"Listen to the Natives"

A. Gustaveson
9/17/07
"Listen to the Natives" by Marc Prensky

Assignment #4 is a reaction to Marc Prensky's article in Educational Leadership. A brief outline of his points is followed by my thoughts on his technology philosophy.


Overview

Education needs to adapt. Quickly. According to Marc Prensky, if we refuse to make education relevant, our audience will continue to tune out. Creating relevancy means using technology to deliver and assess lessons. In particular, teachers can motivate learning by implementing video game strategies in the classroom. Prensky advocates for student-centered education that fully integrates the technological world our students live in and interact with daily. This includes an education model that gives learners increased decision-making powers over what and how lessons are presented.

Reference Points

1. Students are digital natives, they were born into the digital world and are at ease with its tools. Educators by and large are digital immigrants who struggle to stay current with technological developments. This dichotomy engenders a disconnect in communication.
2. Technology changes so rapidly that traditional catch-up methods (in-services) are ineffective.
3. Students must be engaged before they can learn. To do this, structure class activities to resemble video games.
4. To further engage students, give them a sense of ownership over their education. Ask for their input. As digital natives, students can be a teacher's best resource in finding solutions to educational problems with technology.
5. Education is not "one size fits all." Use technology to adapt the model to best fit each student.
6. Capitalize on students' familiarity with digital tools - make them a part of the assessment. Cell phones in particular show a lot of promise for digitizing student-teacher interactions.
7. Programming is the necessary skill for the 21st century student. Give students training in and practice with this skill.
8. Historical curriculum content needs to adapt. It should change to reflect the 21st century skills so vital to survival in today's society. Lessons should be delivered in a way that utilizes these skills, with tools that are "powerful, programmable, and customizable" (13).

Reflection and Significance

Prensky is right on target when he advocates for a student-centered model of education. As far as education can be individualized, I believe it should be. This should be every teacher's primary goal. Technology can ease the burden of this process on an educator. However, I do not agree with Prensky's reliance on technology as the ultimate answer to education's woes. Though incorporating cell phones into the learning model sounds tempting, I believe it would be difficult to ensure on-task behavior on a phone. Programs exist that enable a teacher to lock students out of specific programs in the computer lab while enabling access to others. As far as I know, teachers have no similar control over what a student does on his phone. He might be texting friends, blogging, or completing the assignment, but unless you are giving an in-class deadline (which is unrealistic for every assignment) there is no way to keep track of his activities all of the time. Prensky's answer to this dilemma is to instill self control in students. In an ideal world this is possible, but I believe this solution is unrealizable for every American teenager.

I completely agree with Prensky that students should be empowered in their own learning. Exercising decision-making skills invests them in the quest for knowledge. However, there is a balance that should be sought between empowerment and self-entitlement. I do not want to students to expect or assume all decisions will be handed over to them because it is their right. I think Prenksy goes too far is asserting the scope of student decision-making. I also disagree with Prensky's advice to let students self-select their own groups. It is an educator's duty to push learners out of their comfort zones. If students are left entirely to their own devices, will they ever expand their horizons and interact with the many types of people in existence? I expect some would, but many others would not.

Technology Assessment

Assignment #3 is an assessment of my school's technological capabilities and atmosphere. My findings will aid me in completing future assignments. This search will also help me identify what my "must-haves" are for next year when I look for a teaching job.


Scour the website and you'll come up empty-handed. If you want to know about technology at Service High School (SHS), there is only one place to go - the man himself, Bill Corbett.

Bill Corbett is the tech guy at my school. His official title is Technology Coordinator. If you have a question about anything technology related, start with stopping by his office to pick his brain. In fact, unless it is a basic question regarding hardware availability or troubleshooting, this is the only place to go for information. His response to the question "Is there an ed tech plan for Service?" was a disbelieving chuckle and "you mean, like in writing?"

