LIBE 477B Week One Notes:
LIBE 477B 951 Special Topics in Library Education:
ICT (Information, Communications, technologies)
Aka Media & Technologies – Digital Technologies
Prof: Jenny Arntzen
Class Notes
Tuesday July 2nd 2013
Group Buddies:
Jennifer Lazareck
Janet Hill
Lisa Lundquist
Brie Melnyk
Content developments
ICT development
– Skill knowledge
Social Development
-Online social development
– Social media
– Online social presence
Wednesday July 3rd 2013
Roll call & personal quips.
Back to the blogs…
Reading Q&A in small groups…
2) Individual, Small Group, and/or Whole Class Content Development (Learning Activities)
A) Review Why School – Small Group (post notes in discussion forum)
Small Group Organization – 4 per group, 1 group of 5 (approx.)
Part 1: Old School (Groups 1 – 3)
Part 2: New School (Jennifer, Janet, Brianne, Sophia)
Review Why School – Whole Class
En mass confusion 😛
Blog for tonight, Response to “Why School?”
At first this book seemed to be about why is there a lack of technology in the schools. Then it moved onto what I call “inquiry based learning.” Overall this was a highly depressing article, and I am extremely grateful that I do not teach in the USA. I am also hoping that Canada is not as bad as the USA as I have been overseas for 10 years now.
I have also been fortunate enough to become an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP) teacher. http://www.ibo.org/ The ENTIRE program is inquiry based learning from the “Units of Inquiry” in the Primary Years Program (PYP), the “Significant Concepts & Guiding Questions” of the MYP and Diploma Program (DP). At the end of PYP (Grade 5 or 6 in Canada) there is the “Exhibition” which is the cumulating of one inquiry based interdisciplinary unit. At the end of the MYP (Grade 10 in Canada) there is the “Personal Project” which is self-chosen task and reflective essay. Even though the IB is geared towards the standardized exam at the end of all DP things (to ensure a standardized report card for students world wide), the questions remain open ended and analytical, emphasizing critical thinking and reflective writing skills. Plus the students who do finish the DP have had to finish a plethora of reflective thinking papers (essays or assignments) from across the subject stream; and on top of that, they also need to complete an Extended Essay (EE), which is a 5,000 word reflective essay on the topic of their choice.
Yes indeed this does require teachers to be busy, however the students are more engaged and the end results are a more authentic understanding and demonstration of the students learning (or lack there of). I consider MYP to be like a marathon: all students have the same stretches and warm ups, drills, and training exercises. Then once ready you line them up and say “on your mark, get set, ready, go, show me all you learned over the last 4-6 weeks!” Therefore there is a time limit (due dates & deadlines) but the students do not really need to beat anyone, except due their personal best.
I am glad that there was a parent who complained about standardized exam based education. I wish more would. They are culturally biased tests, and do not support students from a lower socio-economic background or reflect the imbalance of the American society (monetary, culturally, or linguistically). Not to mention the horrid slashing of the Arts programs in schools, the lack of technical-vocation high schools, and closing of libraries – resources nation wide!
I actually recommend Canadian universities to my students when overseas, as they would not have to do an S.A.T exam, plus our education is just as old and good, and cheaper than the USA! Not to mention the fact that we do not go around shooting each other. My students who come form a non-English speaking country might have to do a TOFEL exam, but they often can circumvent that with their Language A English DP score. In some cases DP graduates can get first year credit from their DP courses! (A moment to gloat for my female Indian student – whose parents do not speak English – who received a 6/7 in her IB DP Language A English class – I am a proud teacher!) Therefore UBC you better get ready for my stellar IB students!
On a personal aside; I would never have passed in the American system, as I do not test well. Yet I have managed two bachelors’ degrees (Arts & Education) and am up to my ninth language or so, while living overseas and accumulating knowledge first hand about new countries and cultures. Not to mention improving my own personal professional development through the IBO courses, in house training, UBC, various Singaporean Performing Arts schools, and the Royal Shakespeare Company! I never cease to amaze myself and my mother these days, and she or I will gladly tell you all the horror stories I had earned during my school years in Winnipeg. Being a free spirit with a stubborn streak and a tendency to sleep during boring lectures, it is nothing short of a miracle that I was able to pass through the system of “teach to the test.” Good thing my university choices were essay based and I could chose the topics!
In conclusion I found this article as a depressing display of the current state of American education. I hope that Canada is not in the same boat, as I already enjoy the inquiry-based model of education while working in IB schools overseas. I also hope that this novella inspires other Americans to take charge of other education system and make the correct changes that need to happen!
