STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

Let’s have a little competition…

I wish I could cite the source that provided this creative contrast between the future and the past in education.

Let’s have a little competition at school and get ready for the future. I will use a laptop and you will use paper and pencil. Are you ready…?

1. I will access up-to-date information - you have a textbook that is 5 years old.
2. I will immediately know when I misspell a word – you have to wait until it’s graded.
3. I will learn how to care for technology by using it – you will read about it.
4. I will see math problems in 3D – you will do the odd problems.
5. I will create artwork and poetry and share it with the world – you will share yours with the class.
6. I will have 24/7 access – you have the entire class period.
7. I will access the most dynamic information – yours will be printed and photocopied.
8. I will communicate with leaders and experts using email – you will wait for Friday’s speaker.
9. I will select my learning style – you will use the teacher’s favorite learning style.
10. I will collaborate with my peers from around the world – you will collaborate with peers in your classroom.
11. I will take my learning as far as I want – you must wait for the rest of the class.
12. The cost of a laptop per year? - $250
13. The cost of teacher and student training? – Expensive
14. The cost of well educated US citizens and workforce? - Priceless

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Comments

I love numbers 12, 13, and 14.  We tend to look at technology as an expensive add on.  For all that technology can do it is a true bargain.

I would agree with Barbara. In education, what can technology allow us to do better and cheaper. What processes (potentially costly) could we eliminate with the widespread use of technology? Will it pay for itself in the long run?

In reference to number two (or do I spell it too, or to), yes, the computer will tell me immediately if I misspell a word, but it doesn’t tell me when I have used the wrong word for the context, Many times I have seen communications where the word “form” is in the sentence when the person meant to use “from”, but the computer didn’t pick that up.  Many errors occur in situations like that.  We still need to be taught certain things about spelling and language before we approach the computer. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology, but the human input is still very necessary in our learning!

An interesting topic.  I am a technology fan, but worry about it being mis-directed.  My replies appear between comments.

Let’s have a little competition at school and get ready for the future. I will use a laptop and you will use paper and pencil. Are you ready…?

I will access up-to-date information - you have a textbook that is 5 years old.
and the guidance of a teacher who can stay on top of the most age appropriate information.
I will immediately know when I misspell a word – you have to wait until it’s graded.
and you may not be able to correct words without the use of auto-correct technology, while I will have learned to correct spelling and look for errors on my own.
I will learn how to care for technology by using it – you will read about it.
no response here: I believe in hands-on experiences.
I will see math problems in 3D – you will do the odd problems.
and will have the even problems to do if I found the odd ones easy...or hard...or just like the work..
I will create artwork and poetry and share it with the world – you will share yours with the class.
and get feedback from my peers and and educator in real time.  And have my work critiqued based on given criteria: in real time.
I will have 24/7 access – you have the entire class period.
and the next one, and lunch if anyone wants to come down..or before or after school...and maybe we will use email to communicate between classes.
I will access the most dynamic information – yours will be printed and photocopied.
and be age and level appropriate.
I will communicate with leaders and experts using email – you will wait for Friday’s speaker.
while you of course wait for the reply to your email.  Unless the leaders and experts are waiting just for your email and can reply immediately. I will have the guidance of an expert in my presence.
I will select my learning style – you will use the teacher’s favorite learning style.
and benefit from expanding my learning styles to make me more adaptable in today’s shifting society.
I will collaborate with my peers from around the world – you will collaborate with peers in your classroom.
thank goodness!  I would hate to see a world where people stopped wanting that personal connection.
I will take my learning as far as I want – you must wait for the rest of the class.
No, I don’t need to wait for the rest of the class.  I will still take my learning as far as I want and will learn to work in a world where people have different learning speeds and abilities and that we all are made better by learning how to help each other. The skills we have at the end of the day may be different, but I can still take my learning as far as I want.

The cost of a laptop per year? - $250
really?

The cost of teacher and student training? – Expensive
and I would have said priceless.
The cost of well educated US citizens and workforce? - Priceless
here I agree.

I don’t think we should look at only the benefits that technology brings to a student, especially when compared directly to what the comparable limits are in the classroom.  The classroom and laptop both provide valuable learning experiences and the best of both should be brought into schools.  As much as I am a fan of technology, I worry that technology is making parts of society too detached and lacking in “personal touch” which I consider invaluable.

A few thoughts in response to Rachel’s comment:

“I will access up-to-date information - you have a textbook that is 5 years old. …and the guidance of a teacher who can stay on top of the most age appropriate information.” ~The real questions are these: How do we teach *kids* to stay on top of information? And will teachers and administrators know how to guide students’ use of appropriate information in a digital world?

“I will immediately know when I misspell a word – you have to wait until it’s graded.  …and you may not be able to correct words without the use of auto-correct technology, while I will have learned to correct spelling and look for errors on my own.” This is the great misconception of technology. Technology can do at least two things for us humans: (1) handle cognitive grunt work (such as checking the spelling of words or quickly searching for information. Come on, admit it – you’d be lost if we took your spell check away!); and (2) support and foster our creativity. Because of tools like spell check, I can focus on the thing that count – being creative with words in this case – instead of trying to remember how a word should be spelled. The future is not about all the minute facts you remember, but about how you can think, create and innovate. Technology takes away some of the cognitive grunt work (that which we use to memorize – remember the capitals of the 50 states?), leaving us with the time and energy to be creative!