This no doubt sends shivers up the spines of all you anal retentive people out there, myself included. But by the end of the conversation I was completely at ease. Though no formal written plan exists, Corbett does have a clearly defined philosophy, and it is easy to see its fruition at Service. Click for more information regarding technology at SHS.

After completing this project, I feel extremely well-informed about the technological possibilities available at Service High. In fact, I venture to say I am more well-informed than most of the staff! I am extremely pleased with my new-found knowledge and feel this project was well worth my time.

Disclaimer: There are no links to anything written about SHS technology. This is not due to laziness on my part, this is because such pieces do not exist. Period. Anything available in writing is long-outdated, and thus extemporaneous to our purpose here.

epic2015

Assignment #2 After watching a movie called epic2015 that predicts future technology trends, I react to how technology will change the practice of teaching.

In this futuristic setting, print media is quickly going out of style. It is too slow-moving to keep up with the increasingly fast-paced world. In a universe where all information can be instantly tailored to the individual, if it can’t change to meet your evolving preferences, it is not useful.

In such a world, I see students no longer learning from textbooks, but receiving lessons and reading materials over podcasts. If a student is out sick or has a dentist appointment, she can tune in to the lesson wherever she is at. Perhaps students are no longer required to read, but instead listen and watch prerecorded lessons from a virtual textbook.

Students are able to work at their own pace, so motivated learners can advance far beyond where they might in a traditional classroom. Such a digitized learning system has great potential for accessing additional information instantly. If a certain topic really piqued student interest, they could investigate it further at the click of a button. This could be a powerful tool in motivating learners and keeping interest high.

Potential downsides in this wired world:

• Creating an even larger reliance on technology at the expense of social learning and interaction.
• In a world where information is fragmented and pulled together to exactly fit a person’s needs and interests, people might never be forced out of their comfort zone. Many will be tempted to learn only what they want, seeking out a single viewpoint.

To solve these problems:

• Students must learn how to rate the quality of information they are using in reports and essays.
• Educate students on integrity – both exercising their own as well as recognizing it (or a lack of) in available information.
• Class time spent in cooperative work groups.
• Caution students against piecing together disjointed information and believing this constitutes the whole story.
  

"School Train" and "Fox Becomes A Better Person"

Assignment #1 deals with grading technology projects. How do you put a numeric value on creativity? What can you quantify? I watched two student-created movies ("School Train" and "Fox Becomes a Better Person") and identified the most important aspects to keep in mind while grading.


I see many parallels between grading papers and projects. Relevant assessment points include:

• Can I clearly identify the topic, thesis, or theme? If I cannot easily tell what the video (or other method) is designed to portray, then it is not clear enough.
• Are all parts of the production related directly to this theme? Whatever the media, all parts should tie directly back to the theme. In “School Train,” some of the effects are cute and entertaining, but do they add to the metaphor development? The kids making faces are fun, but how does it relate to learning or the train? Creativity and entertainment should count as a separate category on the rubric, but they should not be specious. Do not get swept away by technology. Special effects should add to the project, not overshadow its original purpose.
• The point of any project (be it paper or presentation) is to demonstrate ownership of a concept. It is important to identify what each student’s role was in creating the final product. It is easy to evaluate what Hannah contributed to “Fox Becomes A Better Person.” Keeping in mind the age of the students in “School Train,” it is hard for me to believe that the final product, with all its special effects, was student-driven. This makes me question their role in scripting and producing the video, and whether or not they understood the metaphor.
  

Back to School

The bell rings. I find myself back within school walls simultaneously as a student and a teacher.

Life finds me in Anchorage, interning at Service High in "The Seminar School"- Language Arts and Social Studies.

Outside of school (right, when will that ever happen?) you will find me in the out-of-doors, climbing, biking, skiing and enjoying life.

This blog is dedicated to my journey of discovery -how does this crazy teaching process work? How do I relate to my students, peers, and administrators? And most importantly - what does go on in the teacher's lounge?

Cheers to us MAT-ers and our survival!

(Note: This blog was in fact created for my Educational Technology class at UAS. Keep watch for future assignment postings.)