bus driver and student fight

I have been watching this video for days and have some thoughts on it.  I am sure you have all heard of it, but in case you haven’t you need to watch it.  I have some issues with what is happening to the student and the bus driver.  First, what is their policy about cell phones on the bus.  Second, did the bus driver hit the student.  I didn’t see the bus driver do anything but try to keep the student on the bus.  Third, why is it this video allowed to be seen by the public.  I thought that the only people allowed to see the tae were the judge and Administration.  At least that is what we are told.  you can’t show a film that has students in it beside the parents of that child. This whole thing makes me feel like they are trying to hide something.  Like there is a hidden message the school district is trying to send.  What do you think?

Chapter 2: Personal Thinking

I just got through with Chapter 2 in The Children’s Machine, by Seymour Papert.  Chapter two is exactly as the title states, personal thinking.  Seymour Papert discusses his desire to learn and  how he felling in love with learning.  His describes many different things that helped him to learn  how his own  learning takes place.   I would like to share a couple of the passages in the book that really stuck out to me:”Every one of us has built up a stock of intuitive, empathic, commonsense knowledge about learning.   This knowledge comes into play when one recognizes something good about a learning experience without knowing the outcome.”When I read this I thought about when students learn and they don’t even know they are learning.  We are teachers need to learn to incorporate that learning into our classes.  And as the author points out, that is what we should be using as our objective measures not tests.  The other passage that I liked goes back to the idea that there are two sides to the brain:”By analogy, one might say that when it comes to thinking about learning, nearly all of us have School side of the brain which thinks that School is the only natural way to learn, and a personal side that knows perfectly well it is not.”  You know this is the biggest dilemma I have with teaching.  I learned the way that I am teaching, so why can’t the students of today do the same.  I also know that there are other ways to learn and that I am capable of doing it, if I just knew how.  I don’t feel my undergraduate teaching classes were really good at helping me to actually teach, they just prepared me for the paperwork.  Of course, taking these classes are moving me in the right direction. 

Chapter 1: The Children’s Machine

I would like to first say that I purchased this book worried that I got the wrong one, but that was what Murray’s bookstore said so I got it.  Thanks Nate, for allowing us to read the one we purchased, even if it wasn’t the right one. For those that are reading the other book, I am reading, The Children’s Machine, by Seymour Papert. The first chapter is titled Yearners and Schoolers.  The yearners are the ones that are yearning for a change in the school system.  They know that we are needing a change, but are unsure of what to do to create the change.  The schoolers are the ones that don’t realize we need a “megachange” and feel that we aren’t perfect, but who is.  The schoolers also don’t feel that our schools are falling behind, we just need to tweak what we are doing a little. The chapter discusses how all the learning theories from the past are not how students learn anymore.  Does a infant learn from the parents lecturing them? NO, they learn from the environment and examine things in their own way and make connections between things in their own way.  Of course, they are guided by their parents, but their parents aren’t telling them what connection to make.   So, what we need to do is to make schools model that learning.  Let the students use the Internet and technology to learn for themselves in their own way.  Each student has their own ideas and they each come from unique backgrounds so they will each take something different away from a learning experience.  The major concept, and I agree with it totally, (I’m a yearner) is that we need a “MEGACHANGE” in our schools. 

Blackboard

I have been following this debate for a little while and know that Blackboard isn’t really look upon as innovative, but it is still what our college uses for distance education.  They sued another company and won 3 million dollars because of the patent that blackboard had.  I was wondering, what you all thought about boycotting Blackboard as requested by MGuhlin in his blog.  Do you think that colleges will go with the free alternatives?  It would save the college money and with the budget cuts, it might not be such a bad idea.  Maybe we don’t have to pay more for online classes then. Let me know what you think.

Adoption Graph you must look at.

You must look at this blog.  It is just one little paragraph and the graph of when some of the technology was invented and how long it took to get into each household.  I was surprised to find out that the internet was even around till about  1990.    Make sure you click on the graph to make it bigger so it is easier to read.  Also, look at how long it took for the telephone to be adopted compared to the cell phone.  Why do you think that is?  Are we more understanding of change now than we used to be?  Are we in need of a cell phone than we were of a telephone?  I don’t know, but I bet it has something to do with Americans being in the fast paced world that we need everything at our fingertips.  Look at the new Ziphone.  (I think that is what it is called)  I even looked at the invention of a washer back in the 1925 where a dryer wasn’t invented till 1950’s.  I guess they didn’t need to dry their clothes in the winter till the 50’s??   I just found it interesting.  Be sure to check it out.  

Adoption of technology

I came across this article that is mostly focused on adopting new technology for farmers but they make many great points on all adoption of anything new to anyone.  The article comes from the University of Missouri Extension.  It shows a graph of the normal adoption time and talks about how it is curved because of influences from word of mouth.  It has the adoption cycle down to : Awareness  –> Interest –> Evaluation –> Trial   –> Adoption(I had to redo this because the last one didn’t post correctly) 

 

I believe that these are the accurate stages of how most Americans adopt a new technology item.  At least it is for myself.  I will hear about an item and wait to see if it is of good quality and will be around.  Where as my sister doesn’t care and will purchase the newest item because it has to be “the best”.  She goes under the notion that newer is always better and I feel that newer doesn’t always mean better.  When a new model cell phone comes out, can you talk better on them?  Most of the time that is a no, but my sister will buy one because it is the newest and best version. . .  or so she thinks.  But than after a while, if she talks about how great it is I might become interested in it and go evaluate it for myself.  Then you know I will try it and then adopt it if I like it.  This process makes sense to me.  I do believe that word of mouth has a lot to do with the interest phase of the adoption.  Most of the time it is other people that sell me on an item, hence the “salesman”. 

