Please watch the video "Why We Need To Teach Technology in School." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VnHdqpE4RM
What is your reaction? In your opinion, is the video correct or incorrect or biased?
In what specific ways should the content of this video impact education?
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20 comments:
It's and interesting video, not the most engaging itself, but it makes a point. We do need to teach tech in schools simply because it is such a big part of this world now. But I think more importantly than teaching specific tech is the teaching of the ability to think and adapt so that the students can also adapt. Technology is very dynamic, so having the ability to change is important.
On the other hand, learning technology is a good thing, but not necessary. People can live just fine without being up to date. Though they will be a little behind.
If the danger of "being left behind" equates to "being unemployable", then technology is not really optional.
Technology is certainly a wide area. Presumably we don't plan to educate all of our students on the latest military technology advancements, or other very specialized technologies.
We can't try to teach "all" technology any more than we could try to teach "all" mathematics at the high school level.
The definition of technology being as broad as it is, what can we expect from our students?
Perhaps the ability to use technology to capture images and video, and to be able to transfer these to a computer for use in a presentation. That will probably be considered a "basic skill" before long.
Perhaps the ability to be able to learn new software packages relatively quickly.
In some cases, with current technology ... that almost seems like an impossibility. Something like Photoshop could take a years course to try to teach.
My main point is that "we must teach with technology" is not well defined.
I completely agree with the video. Technology is changing so rapidly and we as educators need to make sure that we keep up because if we don't it is a disservice to our students.
I agree with what Bryan said about the importance of teaching the ability to think and adapt. Technology changes so fast that a lot of times it is a situation where you are learning on the go. Being able to figure out the technology is very important. As the video stated, there is new technology every day.
As important is the idea that kids enjoy technology and often spend all day using one form or another. The ability to utilize a means of education that interests a child is crucial in their classroom success.
Besides lusting after the vintage cameras and record players and enjoying the sweet aphex twin song, I thought the video continued the same basic discussion addressed in the previous class blog. Again, I agree that kids need to be aware of and know how to use the new technologies available to them (those that don't already, i mean), and that teachers need to also be aware and able to use these technologies in the classroom. Agreement or disagreement with this idea is not the problem; it is not the reason that the technologies aren't always available. Funding for education is unfortunately not a major priority for our federal government and the funding available at the state level is, equally unfortunate, not equitable. Some districts can afford to implement the latest technology in the classroom and others can't. There's not much I can do as an individual to change that except vote. Individuals can vote elected officials into office who will make education a priority. But beyond that, I can only repeatedly assert my agreement of the importance of technology. I can learn how to use all the most modern technologies out there, but if the school I become employed at doesn't have them available to me in the classroom, I will have to make do with what I do have. There is one Smart Board in my entire district and, yes, the kids love using it. They become excited to do any assignment that uses it and can't wait to merely write on it. But again, it's the only one in the district, only in one teacher's classroom. So many kids will never come into contact with it. The teacher I was assigned to has one outdated computer in her classroom that she says she had to fight for. In a class of 25, there is not an abundance of opportunity for the kids to use even this machine, and the kids, who are fully aware of the machine's age, don't show any interest in using it and, in fact, make fun of how old it is. They are aware that the schools are behind in technology, that what is available at school often falls behind what they are accustomed to at home. What is to be done? I don't have the answer.
I completely agree with the video. There are so many advances that students need to be made aware of. I know that most of my students do not even have a computer at home. They need to be getting technology help at school so that when they go into the real world they aren't going to be left behind because they aren't sure of how to do certain tasks.
We need to show our students how technology works and also give them an opportunity to explore on their own in a controlled environment.
I agree with most of the content of the video. Technology can be used as a tool to engage our students and to generate interest in the subject material.
Most of the middle class kids are already using these technologies, so we need to teach how it can be utilized for academic pursuits and also teach how to use the technology responsibly.
Exposure to this technology at school may be the only chance that kids from lower SES levels have. If we don't include technology at school for these kids we are doing them a grave disservice when it comes to their ability to function in a technology driven world.
