Social Justice and Technology

My main concern about using technology in the classroom has always been access. However, after doing the reading, I realized there are a lot of options for students who do not have computer access. These include the public library (and probably the school library as well), community technology centers, or Boys and Girls Club. I suppose, though, that if I was going to teach technology and require students to have some kind of access at home, I’d need to check out all public options to make sure they were accessible and had the kind of technology I was requiring my students to learn. If outside access was truly a problem I couldn’t feel justified in requiring students to do outside work where computers were needed.

Another cool resource from the reading is the Digital Equity Portal. Apparently it lists a whole bunch of resources for schools to obtain computers cheaply. Sweet. And software too! I still stand on my no cell phone platform, though. I just don’t see how that could ever be fair since not all students have one (Rhiannon, feel free to comment here).

I do think that I will be doing my students a disservice if I don’t teach them basic technology skills (and as of right now, I don’t think that includes cell phones). Almost every job and every university requires the use of technology. In order to keep up with their peers all students should know basic computing skills, at the very least. Today it is almost more critical that students can use computers and technology than that they know higher math. It is extremely difficult to become successful without knowing the basics about technology.

If there is truly not universal access outside of the school I could require assignments be completed at school. Or, I could allow more access time to students without home access. At any rate, at every school I’ve been to, there is at least one computer in the classroom. I could allow the kids to rotate through that computer to complete class assignments or I could open up the classroom for kids to sign up to use it before or after school. And if the school itself has, say, only one computer lab, I’d make it essential for every student to rotate through the lab at least once (preferably a lot more) every school year.

PowerPoint Presentations

I usually hate Power Point. I avoid it at all costs because I think it often makes a really good presentation boring. However, I can totally see how it works in an educational setting for visual learners. I might actually use it for that reason. And just being able to show pictures is key to any lesson. It would also be good for changing things up once in a while and making things more interesting. Problems arise when you use Power Point in place of note-taking. Two things occur here: 1) students don't take any of their own notes, even when it would be useful, 2) students don't pay attention when they know they'll receive notes later. Also bad is when the Power Point is covered in words instead of used for pictures or to get main points across.

Powerpoint don'ts: ...
-use black font!
-use more words than pictures--blah.
-talk to the screen.
-use notes section as a script.
-put dark fonts on dark background.

Powerpoint do's: ...
-use more pictures than words.
-include pictures of primary sources that you might not otherwise be able to obtain or bring in.
-use PPT as a visual, not as a lesson in itself.
-use big font.
-make videos full-screen, or close to.
-use arrows or circles to emphasize.

Best item: Paul's bird pictures and few words except for bird names. Paul's birds running across the screen. Also, circles on important ID characteristics.

Item to improve on: Make things as big as possible, if there's room. This includes fonts, pictures, and diagrams.

After watching all the presentations, I have a few improvements for myself: I will try to use LIGHT animation if I can. I'll use sound to reinforce topics. I'll use Power Point sometimes simply for showing pictures. For this particular presentation I'd fix my sound and make it not loop (although I know I did that in the preferences--hmmm...).

Cell Phones in the Classroom

I get why cell phones can be a really great tool in the classroom. I get that "Part of an educator’s job is to help students safely navigate the media world." I get that cell phones "...can be audio recorders, digital video camcorders,still cameras, note-taking devices, calculation devices, scheduling and management tools, phone conferencing devices.." etc etc etc. However, we're not at a place, in our public schools, where every child has access to a cell phone. If the school cannot afford to buy every student a cell phone(and why should they?)then cell phones simply cannot be brought into the classroom as a teaching tool. Not every child's parents can or will buy them a cell phone, and every child that owns one has a different version. Some may have full internet capabilities and some may have limited or none. Did Ms. Kolb, who gave the pro argument, really think every child posesses a cell phone? At any rate, if a district wants to spend money on technology "Laptops...are much more versatile yet uniform than cell phones." Furthermore, we are not teaching our children how to network a conference call, schedule a business meeting, manage a company, etc, so why do they need to know how to do half of the things listed above? If a person wants to learn all the capabilities of their cell phone they can take an extracurricular course or read their user's manual, for god's sake.

