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Thinking back a few years on how I used to use my computer, I can truthfully conclude that the extent of my computer skills, both in the classroom and for personal use, was very limited, although, at that time, I made full use of all of the programs made available to me. Having participated in the “23 Things” technology development program, last year, and experiencing a continuation of that program in the “1:1 laptop program, this year, I have come to realize that sending/receiving emails, using word documents, excel spreadsheets, the LCD projector to teach both knowledge and skills, creating PowerPoint projects, and offering learners a variety of online activities comprises only a minute part of the possibilities available in the field of informational technology in the classroom. A wide range of online educational tools are now available allowing more engaging and meaningful acquisition of knowledge and skills by the students, offering a high level of teacher support, more effective communication, better organization and collaboration, global-wide social networking, and easy sharing, presentation and storing of information.
In the future, I intend to use technology more intensively and effectively. In the year 2013, I believe that all students will use laptops for all subjects to explore, research, collaborate, experiment and communicate, that digital "texts" (including images, animations, audio, and video) will replace all paper textbooks, and that the classroom environment (including both the physical and affective domains) will change dramatically to accommodate the demands of Informational Literacy in the twenty-first century classroom.
Traditional papers and other written assignments will be replaced by totally learner-interactive, computer-generated presentations which will be shared with a wider, perhaps, global audience.
By the year 2013, collaborative, global, multimedia student projects, virtual travel and the creation and maintenance of life-long e-portfolios will become a normal part of everyday schooling.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Blog Reflection: Module 4
Some people have strong feelings about being in the public domain (meaning their pictures, thoughts, interests... can be potentially accessed by people they don't know). Explain your feelings? How do we address these concerns as teachers and role models? How do we teach this?
There is a general consensus that digital technology is revolutionizing communication in many ways. Both adults and children communicate with friends through email, text-messaging or social networking sites. Of course, there are many positive aspects of online communication, however, unfortunately, there are also negative sides to being in the public domain. People who use online social networks to share personal thoughts, information about themselves, to post a picture, or write a comment, need to know that they are in the public domain; it is best for them to remember that there is a possibility that their personal information will be viewed by both invited and uninvited viewers. It is interesting to note that more and more people are of the opinion that a person has to assume that anyone can see his/her FaceBook account. Keeping this in mind might stop a person from crossing the line, that is, saying something that s/he might regret, later; for example, making public something that should have been kept private (perhaps, during a person’s reckless teenage years) could jeopardize that person’s chance of a positive outcome at a job interview.
Not only students, but also teachers need to see the importance of being sure of what they share and how they share online; they need to understand how people are perceived through what they share online. Already, some teachers have been removed or suspended from school for their MySpace postings containing inappropriate content for educators. Does this indicate that, at the end of the day, the lessons for the development of responsibility and cyber-safety that need to be taught to students also need to be shared with teachers? Perhaps, training in this area should be included in the teachers’ professional development; in this way, teachers will require a higher degree of accountability for online communications, and will become role-models for students.
The challenges posed by the new technologies, for example, issues such as people’s rights, privacy, integrity and security, strongly indicate the need for policymakers and educators to collaborate in finding solutions to protect privacy and online data, to eliminate cybercrime such as cyber-bullying, and to maintain a high level of security.
Of all the mediators that influence children (including teachers, parents, peers, and the mass media), parental interaction is the most important for online safety, therefore, perhaps the most critical lessons should be mastered at home and children should enter schools pre-trained in privacy protection. On their part, teachers should include social networking activities as part of the curriculum, thus maintaining a high level of student integrity and overall online security.
Food for thought …
- Is there a need for re-teaching the meanings of known words such as “privacy”, “security” and “integrity” in the light of the new connotations they are developing in the Digital Age?
- One outcome of dealing with this issue could be the drafting of an internationally-agreed upon policy strongly advising against inappropriate communication through any social networking sites.
- Most parents believe that their children disclose too much personal, and sometimes, false information online through Web sites or chat rooms. Perhaps, children up to a certain age should be required to obtain parental permission before disclosing their personal information online.
All in all, without a doubt, there is a pressing need to develop effective privacy education for all who enter the world of online communication; online communication is an essential tool in twenty-first century education, therefore, rather than blocking or censoring online communication, users of these tools should be trained in the areas of online integrity, accountability, mutual respect, the meaning of privacy and maintaining security.
There is a general consensus that digital technology is revolutionizing communication in many ways. Both adults and children communicate with friends through email, text-messaging or social networking sites. Of course, there are many positive aspects of online communication, however, unfortunately, there are also negative sides to being in the public domain. People who use online social networks to share personal thoughts, information about themselves, to post a picture, or write a comment, need to know that they are in the public domain; it is best for them to remember that there is a possibility that their personal information will be viewed by both invited and uninvited viewers. It is interesting to note that more and more people are of the opinion that a person has to assume that anyone can see his/her FaceBook account. Keeping this in mind might stop a person from crossing the line, that is, saying something that s/he might regret, later; for example, making public something that should have been kept private (perhaps, during a person’s reckless teenage years) could jeopardize that person’s chance of a positive outcome at a job interview.