What more is the really to say? Previous post all bring up valid points. There are great ways to incorporate all this wonderful new technology into our content areas. One thing I will say is that I don’t fear the students being left behind as much as I fear for teachers. For most kids these days it seems almost an ingrained ability to grasp and adapt to the new technology. Teachers on the other hand come from a different mold in a lot of cases. In order for technology to be utilized in the classroom effectively I feel we as teachers must become just as “withit” with the tech as we are with our content. This is going to take a lot of catching up.
hmm. i'm not sure if i think this is terribly biased. it seems more of an opinion piece than anything that is backed up with research data. it was an interesting choice to connect technologies of the past hundred thousand years or so with what is happening today with the digital, wireless, etc. revolution. it made me wonder what the rate of obsolescence was for previous technologies, and why i have to buy a new computer every two or three years (or would if i could afford to).
here is an interesting sculpture of a creative use of obsolescent telecommunications stuff.
sheep sculptures
i agree that people can get by without being up-to-date with technology. sometimes the smart thing to do is to wait and see. and just because a student learns one technology doesn't mean that they either learn it well, or could transfer what they learned to new projects or new technologies.
that's really interesting that kids love writing anything on the smart board. it seems to me that novelty in general can motivate students. and also perhaps students pick up on a teacher's excitement about something. perhaps technology can be used by a teacher as a tool to teach their subject, as a way to engage students, but also as a way to challenge him/herself and keep teaching interesting and fun for them.
I agree with what Kendra and Bryan have stated on the importance of technology. While one could argue this wasn't the most exciting video to watch, I think it made its point.
We need to be teaching students to be educated consumers of technology because it plays such a vital role in society. Many companies are leaning more towards online and advances in technology and I feel it's an injustice for these students to not learn the foundations in high school.
We use the internet more and more to communicate with other, in our leisure time and for finding information...googling...
Their overall success will be how they can adapt to these styles and learn the techniques, but I feel if we have the ability to teach these students then we should. I really believe that the students learning technology and can adapt to the rapid changes will be sought out for positions in companies over those with limited experience.
Technology in this day and age is a must. I honestly can't think of a profession that doesn't utilize technology in some way or another. Kids need these "21st Century skills" in order to contribute to the world. By using technology in the classroom we not only teach students these skills, but we also engage them in the content area. Kids love technology; they grew up in an age filled with it. By using technology in the classrooms I believe we are increasing students' chances of competing successfully in today's society. Also as Big Dawg said, teaching students to adapt is a must because technology is advancing exponentially.
I'm starting to think, the debate should be if we are involving too much technology rather than if we should teach it at all. I mean, of course it is important to teach technology in our schools in order for our students to be productive members of our global society. But, technology is a natural occurence throughout our lives. We're just a little slow in the educational field with incorporating new technology. There was technology back in the 60s and 70s (overhead projectors, calculators), so did people debate whether it should used back then like we are right now? Some schools just have "old technology". It's just a matter of catching up in the educational field to the rest of industries that have already incorporated today's technology in their businesses.
As Mike said, there's not much more to say that people haven't hit on in previous blogs. I completely agree with the video. Technology is changing at an exponetial pace. We need to to our best to keep up with it, and to keep our students up with it. More often than not, though, my guess will be the student will know more about new technology than us. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not the most acoustum to change... I mean my cell phone is something like 5 or 6 years old and I'm just looking and maybe updating it this year. But it still works, it's not falling apart or broken yet, why update. I think that is the main reason we will get behind our students with technology. I also this budgets will also keep us behind our students. How can we teach students about new technologies is we ourselves or the schools don't have access to them.
The video along with most of the articles we have read all appear to project the same message, tech is a necessity. On the other hand, tech is merely a tool; the purpose of its incorporation into our 21st century schools is not to learn about the programs and hardware that tech integrates. What it can (and should) be used for is to expand a child’s learning opportunities and abilities. What we should be focusing on is how to: critically analyze, incorporate into our lives, and most importantly adapt to technology. This last one is the most important. Persons introduced to tech in this manner are no longer surprised by the ever-evolving world of tech when it morphs into its latest form. Adaption to tech, not tech itself should be focused on, specificity being in the minority. Teaching particular programs is only a means to an end, which is critical analysis and critical thinking. We all understand this concept, but I think that sometimes it gets lost in more evocative subjects; because programs are flashy and they are what draws in a crowd and expedites our teaching and learning processes, we have a hard time not focusing on these aspects of the argument. We should not make it sound like technology is optional, it should just be blended seamlessly into our teaching methods, so that the focus goes back to the process, not a specific moment in time.