Thursday July 4th 2013-07-04
Twitter: MissLazareck
On twitter, follow the gang. Keeping it professional?
Module 3 in small groups…
Pearltress… connected via my CWI gmail
For tonight’s blog:
Post notes, links, and conversations about the technological aspect of information literacy here:
Think about your notes in terms of cognitive & Cultural dimensions:
Our conceptual understandings: I still do not always trust the Internet and online saving – storage devices. I cannot hold onto to them, so where does the information go? No one has explained this to me yet in a way that I understand, and that lack of physical evidence causes me to doubt and fear that all my work will be lost. I have little faith so it seems in ICT.
Our experiences & Our relationships with technologies: My experiences with ICT are good, bad, and indifferent to ICT. Mostly I find that ICT only works when I do not need it to. It is sort of like “Murphy’s Law” and that ICT will break down or go offline or whatnot when needed most.
Good things are how fast and instantaneous I can communicate with friends world wide and family overseas. How did missionaries live in Asia & Africa before email and AC? I cannot imagine waiting for a boat (months instead of hours to travel globally) for your post (long outdated by the time you got it) or no respite from the heat (not to mention corsets and stockings).
The bad is the overdependence on ICT. What happens to your paperless & wireless classroom, when the Wi-Fi goes down? What happens when you leave your smart phone at home or locked in your desk at work? What happens when files are corrupted and hard drives crash?
The indifference comes downs to the amount of time you want to be online or how much you want to be found. I don’t care for “shoot ‘em up” video games, but I do harbor a secret addiction to solitaire & free cell card games (not to mention that stupid black cat! http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/chatnoir/chatnoir.html).
Our relationships with each other about and through technology: I find that when blocked from Facebook – I am okay. People back home seem to be sadder I’m physically missing, as opposed to what I ate that day or what quiz I took. Whatever happened to letter writing or emailing skills? If people really do need or miss me that much then call! We can even call text or video chat via Skype Gmail or MSN now too!
When my phone battery dies I can read a book and not listen to my music until I return home. I do not need to play falling fruit or gemstone games on the bus or train. I do not need to watch TV en route either, but actually that makes me more nauseous than anything.
I turn off my Wi-Fi on my smart phone, as I do not want to be found by students or parents after 6pm. I am entitled to have a life and I would rather prefer to walk through the air-conditioned malls, interact with human sales associates, and read. On that note I do love my Kindle and when that does not work or is in a mood, that indeed makes me rather hysterical.
Our beliefs: Human nature and society have always been a history of change and evolution. We are a species driven by the use of tools and those tools, skills, and level of sophistication has changed over the millennia. We have gone flint stones, to chisels, to the pyramids, to cement and archways, to castles and bridges, to roads and cities, and now skyscrapers, and the Internet. Human nature is driven by the technology at hand, and we constantly desire more of it and better of it. Those instincts have shaped our beliefs about ICT and reflect in our ever-changing use, desire, and demand of it.
Personally, ICT is a have to not a want to in my life. I enjoy the benefits such as IMAX 3D movies, TV, talking to friends and family overseas via phones and the Internet. Yet, if all the electricity stopped, I’d be most upset over the loss of my AC in Singapore. Then I’d have to go out to the bookshop for something on paper to read, and fried noodles with an iced coffee from the hawker stalls who cook over flames. I’d sweat like a pig while enjoying a good meal and book under an umbrella out of doors! J
Our relationships with educational institutions with regards to technology: I have been through the gauntlet of having nothing, to a computer lab with ICT teacher. Then I went to booking a lab 2 weeks in advance and around the ICT teachers’ schedule, for a class project or research period. After that it was having netbooks to be signed out at a weeks notice, and finally to now where I am in a 1 – to – 1 laptop school where the Wi-Fi is temperamental and the printer-photocopier even more so! As for ICT, I can take it or leave it as I have been teaching for over 15 years now and I get amazing results from students no matter we did or did not have for ICT at the time. As for me, I can adapt or die and if that seems to drastic, then how about that I could evolve or marry a rich man and retire? J
Technological dimensions:
Learning to use technologies: Learning to use technologies, has been an on the go experience for me over the years. I learn best by doing and having step-by-step instructions or a troubleshooting document/person to help if I get stuck. I will need to be walked through the ICT once, then I need to time to explore, experiment, and either enjoy a great success or fail beautifully. Then repeat.
Learning technologies with technologies: I started on PCs and never had a Mac until last year in Mexico. I still don’t get the big deal. I find what the computer deems as “intuitive” to be annoying. I do like the speed of the machine, but the sound sucks and I don’t do enough with graphics to care about them. Whatever I am given, is what I use, therefore my indifference to it all helps me be flexible and a quick learner.