I could go on, but maybe another time…

Just one more thing to share…A thought from Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: The sky is not falling today, but it might be in fifteen or twenty years if we don’t change our ways, and all signs are that we are not changing, especially in our public schools.

So what is the right education young people need to prepare for the new jobs of the future? In his book The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman suggests there are four skill sets and attitudes students must acquire for this future. (And Rachel, you’ll like the last one!)

Learn how to learn – Learners will need the ability to absorb and teach themselves new ways of doing old things.

Navigation – Learners will need the ability to sift through the noise of the virtual world and find the real knowledge.

CQ + PQ > IQ – Curiosity and passion together are more important than IQ alone. Technology tools allow us to take our curiosity farther and deeper. IQ is still important but no longer sufficient. Passion and curiosity are just as important. “Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid.”

Stressing liberal arts – connecting the areas of history, the arts, politics and science. Creativity and innovation occur when people use the framework of one area to think about another. Without an emphasis on the liberal arts, the creativity and innovation piece required of the future will be limited or not exist (or reside in India or China).

We in education have a long way to go, but these conversations can help shape our thinking!

Even as we comment, we are, I think, engaging in a paradigm shift and a metacognitive dialogue at that.  I think #1-11 address the shift that has already occurred for most of our students.  They are content creators [audio, video, text, image], Web 2.0 savvy, and very clickable [if you know their user names on social networking sites]. 

1.  Information access is a click away.  Will everything clicked be accurate, ethical, relevant?  Probably not, but we own the responsibility to teach them to think before they post.  Check this video from cliotech: http://cliotech.blogspot.com/2007/08/think-before-you-post.html
2.  I agree with Donna and Rachel: spell check if fallible, for now.  Nothing replaces a real teacher in real time.  But a perfect spell check isn’t too far away.  Deep Blue beat Kasparov (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2003/01/57388); machine intelligence grows exponentially.
3.  Doing v. viewing always wins in my blog.
4.  I might have understood a math problem in 3D.  As it was, I was a great memorizer and hated math because I couldn’t “see it’ in my mind’s eye.
5.  Transparent learning is here to stay.  It’s up to us to shape it, guide it, and publish with our students.  If we want our students to learn, we model.  That’s a best practice.  Computers can generate fast feedback by some of the best in the business (http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=171203059).
6.  Agreed that we all put in time before and after school with our students.  But 24/7 means that I can communicate with my students via internet, social networking, skype, email, twitter...clickable counts.
7.  Teaching in the 21st century with the tools of today creates countless challenges.  But show me students whose faces do not come alive with carefully chosen web 2.0 learning tools.  Or animate and expand their minds, which is the goal. 
8.  We can get Friday’s speaker today. 
9.  I really think 9 speaks to the heart of teaching.  The vast resources online really do allow students to grow and develop in their learning styles.  Amen.
10.  Global audiences, global communication.  Try this year’s Megaconference Jr.--students teaching students globally (http://www.megaconferencejr.org/).
11.  With 30 students in my room, I recognize that they will arrive at their learning destinations at different times in 42 minutes.  The possibilities for students to re/direct their learning environment with laptops is endless within a teacher’s lesson plan.

12.  The price is, I think, a C4F one-time purchase price.  And it’s a loaded laptop with a built-in webcam. 
13.  Pricey AND priceless.
14.  Definitely priceless. 

I think our comments reflect where we are inside of the shift that happens, and speak to some extent to our comfort and anxiety zones.  I agree with Rachel that the “personal touch” is invaluable, but computer use and “personal touch” are not incompatible, not an “either-or” proposition, but the best of all possible worlds.

The contents of items 1-14 reinforces to me the belief that our main responsibility as educators is to teach children how to teach themselves.  I do not see these items as an attempt to disqualify the value of a teacher; however, we will be doing our students a huge disservice if we want students to remain dependent upon us.  Perhaps our students need to see us being a model learner, not a model teacher.  We do not have all the answers, and we are not the ones who always ask the best questions.  Technology will allow us to become learners with our students and model the paths of inquiry, problem solving, and production.

The other morning while sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office I listened to a discussion between Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer concerning the use of whiteboards and laptops. They were amazed at the videoclips presented during the featured speaker’s presentation. They both were concerned about accessiblity to this technology and how many school districts provide these tools to their students. “Unfortunately,” the presenter spoke, “many school districts do not have the access we see in the presentation.” Although what was observed was outstanding interaction of students as presentations were being illustrated on whiteboards and as students sat around technology pieces supporting literacy centers. The presenter summed up her dialogue by saying that technology provides enhanced, interactive learning, but we can never take away the teacher, the person in the classroom, ithe powerful motivator who leads his/her students to engaged discovery that provides higher level thinking whether with whiteboards and laptops, or chalk and chalkboard. 

Both Roberts and Sawyer jokingly laughed, “We miss the sound of chalk against the blackboard.”

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