The assigned readings for the week were quite manageable, but events in the classroom, the video "Digital Nation," discussions with 8th graders in Synergy, and the content of my Global Studies class left me with a rather frustrating range of observations, thoughts, and emotions. While I understand that this course is about the technological world, I worry that it is presenting a view of the world - and knowledge and education - that may not be complete or entirely accurate.
GEEKING OUT is a HOBBY ("esoteric, peer-driven, self-directed, passionate"). To me the positive aspects are that it gives artists - musicians, film directors, etc. - a venue to share their work and gain recognition. The online games concern me because so many have a war/battle/control theme in a time when all of us are in dire need or practice with peace education and conflict resolution techniques. Geeking out can also become downright dangerous, or even illegal. Last week I watched a CNN episode about child porn. The accessibility is disturbing and then there are the predators: the one who was arrested in this special was an 18-year-old senior who would leave his computer running, downloading hours of horrifying child rape scenes, while his parents were in the next room, oblivious. Gee, was he enraged or engaged by school, and is "going digital" in the classroom going to solve these issues?
Dance, painting, gardening, and Pilates are all hobbies, too, and they are healthier and more holistic than geeking out.
THE RSS READER AND FOLLOWING BLOGS
It was interesting to see the wide range of approaches and writing styles in colleagues' blogs. I have to admit that DEvice's first blog completely blew me away. I'm not surprised, because Laura is "doctoral" in every way, and eloquent when she writes and speaks. I was relieved to see other teachers taking a more practical approach, such as Hala describing a teaching activity. I'm beginning to see the connectivist learning power of blogs......but ah, the time factor.
From The Thinking Stick, I finally learned about the reasoning behind reconnecting Facebook during school hours. I found this a bit disconcerting on several levels. First, the bullying incident, the Facebook shutdown, and the Facebook reconnection were never fully discussed with, or explained to, teachers. It's fine to have the information posted on a blog - even within insideisb, but we can't assume that all members of an organization will go there for information. Personally, I was relieved when Facebook was shut down, partly because its distracts me, and reduces my focus and productivity at work. Nearly all of my friends who work at other schools, including private schools in Thailand and public schools in the US, have strict policies where students AND teachers do not have access to social networking tools during work hours. I like that.
A classroom is for engaged learning, not off-task, petty socializing. I want my students to be focused on their learning tasks, and I want me to be focused on coaching and teaching and learning with my students. In one 4-day work week, in which students had laptops for four separate periods, I had to send four students to the office for: using Facebook (1), using chatmail with another classmate (gossipping about Gr. 7 couples) - (2), and playing a game (1). In each instance, they had a very structured task, and in the chat instance, student pairs were sharing laptops to view and evaluate and piece of student work. Students have plenty of time to socialize, digitally or otherwise, outside of the classroom, and I shouldn't be spending instructional time as a policewoman. Have these decisions been made with full faculty discussion and participation?
During a Synergy session 3 weeks ago, I did the rare thing: I told students they had a choice: they could work on homework, read a book, or use laptops to work on homework or play the game FOOD FORCE, so they could appreciate the difficulties of getting food aid to Haiti. The gender difference was absolute: all of the boys chose the laptops and game, and all of the girls read quietly. So is online engagement more of a learning styles issue than an answer to educational woes?
DIGITAL NATION, IMPOVERISHED WORLD
I'm still processing the first 2/3 of the video Digital Nation. So many scenes resonated with my own experience: my husband, a farmer, doesn't use the Internet (nor email) at all, and he is one of the happiest people I know. We've always had a commuter family, meaning we live five hours apart, and spend 2 weekends a month and all of our vacations together. If those weekends are in Bangkok, and I or our kids start "connecting" with our computers, phones, or other gadgets, Boon feels alienated and shut out, and some kind of conflict can ensue. And I completely understand everyone's side. So are digital devices really connecting us, or disconnecting us from the ones we should be loving the most?
GEEKING OUT is a HOBBY ("esoteric, peer-driven, self-directed, passionate"). To me the positive aspects are that it gives artists - musicians, film directors, etc. - a venue to share their work and gain recognition. The online games concern me because so many have a war/battle/control theme in a time when all of us are in dire need or practice with peace education and conflict resolution techniques. Geeking out can also become downright dangerous, or even illegal. Last week I watched a CNN episode about child porn. The accessibility is disturbing and then there are the predators: the one who was arrested in this special was an 18-year-old senior who would leave his computer running, downloading hours of horrifying child rape scenes, while his parents were in the next room, oblivious. Gee, was he enraged or engaged by school, and is "going digital" in the classroom going to solve these issues?