Not only students, but also teachers need to see the importance of being sure of what they share and how they share online; they need to understand how people are perceived through what they share online. Already, some teachers have been removed or suspended from school for their MySpace postings containing inappropriate content for educators. Does this indicate that, at the end of the day, the lessons for the development of responsibility and cyber-safety that need to be taught to students also need to be shared with teachers? Perhaps, training in this area should be included in the teachers’ professional development; in this way, teachers will require a higher degree of accountability for online communications, and will become role-models for students.
The challenges posed by the new technologies, for example, issues such as people’s rights, privacy, integrity and security, strongly indicate the need for policymakers and educators to collaborate in finding solutions to protect privacy and online data, to eliminate cybercrime such as cyber-bullying, and to maintain a high level of security.
Of all the mediators that influence children (including teachers, parents, peers, and the mass media), parental interaction is the most important for online safety, therefore, perhaps the most critical lessons should be mastered at home and children should enter schools pre-trained in privacy protection. On their part, teachers should include social networking activities as part of the curriculum, thus maintaining a high level of student integrity and overall online security.
Food for thought …
- Is there a need for re-teaching the meanings of known words such as “privacy”, “security” and “integrity” in the light of the new connotations they are developing in the Digital Age?
- One outcome of dealing with this issue could be the drafting of an internationally-agreed upon policy strongly advising against inappropriate communication through any social networking sites.
- Most parents believe that their children disclose too much personal, and sometimes, false information online through Web sites or chat rooms. Perhaps, children up to a certain age should be required to obtain parental permission before disclosing their personal information online.
All in all, without a doubt, there is a pressing need to develop effective privacy education for all who enter the world of online communication; online communication is an essential tool in twenty-first century education, therefore, rather than blocking or censoring online communication, users of these tools should be trained in the areas of online integrity, accountability, mutual respect, the meaning of privacy and maintaining security.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Blog Reflection: Google Docs
I was amazed by the wide range of online educational tools offered through Google Documents to empower educators to empower learners; acquisition of knowledge and skills becomes highly interactive, genuinely engaging, accelerated, autonomous and both transparent and meaningful to the learners. Networks of communities of learners and teachers share information, collaborate conveniently in research, administration and presentations, communicate efficiently, more often, easily and in different ways, create documents, store information safely, and use tools for organization of their documents/folders and to create spreadsheets.
In addition, it is possible for educators to accurately assess and monitor the quality and quantity of the participation/contributions of individual members of a group working on a collaborative project, thus developing the level of accountability and responsibility of the learners and their powers of organization. Teachers can easily use a combination of Google Docs tools and doc folders to block in learner progress using a spreadsheet, throughout the completion of an academic program/class project.
The creation of public documents (Newsletters and letters to parents) becomes a simple action, meetings become less time-consuming when the completion of one shared document that all teachers can edit precedes the meeting, and lessons become more meaningful when interdisciplinary units are created through Google Docs. Furthermore, language teachers can use Google Docs for a whole range of activities including the creation of collaborative book reports/research papers, co-editing of written texts online, and learner-generated poetry/writing portfolios, while humanities teachers may utilize “My Map” in Google Maps to have the learners take a virtual trip through cities all around the world … this has changed the whole approach to learning and teaching, world-wide.
In addition, it is possible for educators to accurately assess and monitor the quality and quantity of the participation/contributions of individual members of a group working on a collaborative project, thus developing the level of accountability and responsibility of the learners and their powers of organization. Teachers can easily use a combination of Google Docs tools and doc folders to block in learner progress using a spreadsheet, throughout the completion of an academic program/class project.
The creation of public documents (Newsletters and letters to parents) becomes a simple action, meetings become less time-consuming when the completion of one shared document that all teachers can edit precedes the meeting, and lessons become more meaningful when interdisciplinary units are created through Google Docs. Furthermore, language teachers can use Google Docs for a whole range of activities including the creation of collaborative book reports/research papers, co-editing of written texts online, and learner-generated poetry/writing portfolios, while humanities teachers may utilize “My Map” in Google Maps to have the learners take a virtual trip through cities all around the world … this has changed the whole approach to learning and teaching, world-wide.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
MS 1:1 technology program
· What are the main differences between Gmail and any email you've used before?
At first, not being familiar with the layout of Gmail and finding my other email service satisfactory, simple to use and sufficient for my use, I was not motivated to change to Gmail; however, the more I am exposed to the different features available through Gmail, the more I realize that Gmail offers more effective means of communication, collaboration and organization to the user.
· What would you like to be able to do with Gmail? Responses here might inform future learning opportunities in this course
I would like to explore and to be able to utilize all of the opportunities Gmail offers, in other words, to gain an effective level of literacy in using today’s tools of communication and collaboration.
· How could one of the tools in Gmail be used to positively impact student or teacher performance at ISB?
At this stage of my experience in using the tools of Gmail, I feel that I could not possibly do justice to the amazing possibilities Gmail offers…possibilities that positively impact both teacher and student acquisition of knowledge and skills, and overall performance. I am aware, however, that Gmail offers its users different and more engaging means of communication and collaboration, and recommends efficient ways of keeping organized and staying on task.
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