A Vision of Students Today
I think that this video is a pretty accurate portrayal of students' lives and work loads today. I know for me personally the parts about the amount of reading I am supposed to do versus the amount that I actually get done seems pretty close. I have also seen a ton of people in class on their laptops, instead of doing school work, looking at facebook or twitter and not even paying attention. I might be tempted to do the same, but I almost never bring my laptop to class.
Seeing that students have 26 1/2 hours worth of work to do in a given 24 hour period sort of surprised me, but I could see where it might be even more than that for some people. I know that on a typical school day I spend way more than three hours in class, since I take 5 classes this semester. There are probably plenty of students that are going to school full time and working full time as well, so that would put them with quite a bit more to get done in a day than those who do not work or only work part time. Looking at it this way, of course we have to learn to be multi-taskers, otherwise nothing would get done!
It's Not About the Technology
I could not agree more with this article! All of the technology you can have in the classroom really amounts to nothing without a teacher who truly cares about the success and education of his or her students. This includes, as Ms. Hines stated, self-motivation and continued learning beyond the four years or so that is spent in college.
Technology can be brought into the classrooms and then be ignored by teachers who are unwilling or uninterested in spending a little of their time trying to find ways to implement it into their curriculum. While I was in school, I had teachers who had taught my older cousins or even my parents who were still using the same methods that they used with them. For one of my math teachers, even though there were a few computers in the classroom, I never saw them turned on and the students were always forbidden to touch them. She preferred to teach from the board like she had always done. Even though she had the technology in her classroom, she was not willing to make use of it, and that is Ms. Hine's point. Teachers have to be perpetual learners n order for technology to be a success in the classroom.
"Is it Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Though Mr. Fisch says that this post was written in a moment of frustration and may be a little harsh, I think that it is completely true. Mr. Fisch compares not being technologically literate to not being able to read or to understand math. I had never looked at it this way, but he is absolutely right. At least having some degree of technological literacy is a necessary quality in a teacher, arguably in anyone in this day and age.
Technology cannot be ignored, because it is all around us. Having at least basic technology down is crucial, because things are being incorporated into the classroom that require it. Most classrooms now have computers and many have smart boards. When I was younger, that wasn't the case. Teachers that were teaching before these additions have had to make adjustments, but they are necessary and I would assume worth it in the long run.
Gary's Social Media Counts
This media counter really just proves the points made by the authors above. Times they are a changing. Technology has become a huge part of our lives and teachers should be able to at least have some basic knowledge about it. We need to stay on top of things as much as possible in order to be able to incorporate new things into the classroom.
It seems to me that the Wesch video was as much about the sad state of teaching as it was about the difficult, overworked lives of students. Would you agree or not? If you agree, what comments do you have to make about the way classes are conducted and how that might affect your career as an educator?
ReplyDelete"...and I would assume worth it in the long run." You don't sound too sure of this. Or am I wrong?
What if we had a lousy teacher but great technology. Would effective learning be possible? You appear to argue "No." Am I correct about this?
Oh, I absolutely agree that the Wesch video was about the sad state of teaching as well as the overworked state of students. I know that, often, my professors never know my name and, like I said before, don't notice or care if students are listening or not and that did not start in college. In high school, too, I had teachers that didn't know people's names or seem to care to even try. I had teachers that would get up and just talk for the entire forty-odd minutes that I was in their classrooms, never involving the students nor particularly caring if we were not paying any attention at all. Others would socialize with students the entire block without even pretending to teach anything.
ReplyDelete"...and I assume worth it in the long run."
I don't sound too sure of this?
I should have made that more clear, but yes, I do feel that learning and using technology to educate others is worth whatever trouble you may have initially with understanding it. I just meant that if those who are doubtful gave it a shot they would 'I assume' feel that it is worth it, too.
I think that effective learning would be possible but not nearly as likely as it would in a classroom with a better teacher. My definition of a lousy teacher would be one that does not really care about educating their students, like some that I have had in the past that were too busy with reading their magazine or playing with their cell phone to actually teach anything. Having technology can help a child take his or her own initiative in the classroom if the teacher is "lousy", but honestly how many students who are given, say, a laptop in this situation is going to take it upon themselves to do something productive? Not very many. Students in many of my classes now bring their laptops to class and are constantly either on facebook or whatever else they find more interesting than the lecture that is going on in front of them, even though they are paying to learn this information. I feel like if students have technology in their classrooms then sure it could be helpful, assuming the teacher is one that cares about their students' education and takes the time to really learn ways to incorporate it into the classroom. If not, then they it is just another distraction.