and effectively, etc. However, a student's education can also be simultaneously harmed by the abundant use of technology: excessive distractions from school work, constant communication with many people, an overwhelming amount of information to dig through to find what you need, and so on.

There are so many times in most of my classes that students are going through Facebook when the professor is speaking. And there similarly many times when professors think that a PowerPoint presentation is effective teaching. While technology is helpful, it seems to be underutilized in the classroom. Students use it - but mostly for entertainment. Educators use it sometimes - but mostly for PowerPoint lectures that could be just as effective, if not more effective, if done without. When a classroom makes the most of the technology that is available - and when it is used by both the teachers and the students - then it will be useful in the classroom. In my college career, I have experienced this rarely.

Web 2.0

I originally did not know what Web 2.0 was because I am apparently too young, which is one an example of how technology changes so quickly! 

This video claims to describe what Web 2.0 is in about 5 minutes. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

So now that I understand it a little bit better, briefly, Web 2.0 describes the way we now communicate with each other using technology and the Internet. It is the instant sharing of information - picture, video, or text. Facebook and MySpace are two primary examples; people around the world can communicate with each other quicker than ever before and with ease (provided that you understand the Internet and basic computer functions). Web 2.0 has seen the transformation of how we give and receive information. Instead of magazines and newspapers and word of mouth, although all of those things are still widely in use, our world has become one of digital technology. Our information comes from the Internet and we give our information through the Internet. 

This kind of digital technology can have impressive impacts on education today - both positively and negatively. Utilizing the current technology, teachers can interact and respond with students, parents, and other educators in an instant. Teachers can pull ideas and resources from countless websites, and students can research quickly using digital technology. 

However, classrooms need to avoid becoming so dependent on computers that the relationship between teachers, students, and parents is lost. Relationships can often be facilitated and encouraged through on-line interaction, but they can also be drowned by it. We need to be careful to maintain face-to-face relationships, to be personable and available for our students and their parents. And if we want our students to be balanced, healthy individuals we often need to pull away from the digital screen.

Classroom Technologies in Action

The technologies that were used in this classroom with the students, although somewhat outdated, were effective for teaching students how to use computer programs for business situations. In this video, the students were involved in the upkeep of a pretend business - adjusting prices in order to view how pricing affected the supply and demand of their product(s).

This type of computer interaction is able to help students get a real picture of how technology affects the things that people do in the field of business, while simultaneously teaching basic economic principles of supply and demand. This interactive approach can certainly be more fun and entertaining than reading through a textbook. 

What's His Problem?

What's this boy's problem?

http://castle.eiu.edu/~scienced/philosophy/poor.html

If you answered, "nothing," then I agree with you! I don't think this boy has a problem. He conducts business with his uncle and farmers around his area. He can calculate mathematical figures, he can memorize information, he can read maps, he can build things, he can help people. He just cannot "do" school.

He isn’t slow; he is not mentally deficient. But he does need to have academic experiences that relate to his life. How are the names of the Presidents going to help this boy? In all reality, they probably aren’t going to be of any use to him. Just like a bookend or a broom holder would be of no use to his mother. He can’t name the imports or exports of Chile, but why would he want to? Why does he need to know how wide a highway is? How is knowing the Articles of Confederation going to make him a better citizen? And yet, these are the things he "needs" to learn. 

Interestingly, when this boy was actually engaged in something at school, the vacuum, his teacher rejected his application of it to his life. I think that this is the real problem: teachers misunderstand their students. Teachers need to understand that some kids just are not going to be interested in activities that have no bearing on their life. Some students don't care about "What a Daffodil Thinks of Spring." For those students, teachers need to create and facilitate learning of real, applicable activities - activities that require knowledge and creativity, but can be used when they leave school. For the boy in the story, maybe an experiment with a diesel engine, or a report on how they work. Or let him create a report about how he can save his uncle money with his business.

For those students who like to ponder about what flowers think of the different seasons, just let them keep doing what they are doing. 

Do learning styles exist?

A very interesting concept - do learning styles really exist (visual, verbal, hands-on, etc)? In an education system that teaches that all students learn differently, this theory could be quite controversial.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk

Although I am not aware of the science behind the theory, I would say that I agree with Professor Willingham that students don't have different specific learning styles. It makes sense that some students pick up on visual instruction and others on auditory instruction, but that doesn't prove that a student learns a specific way. It just means that they understood a different method of teaching.

Take this example: You, a social studies teacher, lecture to your class for ten minutes about a battlefield during the Civil War. You explain its location  in relation to other areas of interest, run through the topography of the area, point out the benefits and disadvantages of such a location, and other interesting facts. One of your students raises his hand, commenting that he doesn't understand what you are lecturing about. You show him  physical and topographical maps of the battlefield and explain again why they would benefit or disadvantage the soldiers. Now he understands. What does this mean?

Well, it means that he understood what you were teaching when you presented it to him in a different way. Other students understood the lecture - he didn't. So, you found a way in which he understood. This doesn't mean that he ought to be categorized as a visual learner. There may be times when he does fine listening to a lecture. But it is all about making sure the student understands the material.

Whichever concept you believe to be true about the way students learn, does it necessarily make a difference? We are all concerned about the students' learning, including myself.

Teacher as Facilitator

When I think of a teacher, I most usually think of a person who stands at the front of the classroom giving out information and taking feedback from younger peoples, or students. There is a new idea in education, however, that puts the teacher of a classroom into a new position: the facilitator. A facilitator is one who helps others communicate or get something done. Instead of a lecturing format, the classroom in which the teacher is the facilitator becomes an area for open discussion - an area in which the students do the majority of the talking. This idea also reminds me of the teaching method called constructivism, a concept that allows students to "teach themselves" in a sense.

The goal in both constructivism and facilitating is to allow students more control over their learning - to make it direct and worthwhile at the maximum level. Isn't this many times a teacher's goal?

Students & Technology: What's wrong?

Question: Why are students not actively involved with the technology that is already in schools?

Often times, as you may remember from high school days, there are technologies in classrooms that go unused by teachers as well as students. Why? Here is one scenario: Imagine being a high school teacher and your school has just provided you with a brand new machine to help your students learn. Being unaware of this piece of equipment, however, you let it sit in the corner. It becomes a table for extra papers rather than a tool to assist your students. Without knowledge of how to use a tool you may not use it. Your students also never use it.

Technologies change so quickly that it is difficult to keep up with them no matter how much you may be used to computers. If schools are going to provide the latest equipment for teachers, they ought to also provide instruction for how to use the equipment.