Another huge issue about cell phones in the classroom is pretty obvious: they are social-networking devices. It will be nearly impossible to allow cell phones in a classroom and not have students trying to call or text their friends.

Cell phone usage is not a job skill. Knowing how to use one will not make or break someone's career. There are so many other things schools need to teach, and don't have time to teach, that cell phone usage has no place. Why would a school district even think to allot money to perchasing cell phones? I do wonder, however, if at some point cell phone will become so universal that it is necessary to teach usage in schools? I suppose computers may have been seen as a riciculous waste of time at one point or another. Maybe. Regardless, it is simply, at this point in time, a distraction and an unnecessary use of classroom time.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is bullying using internet-based technology like email, myspace, facebook, or text-mesaging. I have not been a victim of cyberbullying, thank god. The only thing that comes to mind is that a friend once used email to tell me she thought I was being a” bad friend” (I’ll avoid inserting the appropriate explitive here.).
It can be tough for schools to deal with cyberbullying because it’s difficult to know when it’s happening. It isn’t as obvious as the old-school beating kids up type of bullying. Kids can be completely anonymous. Also, it’s super easy to torment quickly and unabatedly, and at an hour of the day. Simply speaking, technology is more efficient.
It’s difficult for school officials to regulate cyberbullying because of a few U.S.Supreme Court rulings that have taken place. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the verdict stated that schools can only regulate students’ freedom of speech if it causes a substantial interruption of school activities. In the Supreme Court Case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), it was determined that schools can regulate students’ freedom of speech if it was at odds with the schools’ educational objectives. To complicate matters further, most cyberbullying happens on computers that are not on campus, so school officials cannot legally do anything.
In situations where schools can regulate students’ freedom of speech because the Tinker standards are upheld, schools must act. Cyberbullying and its punishments should be added to the school’s harassment policies. This is the only way a school can regulate off-site bullying. They should be sure to have a clear policy so that when appropriate, they can discipline, even if the action takes place off-site.
To increase awareness of cyberbullying, staff should be educated, along with students and parents. Everyone should be encouraged to report cyberbullying if it happens or if they hear anything about it.
In my classroom, I will make it a policy that any cyberbullying or suspicion of cyberbullying is reported to me. I will, on day one, make sure that my students know what cyberbullying is and how to deal with it. I will explain to them how serious it can be. If I find out about it, I will report it to school authorities as well as both sets of the students’ parents. I will then make sure the whole school knows that cyberbullying has been taking place, and reinforce the school’s policy and the seriousness of the situation.

Have you googled your teacher lately?