Dance, painting, gardening, and Pilates are all hobbies, too, and they are healthier and more holistic than geeking out.
THE RSS READER AND FOLLOWING BLOGS
It was interesting to see the wide range of approaches and writing styles in colleagues' blogs. I have to admit that DEvice's first blog completely blew me away. I'm not surprised, because Laura is "doctoral" in every way, and eloquent when she writes and speaks. I was relieved to see other teachers taking a more practical approach, such as Hala describing a teaching activity. I'm beginning to see the connectivist learning power of blogs......but ah, the time factor.
From The Thinking Stick, I finally learned about the reasoning behind reconnecting Facebook during school hours. I found this a bit disconcerting on several levels. First, the bullying incident, the Facebook shutdown, and the Facebook reconnection were never fully discussed with, or explained to, teachers. It's fine to have the information posted on a blog - even within insideisb, but we can't assume that all members of an organization will go there for information. Personally, I was relieved when Facebook was shut down, partly because its distracts me, and reduces my focus and productivity at work. Nearly all of my friends who work at other schools, including private schools in Thailand and public schools in the US, have strict policies where students AND teachers do not have access to social networking tools during work hours. I like that.
A classroom is for engaged learning, not off-task, petty socializing. I want my students to be focused on their learning tasks, and I want me to be focused on coaching and teaching and learning with my students. In one 4-day work week, in which students had laptops for four separate periods, I had to send four students to the office for: using Facebook (1), using chatmail with another classmate (gossipping about Gr. 7 couples) - (2), and playing a game (1). In each instance, they had a very structured task, and in the chat instance, student pairs were sharing laptops to view and evaluate and piece of student work. Students have plenty of time to socialize, digitally or otherwise, outside of the classroom, and I shouldn't be spending instructional time as a policewoman. Have these decisions been made with full faculty discussion and participation?
During a Synergy session 3 weeks ago, I did the rare thing: I told students they had a choice: they could work on homework, read a book, or use laptops to work on homework or play the game FOOD FORCE, so they could appreciate the difficulties of getting food aid to Haiti. The gender difference was absolute: all of the boys chose the laptops and game, and all of the girls read quietly. So is online engagement more of a learning styles issue than an answer to educational woes?
DIGITAL NATION, IMPOVERISHED WORLD
I'm still processing the first 2/3 of the video Digital Nation. So many scenes resonated with my own experience: my husband, a farmer, doesn't use the Internet (nor email) at all, and he is one of the happiest people I know. We've always had a commuter family, meaning we live five hours apart, and spend 2 weekends a month and all of our vacations together. If those weekends are in Bangkok, and I or our kids start "connecting" with our computers, phones, or other gadgets, Boon feels alienated and shut out, and some kind of conflict can ensue. And I completely understand everyone's side. So are digital devices really connecting us, or disconnecting us from the ones we should be loving the most?
So, in Synergy this week, I asked our group a question. Should their instruction and class time all be on-line and virtual? Here were their responses:
"No, because I get distracted."
"No, not all the time - only when the technology is a tool that makes the learning better."
"No, because my teachers have knowledge to share."
"No, because we need to have charisma and develop social skills."
"The human connection is important."
Have we involved students in the discussions and decision-making?
Finally, there is the question of whether the readings, Digital Nation, and our own views and experiences really reflect global realities. The data constantly change, and I try to work with the most reliable and updated sources for my class: for this quarter, by looking at 3 different sources, students decided that IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100:
12 would have a computer
7 would have access to the Internet
1 would have a college education
33 would lack access to a safe water supply
67 would be unable to read
So, while our job as teachers is to engage learners and choose technological tools which enhance learning, my job in particular is to inspire students to become caring global citizenss. So let's not lose sight of the big picture. The one beyond the digital screen.
I appreciated the real-life example of how your family struggles with balancing time together vs. time spent on digital devices. My young children are not using tech tools very often yet, and I hope that as we spend time together as a family, my children are learning the value of person-to-person interaction. I wonder how this will change in the next few years as peers become more of a focus for them socially.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated the question you posed to your students about moving to on-line instruction. Their responses were encouraging and insightful and that is a reflection of how they feel about you as their teacher. Well done.