Rethinking Educational Technology

Here's a great article that discusses the need for different rhetoric when it comes to educational technology. It is very easy to either be on one side or the other - as in to either see technology as the greatest thing since sliced bread, (which it isn't always), or as the worse thing to hit the classrooms, (an antiquated approach to classroom technology if ever there was). There does have to be a happy medium. A realisation that technology can bring advantages to the learning experience but that it shouldn't diminish the role of the teacher or the learning journey of the student.

Smart Thinking About Educational Technology

High schools offer online classes

Bit late blogging this week but I'm quite glad I am as yesterday I heard an interesting program on online courses for high schools. It got me thinking about all the technology we use and that essentially if it wasn't for technology our class wouldn't take place. What I love about this class is that you guys use the technology you're learning about as a medium to help you learn. For example you listen to a podcast to learn about podcasts or watch a YouTube video to learn about YouTube. I just think that's pretty cool.

Anyway check out the article. It's great that high school students who are in remote areas have the opportunity to tae a wide range of subjects thanks to online technology.

Public Schools Expand Curriculum Online

Where are you?

What? You're still on break? But didn't you...weren't you...don't you guys do any work? Oh, just a bit? Just for this class? That's all right then.

Easter week this week so no class tasks scheduled. Enjoy. Back to blogging and forums next week.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.

Taken from the hymn There is a Green Hill Far Away by Cecil F. Alexander

And from one of my all time favourites, apparently dating myself once again...Jesus Christ Superstar

California Dreaming - Happy Spring Break!

So while most of you are sunning yourselves on the coasts of Florida and Mexico, those of us stuck here in the Fort are most definitely envying you. While I loved the original by the Mamas and Papas I thought it only fitting to play the Beach Boys' version. Oh my God, I'm REALLY not this old!!!!

Continuum

I thought this was a nice bit of continuation from last week's post and link Team based e-learning turns a new page. In my ever feeble attempts to make you think more globally, more internationally, more hey-there's-a-big-wide-world-out-there, one of the points I liked about this article was the collaboration aspect. Don't limit yourselves to collaboration with just your fellow Indianans, look across the globe! Encourage your students to develop international friendships and penpals through technology mediums such as email or Skype video. Form a bond with another class in another country. Learn and grow and accept that the world is so much bigger than our small corner of the wondrous universe.

And because we're talking about multi-media and hyper-media in this third Learning Block, even though we looked at YouTube as a medium for online technologies, the concept of video falls firmly under this LB. This is one of my favourite songs and falls nicely into what I'd like you as future educators to think about for this Learning Block. Media is an amazing tool for breaking down barriers, reaching across the globe and establishing learning and teaching developments that you'll never find in a university lecture hall.

Learning by doing

I thought this was a neat article, particularly in light of one of our earlier Discussion Board forums where we discussed the difference between constructivism and objectivism. Most of you declared yourselves to be constructivists and this article emphasizes the importance of the "doing" when it comes to learning and having feedback.

Education in the Third Dimension

This is a great example of how technology is moving forward to make the learning process more interactive, provide more instant feedback and making knowledge acquisition a virtual interaction.

Word reliance & nostalgia

I've just finished reading all your posts from this week's Discussion Board forums and out of everything one thing really struck me. Someone, (no names don't worry!) wrote, and I'm ad-libbing here, that programs such as Word were fantastic because students didn't need to worry about their spelling and punctuation because the computer essentially did it for you. I absolutely, positively cringe whenever I hear this. I love technology, it's my job, it's something I take more than a passing interest in. But to hear that kind of reliance on a software program just grates me. The number of papers I read and grade where students have obviously relied totally on Word to correct it, only for Word to put in the incorrect spelling of the word, i.e. hear instead of here, is astonishing. You absolutely cannot think that a software program is any kind of substitute for proper and correct spelling and grammar. Yes, a program such as Word is helpful and does allow you to catch mistakes that you might not otherwise, but you know what, learn to proofread! Learn how to spell properly, learn where your correct punctuation goes. Learn to read through a paper when it's finished and you, the student, to catch the mistakes. 

Okay rant over. 

On a less school-mistressy note, this article made me smile particularly because just the other day my husband and I were playing Pac Man and I was commenting on how I didn't grow up on video games, (poor, deprived Boarding school child that I was) which led to a nostalgic discussion on all the other games he remembers...Space Invaders, Galaga, etc. There is something to be said about old school technology.