Do you remember dioramas? I do.
I remember the excitement of the teachers when they found a new way to showcase learning. I remember doing book reports in dioramas and the teacher feeling so proud that it was not just a pencil and paper project. I remember when I was a teacher and feeling proud that I gave my students new options to showcase their understanding. I remember being a student and being allowed to show creativity with my finished project. And I remember being graded for correct and shown content.
And I wonder, are we doing the same thing with tech?
Are we allowing our students to create powerpoints, animotos, wiki’s, blogs, animations, 3d environments….etc etc etc……yet still grading them on a certain expectation of “produced content?” A certain amount of creativity but a expected output??
I listened to a conversation this morning and belived I heard “reguritated information” and it hit me and stuck with me. If, we, as teachers, are still pouring in the information and then giving the students “tech” ways to reproduce the content — have we really evolved?
or just found a new way to reproduce the old thing?
My thoughts are churning and I need to step back and think a bit. But I wanted to post this blog and open it up to conversation……please join me.
Jen
Jen,
I think that the answer to this question is yes and no. I personally don’t think that teachers “pouring in the information and giving students technology as a way to reproduce content” is all wrong. I don’t think that having students make dioramas or other creative ways to show understanding of a concept are terrible either. Are there other more 21st century sharing/networking ways to infuse technology into our students education? Yes, does this mean that they always have to be used? No, but, where appropriate, most certainly!
There are some times that students should have teachers “teaching them” concepts and other times that students need to discover and think and delve deeper into a concept. Knowledge and learning is not, in my opinion, only self directed- there is value in reading and understanding something and then in whatever means that the teacher deems appropriate, showing what you know.
I teach “computer” class-integrating the curriculum with my k-2 students. Limited reading and writing abilities does not diminish the technology “lessons” that we do. I would argue instead that the computers, programs, internet and projects that the students create are the highlight of their day at school.
[...] of things begin covered in the show. Then as I was reading blogs I came across this post from Jen Wagner. ( one of my favorite online friends) Her posts always get me to thinking. I teach second [...]
I guess it depends on how it is used. We have at least one teacher who turns the students loose to construct something autobiographical using PowerPoint. Don’t know how she grades them, but it seems a little more flexible. But it could be done just as well with a scrapbook as a PowerPoint (except for showing it to the class.)
I read somewhere that there was enormous excitement when chalkboards first came to classrooms. Which is kind of random, but seemed like it had something to do with what we’re discussing here.
I agree that we are just re-packaging the same old stuff. And I see that when I introduce my students to our “Portal” (an online website for uploading and downloading their work, plus e-mail, forums, etc.) At first they are extremely excited to be working on computers, so much so you can hear them chit chatting with excitement. But soon enough, as the honeymoon period is so short, they quickly realize that this is still school and they still have work to do, even if it ios all on the computer…
My perspective is that school is still very much a socializing exercise. Kids still need fundamentals regardless of how it is presented in class. Too often I repeat to my students the old axiom: “Either it is done, or it’s not done,” as they don’t realize how excuses are just excuses. But at the same time, I enjoy the fact that my class is project based rather then exam based, thus it leans itself more towards student development rather then just knowledge retention. The downside, as Deb said, is that the evaluation process gets kind of messy.
Great thoughts! Keep ‘em coming.
TW
I agree with much of what’s already been said. I think of some of the final projects teachers at my school are having students complete – posters about their president or state, for example. These projects are slowly becoming PowerPoint projects or VoiceThreads. I don’t think this is all bad, though. Kids are becoming more comfortable using a computer or some other technology. Certainly, it’s not full technology integration, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Jenn, I think you bring up a great point. The goal of using new technology is to improve instruction and enhance the learning environment. It shouldn’t just be used as another way to reproduce the same old things. One of the contributors to our TI-Teacher’s Lounge (link: http://timath.com/blog/?p=237), stated that his first step is to think of the “big idea” he wants his students to learn. If he can come up with a lesson where the new technology would benefit the student’s learning, he’d spend the time developing the lesson. If not, he goes with what he knows already works.