They also have a great point about  implementation of a new technology.  Keep in mind they are talking about farmers and a new solar house for farmers, but it applies to all technology (at least I think so):

 

A few innovators possibly will have learned about solar hog houses before you and already may have decided to try one. Your educational problem for them becomes one of helping them be successful. That is the normal thing to do anyway, but it is especially important with them because they will serve as demonstrators for others. Another educational opportunity for you is to learn the problems the innovators encounter and how they overcome them. Other farmers would like to know so they can adapt the innovations to their situations.

 

The key in that quote is that, “your educational problem for them becomes one of helping them be successful”.  I think that is the most important thing for implementing technology.  You can give anyone an computer, but if they don’t know how to use it or what to do with it, it then becomes useless.  I know, my grandmother purchased a computer at the age of 68.  She knew enough to know that she wanted information at her fingertips, but didn’t know how to go  about getting it.  She eventually just gave it to my mom who just plays the games that came on the computer.  

So adoption to me needs to be followed up by education on the use.  So the support from the company needs to be great if they plan to sell another to that person.   

2010 realization

We watched a video about what might occur in the year 2010 and I just read a blog about the newspapers becoming electronic.  Check it out if your interested.  IT is located here.  

Assessing Educational Equity

When assessing educational equity, you must do a lot of documentation.  Making sure that each student’s diversity is documented and how you went about making sure that they were taught equitably.  In order for this to work you have to know the make-up of your student body.  The different schools that I have worked at have provided different data.  I did have one school that gave a list of your students that were minorities or on the free and reduced lunch.  This was one of our targeted areas for a improvement plan, so we were allowed to see who we needed to focus on.  This is the most helpful information since I can’t tell who is and who is not just by looking at them. This will also help me to know who I need to furnish a calculator or other supplies to throughout the year without the other students knowing who I gave things to.  When assessing equity you will want to use the two methods:  quantitative and qualitative.  I  am a math person so I like quantitative much better because it relies more on concrete material then qualitative in which you  may have to infer something.  No matter which you like better, you should use both methods to get better assessment results.   

Access or lack of effect culture

I feel that culture is a big issue today.  We have forced our children into a fast paced world where being good at something isn’t good enough anymore.  We are letting infants listen to Mozart to make them smarter.  Isn’t normal, well, normal anymore.  With that being said, if a child doesn’t know what an ipod, or mp3 player is, they’re not normal.  If they can’t talk about the latest playstation games, xbox or nintendo games, they are not “cool”.  Our world has become a impatient technological world and if you don’t jump on board, you may get swept away in the current.  The lack of access to digital technology will change the culture of your school.  It will deprive those students from the wealth of knowledge and the communications that are taken place online.  Students that are not being taught to use the resources online and which resources are credible, or not, then they will be already behind when they leave high school.  If they can’t use the latest technology to make powerpoints and post them to the web for clients to view or podcasts of important information that they can’t deliver face to face, they will be lost.  With more and more people using online as a meeting place, our students need to be digitally connected to know what is available and how to get our message, information, or plans out.  ( Side note:  I feel that this is what Barack Obama has on Hilary Clinton in the Election).  If you have access to the technology that is moving the world forward (or back, depending on who you are), you are in a different position than those that don’t.  You are capable of getting any information instantly or communicating with anyone all over the world instantly.  Which culture is better for American’s?  I don’t know, but I know that I like being able to look up anything that I don’t understand instantly without much trouble.  I like being able to take my college classes online so I don’t have to find a babysitter and leave my son.  I like being able to make a DVD of my picture so I can store thousands on one disk.  We are in the “information age”.    If your not informed then you are missing out.

Does Digital Technology Help (Hamper) Equity

Of course I think that it does both.  Digital technology can help and hamper equity depending on how it is used in the classroom.  If the technology being used is always used in the same way, then it will help those that like it and learn that way, but will hamper those that don’t like or learn that way.  Equity is being able to use the digital technology in the best way for your students.  A teacher can not teach in a way that every student is going to learn in their way everyday.  That is impossible, but teachers can alter their ways enough that each student is learning in their own way at least once a unit.  Solomon, p. 207 states that equity: is defined as an educational goal central to the development and maintenance of a democratic society.  That probably isn’t the idea that comes to mind when you hear equity, but it is correct.  We need to teach our students and I mean all of our students to be productive members of society.  This is the part where you have to differentiate between classes and even school districts depending on you make up of students.  If I try to go and teach in New Mexico, I will most likely have to learn Spanish and teach like I am teaching in a ESL classroom.  What I am trying to say is that Digital Technology can help all students when it is presented in their optimal way to learn.  Now, finding each students optimal learning way is, I believe impossible.