I have the awesome privilege of being the only Alison Prehn on the internet. Therefore, everything I’ve ever done that’s ever been posted online is there when I search myself in google and pipl. The majority of the stuff is sports related. Most of it is marathons and other fun runs I’ve been in, followed by college sports and then high school sports. The most interesting thing I found is an essay I wrote in high school that I won an award for. http://www.hennet.org/contest.php. However, there’s not actually a link to it on the internet. Apparently it was too long ago, before they actually posted stuff like that on the internet. Overall I didn’t find anything embarrassing, thank god. So far there’s nothing I really want to change, except that I’ll probably need to clean up my Facebook and MySpace pages some.
I think teachers should use discretion when it comes to what they do in their personal lives. Yes, I think they should be able to do whatever they want, as long as it’s legal, but they need to be smart about it. For example, teachers should be able to drink in public, as long as they abide by the law. This means not driving and not disturbing the peace. Also, if teachers are going to get really wild, it’s probably best they do it in their own homes, or somewhere far away from the school they work in. In the way they conduct themselves, teachers need to be careful, and not openly act in a way that might be suggestive or irresponsible. Chances are the more a teacher uses discretion as to where or when he or she posts things or acts a certain way, the less opportunity a community member has of noticing. Furthermore, no rational person should report a teacher after one incident of questionable behavior outside of the school, provided it is not illegal. However, we cannot predict what any one member of the community might decide to report, which makes things tough.
If a teacher is going to say something that is inappropriate or in bad taste, they should probably not do it on the internet. These kinds of comments should be reserved for close family or friends. If a teacher uses basic moral judgment they will not find themselves in any risky situations in the first place.
The most interesting thing in the article “Have you googled your teacher lately?” was the quote, “The landmark Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines asserted that students and teachers do not 'shed their constitutional rights... at the schoolhouse gate.’” I didn’t know there was an actual court case stating that fact. However, this case should not give teacher a false sense of security in exercising their constitutional rights.
Personally, I am going to be extremely careful about what gets posted about me on the internet. I can control this most readily through Facebook and MySpace. I will also, when in public, act in such a way that appears in control and responsible. Mostly I would never want my students to feel that they could act a certain way because I was seen acting that way. What’s appropriate for a 30-something woman and teenagers is obviously completely different. I think if I act in ways I should anyway, as a morally sound person, I will never run into problems.

Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives.

I feel as though in the country of Digitaldom, I’m not an immigrant, but I’m not exactly a native either. It’s more like my parents immigrated when I was a little kid so I have a few remnants of the old country but I’ve Digitalized pretty well. In fact, if you didn’t know my parents were immigrants, you might not even detect my slight accent. At any rate, once I’ve taught for awhile I have a sneaking suspicion I will feel more and more like an immigrant. I grew up, for the most part, in the digital age so my brain is probably similar to that of a digital native. As Prenksy states in Part I of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, “Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures….thinking patterns have changed.” (2001). Unfortunately, I believe some of those brain changes will be obsolete in 10-15 years. There will be a whole new digital “language” and I won’t feel so savvy. I was totally unaware that along with just being able to use a computer and other technological devices with ease, digital natives also think differently. “It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential. Linear thought processes that dominate educational systems now can actually retard learning for brains developed through game and Web-surfing processes on the computer” (Prensky Part II, 2001). Crazy. But good that we’ve recognized the differences. As far as technology in the classroom, the most I can remember in grade school technology-wise is having a very small portion of the semester or school year devoted to actually getting to use computers in a lab. Things weren’t required to be typed, even in English class (although I think most of us did). We certainly didn’t incorporate computer usage into everyday learning and I don’t remember much about actually being taught in a different way, thanks to my new digitally thinking mind…..or something. The biggest thing I can remember is using calculators and learning how to use them rather than actually being expected to know how to do certain functions in math class. In college things were different. Things had to be typed. Internet was necessary for many assignments. Grades, class schedules, and registration were all online. And of course, the dreaded Powerpoint reached its deathly boring peak. Lecturing aside, technology improved my learning experience in college, but probably not much in school before that. I will use technology in my classroom. I will try to never use Powerpoint. Hopefully I can use technology to show video clips or allow the kids to play games. I was in a classroom recently where the kids used the textbook software to do activities in class and also used computers to study for the AP exam. Mostly I’ll try to use technology to vary my lessons and to make learning more efficient and more hands-on for my students. I’ll have to get creative, all the time, because as Prensky says , “it generally isn’t that Digital Natives can’t pay attention, it’s that they choose not to” (Part II, 2001). In order to keep my students engaged I will have to incorporate technology into my classroom, or they’ll simply be too bored. I think it will work out nicely and overall, I’m glad we have that option.ResourcesPrensky, M.P. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon 9(5).Prensky, M.P. (2001). Digital Native, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently? On theHorizon 9(5).

Introduction

My name is Alison Prehn

My endorsement areas are Biology and Integrated Science, and I'm trying to add PE if my practicum school will let me!

My favorite animals are orange tabbies because they're orange--my favorite color! I also have one. His name is Kirby.