Inventing uses for technologies as we learn to use them & Inventing technologies as an evolution of our learning to use technologies: As a life ling learner role model for my students I tend to reflect more at the end of a unit or rotation, and then I go back and tweak. As a full time teacher I do not have the hours in the day to surf and play or seek out new ICT life. Students and I swap pieces of ICT and ideas all the time, as we look for movies, TV, books, information, and music online. My department colleagues and I are really a great team and we are constantly sharing news articles, and stuff for the classroom with one another. It is more in the spirit of sharing and maintaining a constant front per grade level. At department meetings is where we express our comments, questions, and concerns over the unit so far and any end of unit reflection that needs to happen. The Google software and applications are constantly improving and changing, and therefore it’s uses become even more available or adaptable for our classroom. Like all things we are a work in progress…
Friday July 5th 2013
Class Objectives: on the blog header…
15 minutes if fame presentations…
Break
Discussion topics for final group presentations…
www.mindmeister.com online mind mapping…
Homework:
3 peer reviews on her blog…
Sign up for mindmeister
4th blog…
3 Peer Reviews Friday July 5th 2013:
1. Consider the breadth of concept development – how much has this person broadened their perspectives about the concepts we have investigated and discussed this week? All of the presenters were knowledgeable in their topics. All of the presenters discussed ways that they have either used ICT or are trying to sort out what to do with it. All of the presenters discussed both their uses, and desires to revise and improve on their usage.
2. Consider deepening understanding of concepts – is there evidence that this person has deepened their understanding of the concepts covered this week? I found that by using their ICT site/resource all of the presenters showed a good understanding. I was impressed by how colourful and enticing Michelle’s blog was. I was indeed sidetracked by taking on the of personality tests… Overall I felt that all of the presenters knew how to manipulate the ICT resource that they chose.
3. What about this person’s use of ICT [in their blog] – how have they used digital media to represent their learning? I felt that all the presenters had good visuals and that they were used appropriately. I felt that their pacing was good and that it was easy to follow along if I so desired.
4. What would you cite as exemplary uses of digital media in this learning context? Again I was greatly impressed by Michelle’s initiative to start and maintain both an educational and fun blog for her classroom. I do not know her circumstances at her school, but I found myself both exploring and enjoying her site. There were some good ideas and I liked the colourful layout. It was easy to navigate and I feel that she has accomplished her goal of being accessible to both students and parents. It is a good model for other teachers who are perhaps looking into this method as a means of classroom or subject maintenance.
5. What would you suggest as ways to improve uses of ICT in this learning context? I cannot give comments on this as every teacher is in a different situation. Every province, school district, and administration has different rules, resources, and expectations of their teachers and their use of ICT.
For example: I am overseas, I live in Singapore which have their own rules on IP, I belong to an IBO school, we are accredited by Edutrust, IBO, and WASC which all have their own expectations and rules for us. My administrations are males who are obsessed with ICT; I am in an Apple hardware, Google software, 1-to-1-laptop school. I am expected to be online from 8:15am – 4:30pm daily, I need to be one and maintain my PowerSchool duties, maintain prompt communications on my school Gmail account, to use ICT in every summative assessment that I use in the English department, and I am expected to us the laptops in class instruction for both my subjects. I am connected to this laptop from 7:30am – 6pm daily. Not to mention the fact that I will then have to take it home to grade assessments on, as we have gone paperless in the English department, and I use Google docs for the Drama reflections as well.
Now, that being said – who else is in the exact same situation? Most likely none, therefore I cannot comment on them just as much as they cannot on me. However if anyone can figure out a way for me to work smarter – not harder – with my laptop, then by all means please speak up!
6. Did you find anything problematic in their uses of ICT? Please describe and suggest a way to rectify this situation. I felt that the presenters all used their ICT well in their presentations. Again due to not knowing their circumstances, I cannot comment on this.
7. Think about this person’s contributions to the learning group – how would you describe their contributions? I felt that the presenters were all well spoken and took ownership of their topics. They admitted when they might be wrong or needed more experience with their chosen ICT. I feel that that is a great quality in a lifelong learner and a teacher when they have the courage to admit and say, “I don’t know how to do this, but I am trying to get better at it.” I feel that students (and an adult audience) will respect them more for being honest and showing curiosity. It was also great to have some “real world” applicable examples in use for the people who might need either information or inspiration!
8. What have their contributions to the learning group meant to you and your learning experience in the course to date? I enjoyed the presentations and I liked their ideas and notions. Again I constrained by my own schools’ rules, however I did make bookmarks and notes on their topics and websites for future use.