On another note, the disparity of equitable distribution of resources will and should always be argued, remaining a dynamic process is critical. Our world is always changing and thus our distribution systems for school funding also should. What worked 20, 10, or even 5 years ago may not (and in Omaha does not) function as it should, it must be changed (not that we did not all know this previously) because tomorrow, what we thought, may not apply as it did yesterday. The problem is that we are always trying to find that one solution that will always work and I do not believe this to be possible.
Short video, nice transitions. Music didn’t play to me but that is personal preference. The video is biased toward inventions that worked. I would have liked to see pictures of an eight track tape, beta tape and HD DVD player. Hey, I'm into tech stuff too but not everything pans out as its marketing department designs it. Yes, we should we keep up with technology within reason. School districts have to be careful where to spend the limited funds. Sometimes it is the hardware, sometimes it is software and last but not least it needs to be the human touch. The end of the video mentioned the task of teaching students to critically analyze information. That can best be done by a quality teacher who has with-it-ness in the classroom. The video is meant to show school administration that the world is changing with or without education on board. The ball is their court. What are you going to do to challenge the students of today and tomorrow?
I think once again we can all agree that using technology in the classroom is important. This video raises an excellent point in the biases of technology; especially videos like this from YouTube. I strongly agree with the main idea of this video, but the fact that it is biased should be addressed. As teachers, we need to teach students how to interpret the information they are being given. If I showed this video and then, as a teacher, gave my “biased” view, it would be telling students what to think, instead of teaching students how to think. I feel the key to using technology is teaching students how to appropriately use it in our content areas and how to interpret and decipher the information they are being given.
I think that the video re-emphasized some good points that we have discussed in class thus far. One is that technology has a great impact on how we share information, new or old. I believe with incorporating technology in our instruction, effectively, within the school year, the new concepts that we share will have a greater advantage of coming across with a more clear meaning, and the old concepts can be enhanced. It's like some may not have understood it the first time, but with a new approach, they finally got it!
Another good point that was emphasized is that technology has helped students with more opportunities in becoming more, creative, innovative and able to manipulate equipment.
By incorporating Garage Band and other forms of technology to our class at Northwest, the students have been able to engage in exercises such as composing, scoring, recording and producing music. How awesome that students that are interested in "music" being their career, do not have to wait until college or depend on just private lessons or playing in band or singing in choir, as some of the only avenues for tapping into talent or interest. They now have the opportunity to learn and practice in many more avenues in music, from grade school, through high school, because of the emergence of technology in this generation!
Technology is always changing. It's hard to keep up. As educators, it's even harder because most technology cost money and the schools don't usually have the money to be as technologically savvy as they would like. It's important though that we educate our children in technology. It is vital now for employment to be able to manipulate it. If we don't teach technology and get kids used to using it, then they will be behind. But I also think that technology can be dangerous. There is much to be learned from nature. I think many of youth are not getting a balanced education. Technology is important but should not be the sole focus.
Again, it is the journey I concentrate on not the method of travel. The technology tools are powerful and can offer our students a lot but emphasis on technology as an end rather than a means is misguided. I've seen a number of "gee-whiz" technologies that litter the information highway. As long as we view technology appropriately and do not neglect the "universal truths" I am fine with what we are doing assuming it in not technology for technology's sake.
I really liked and agree with the quote about "engage them or enrage them." And yes, the kids are ready to a degree. One thing that I we must keep in mind is that there is still a great technological divide. Many students cannot afford cell phones and the other latest gadgets. Therefore, as educators we must allow all of our students opportunities to use technology that they may not otherwise have access to. I would have to agree with Big Dawg that the video was not the most engaging but it pretty much summed up the purpose of having to complete this course in the first place.
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