Well, I've made it to my last semester here at BU! This semester, I am a part of the Internet for Educators class. Like ICT, I4Ed requires that I blog every week so here I am!
This week the course started off with a bang with two guest speakers. The first was Dean Shareski who talked to us about the difference between a 20th century classroom and a 21st century classroom. One idea that I thought was really important was that the idea of sharing. Dean talked about students sharing what they were doing in their classroom with the world through the use of technology. Hearing this wasn't exactly new to me, but I liked the spin that Dean put on it by saying that if a student creates something that just their teacher will see then it will be good enough but if a student creates something that they are going to post online then it will be their best work. I would love to post student work online in some fashion but depending on the division that I will be working in, that might not be possible because some divisions have very strict internet sharing policies. If I wasn't able to post student work online, I may do something more local such as sharing in the classroom and in the school.
The second speaker was John Finch from Manitoba Education. One thing that dominated our discussion was the issue of Copyright. I could go on and on about this topic, but I will save that for another time. The point that I took from John's discussion this time was that we must weigh the benefit of certain technologies against the cost of them. For example, SMARTboards are in nearly every classroom in certain divisions but they are not necessarily being used to their full potential. I think that mostly these SMARTboards are being used as glorified projectors. They are not adding a lot of benefit to most classrooms. I know for a fact that there are teachers who are actually using them to enhance learning but I think that the percentage of those teachers is slim. I know that in my last few placements I haven't used the SMARTboard for much more than to do notes in math, and to show websites to students in other subjects.
Fun Fact: I'm thinking of moving to Mars. Why you might ask? Because it's warmer there than it is here in Manitoba!
Nice first post!
ReplyDeleteI find it funny and interesting that small details in an assessment or course can determine the 'effort' put in by students. I agree with you that students would put more work into their assessments if they knew that the potential of the whole world seeing their creations and learnings. I mean just think of us wondering how many pass/fail classes we will have (we love this Mike lets us focus on learning rather than marks which is a nice change).
Science Fact: Mars is further from the sun and can be cold, may I suggest Venus? Good luck breathing though.
Karlie I really enjoyed your post. Especially the following comment:
ReplyDelete"Hearing this wasn't exactly new to me, but I liked the spin that Dean put on it by saying that if a student creates something that just their teacher will see then it will be good enough but if a student creates something that they are going to post online then it will be their best work."
I remember hearing the comment and thinking the exact same thing. I thought about how when I free hand something for one person to see I put a decent effort in but the second I post something online for anyone to see I proof read it five times, get someone else to look at it, and then finally look at it one last time before I even think about posting it.
Ever since, I have thought of creative ways for students to post material online in a secure setting. I would love to see the effort the students put in when everyone can see it. Luckily, I have done my pre-service placements where they encourage the students to bring their own device and share with whom they wish!
Note - I have read this comment twice for spelling because it's posted online.
Good points Karli!
ReplyDeleteI really agree with the part about SMARTboards. I love how you put it... "being used as glorified projectors". That is spot on in my opinion. I'm not sure if I don't use it as much as I should because I don't know enough about it, or because I find it somewhat useless. I don't have the time to take hours to create games that takes 2 minutes for my students to play, and are not that engaging. I don't think it's worth it. I'd rather spend my time working on more beneficial teaching methods. With that being said, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to learn a little more about SMARTboards..