Okay, so if this blog is supposed to be a record of my learning journey, in my voice, then I'm afraid, dear readers, that you might find me a bit acerbic. The Educational Utopia of every child with a laptop and internet connection, which, working in tandem, suddenly make said children crave education the way they crave Skittles is just that--a utopia. And even Thomas More had a dark side to his. . .
I think, for example, if I see one more video of silent, sad-faced kids writing stuff down on white boards while heart-string jerking music wails in the background, I may be sick. Or one more "Ken Burns" transitionally loaded flash movie that either compares us to China or scolds us for how far behind we are in the world of education, and then promises me that technology will cure all that I am going to puke out my liver and stuff it down someone's throat. Having taught rhetoric of the visual and verbal kind for the past 13 years of my life, I think I know when I'm being manipulated.
Why are there more honor students in China than there are people in the US? China has 1.3+ BILLION people; the US-300+ million. China is mostly populated with a homogeneous group of people; the US has people of all cultures and religions, many of which don’t revere education the way the culture of China does. And don’t get me started on the religions that handicap our educational system; China doesn’t have the issue of a "religious right".
Should we be including technology in education, yes; should we throw away our books because kids don’t like to read? The Scarlet Letter is going to be as hard to understand on Kindle as it is in print.
Sorry, I am really tech friendly, and I attempt to offer my students a variety of lessons built around technology, but it is not the be all-end all cure for educational woes, and sad-faced kids who listen to Harry Potter on their iPod still need to be able to read. Last time I checked, the TAKS exam, the SAT, the AP, the ACT, the LSAT, the GMAT, etc were written exams, be they written on paper or written in a word document down-loadable from the web.
And that, I'm afraid, isn't going to change.
Will I continue to use technology in my room? Sure. Some lessons fall into tech plans nicely; will I force all my lessons into some technological format? No. When I told my students we were going to do peer editing online, they were distressed. They actually like having their physical essays in another student's hands being searched and studied. Should I force them to do it online? We aren't a paperless society yet.
I took the Intel Teach course and learned a great many things that changed the way I do certain lessons. I love the collaborative spreadsheet for brainstorming; so do the kids, but when half the class can't get logged in due to a tree issue or a context problem with the laptop system itself, the magic starts vanishing. Thirty minutes later, when finally, after multiple shut downs, battery pulls, entire computer swaps, and finally, merely using stuguest to get online, 1/3 of my class time is gone. Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, you have to punt; and sometimes punting involves pulling out the old pen and paper method.
Are my students getting 21st century skills? Yes they are, and they are also getting skills to get them through a project if the electricity goes out, if their ink cartridge explodes, and their flash drive melts in the Texas heat. If we want well-rounded kids, then maybe we should teach them new skills but also update the ones they already have--like note-taking and active reading with a pen in hand, annotating for meaning.
Wow, well said! I completely agree with your comments. And, I, like your students often prefer to have the hard copy in front of me (and I use technology religiously).
ReplyDeleteMolly, have I told you lately that I love you? I felt the same way as you about the whiteboard kids (well, except for the part about puking out my liver -- I just rolled my eyes and said some inappropriate things to myself, which I shall keep private). Why must we entertain them? Education, like life, requires effort and diligence. And I hate to admit it, but sometimes learning is not fun (it's hard work). But making our brains sweat, our eyebrows frown, and our hands cramp leads to learning, and like Thomas Paine once said, "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." I'm proud of myself when I trudge through a difficult read, especially if I have to read it twice. I want my students to experience that same feeling of accomplishment. I want them to be able to sacrifice some time and effort for their education. Because of my ability to interact with a text, through pen and paper, I'm more analytical and creative. I can create the images in my mind; I don't need them fed to me. With these skills, I can do anything. Isn't that what we want for our students?
ReplyDeleteAmen, sister! As a bibliophile, I fear the day when our kids don't know the smell of good paper and the textured feel of the page. Am I naive to believe that part of learning is the visceral experience of the process? Am I stupid to think that there is something to gain by flipping the pages and hearing the rustle they create? It seems to me that it is difficult to have reverence for the virtual "blank slate" of the computer screen, but the slightly raised bold, black print of an old copy of Dickens...that is something to revere.
ReplyDeleteOkay, sister, this extreme use of common sense and always having a Plan B and/or C, if needed, is exactly why you always get asked to try out my new gadgets. You're not afraid of technology, but you understand what real learning and teaching is all about.
ReplyDeleteTR
I completely agree with your post. In education we are responsible for "keeping up with the times" and integrating technology in the classroom but can not loose site of the fact that sometimes "old school" really is better. We need to be careful to not loose the personal side of teaching.
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