Category Archives: A. Auto e-graphy

My current thoughts with digital technology at the moment revolve around their usage by my own children at home. Specifically, how the existence will affect, for better or worse, their development intellectually and socially. My six-year-old at the moment is more than comfortable with the digital devices available to her (a tablet, two different laptops, and several different cellular devices). My youngest at 3 months, while not adept at using such devices yet becomes easily transfixed on digital screens whenever around.   I am curious as to how technological advances and forthcoming devices change and influence how educators change their practice and pedagogy as the population and likewise, their abilities also change.

Like many, my elementary school was fortunate enough to have a computer lab and it was always a mad scramble to get the best programs (on 5.5″ floppy discs, no less) to play at the time.  But my father was also quite interested in computers and we have always had at least one computer in the household from when I was 6 years old and onward.

One of my most memorable educational computing experiences was, ironically, one of my most hated as well.  My dad had picked up some programming skills and had brewed up, among other things, a math practice program that would generate random, single operation, arithmetic questions using numbers between 0 and 100.  It would also time your progress and track your score.  Much to my dismay, I had to complete 100 questions each day and print out my time and score to show my dad.  My initial distaste for it began to fade as the constant practice helped my math speed and accuracy and it soon became a challenge to see how quickly and accurately I could complete the 100 questions.  The practice and math foundation that it built continues to serve me well to this day.

Thinking back to this experience brings up a few questions though:

1. Current pedagogical trends seem to focus less on rote memorization and drill, and more on creativity and analysis.  However, all knowledge proficiency involves some amount of skill proficiency as well.  But is it possible that the continued reduction in skills practice will become a detriment to student learning?  Do educational trends like these cycle?
2. Much of the success of my dad’s math program was built upon the speed and efficiency of the computer to reduce his workload (ie- thinking up questions, checking the answers, timing the session), and many current educational technologies do provide such conveniences (ie- online quizzes, tracking of grades, assignment submission).  But when deciding on which technologies to implement into the classroom, how do we differentiate between ones that provide truly innovative learning experiences and ones that only provide convenience?

My first encounter with digital technology came in a computer lab in grade 6.  There was a strange scent in the computer lab very likely coming from the computer hardware at the time.  At first it was discovery of solitaire, then the struggle of focusing between learning windows, office etc and playing solitaire.

It is memorable simply because it was something different from the ho-hum of a regular classroom.  Computer Lab day was exciting as it meant learning something different, on a device where there is a screen at my finger tips, a mouse and a keyboard that let me do whatever I wanted, until of course the teacher scolded to get on task.

The question this raises is: how should a new technology be best managed from a teacher’s perspective so that the students exposed to that technology make the best out of the technology’s intended use?

Thanks

Vibhu

A particularly interesting technology moment occurred during my second year of teaching. I had petitioned to create a programming class. Being my first technology based course, I selected the Python programming language as it seemed relatively straight forward. Then I saw the class list…. It was perhaps the biggest group of hooligans in the senior classes I had ever seen put together at one time! There was only one quiet/calm/focused student in the group. On the first day, we sat down and went over some basics of how to get the language to produce sections of text and how to ask the user for inputs. The vice-principal walked into the class half-way through and, rather than the pandemonium we both expected,  joined me in slack-jawed amazement at what we were witnessing. The students were, without prompting, writing stories using the new tricks they had learned. Every single student was glued to the task. And the quiet, reserved kid in the back of the class… turns out he is the son of an IT professional. Students who had largely ignored him were lining up for his advice and assistance. This continued through out the course, regardless of the technique of the day. The students wove all of their new techniques back into interactive stories.

For me this situation raises several questions about teaching with technology such as: What is it about technology is so profoundly attractive to middle school students? How can story telling scaffold technology learning? and how can social-constructivist approaches be applied to STEM topics?

My youngest aunt bought me and my brother our first computer back in 1999. I was in 4th grade while my brother was in 3rd grade and we were extremely elated. When we received Internet (accessed through the web browser called Netscape), it became apparent that the computer was consuming our communication with others…especially because in order to access the World Wide Web, the ability to call our friends and extended family members would be diminished due to dial-up connection services!

This event was memorable because I remember having continuous conversations with my brother about how this new piece of technology worked. There was so much learning happening on a regular basis!

Two questions:

• Dial-up connection seemed to have caused two communicative technologies (i.e. phone and Internet) to contradict each other, in that you could only use one or the other. Anybody find this interesting?
• Do people approach new digital technologies in the same ways today?

Hi Everyone,

I have to say until the MET program I was a very non-techy person. I did not naturally gravitate towards technology and spent most of my career doing what I always did.

Suddenly I realized I needed to change how I ran my classroom and my teaching strategies. I explored options and interests and luckily found MET. The program has invigorated my teaching, planning and learning. It was the catalyst I needed to be excited again.

The courses I have taken and the other students I have met and worked with have taken me on a journey beyond my wildest dreams. Who knew I would become the person obsessed with digital story telling, social media in the classroom and most importantly makerspaces.

The project I am currently most proud of was the creation of the website makerspaceforeducation.com with Trish Roffey and Janelle Therien. I am excited to add new content and update with blogs (although not as regularly as I  would like). MET has been a game changer for me and I look forward to this course with eager anticipation.

Catherine

My first experience with computers as a tool in the workplace, was when I took a computer course at Sheraton College in the early 80’s.  Desktop computers had recently made inroads into the office workplace, and this course taught the basics for office use, such as word processing (Wordstar* and WordPerfect), spreadsheets, and programming languages such as BASIC and Fortran. I loved learning the tricks of word processing and this was valuable later in life when Microsoft Word became the default program. I also remember being completely baffled by Fortran, however, a little more competent at BASIC. I loved the way I could program the computer to do something I wanted it to do, but got extremely frustrated when it didn’t work because I missed a step in the command sequence. Fast forward to today, and I see similar frustrations and elations when my students are coding using programs such as Scratch. It gives me pause to reflect on how far we have come in making it easier for people to create using computers, and how similar the learning experience is now as it was for me then, and I wonder what programs or platforms we are using now that might become obsolete, and what the advances might be for use in the classroom.

My parents bought our first computer, a Commodore 64, when I was 16 years old. My time on the computer was limited because I shared it with my three siblings and my parents. The computer took up most of the space on our desk in the basement. I remember the floppy disk drive and the joystick, as well as the clunky keys and the monitor that looked like our television set. I spent my time on the computer playing games like Pong, Pacman and Frogger. Prior to the Commodore 64, my only experience using a computer was over a couple of months in grade nine when we were introduced to coding while I was taking a business course. I remember sitting in a small area at the back of a classroom, and three of us sharing one computer for a limited time period each class. I had very limited access to the computer, and did not learn anything about coding in that class. When I reflect on my experience as a student trying to learn coding, I remember my students faced the same accessibility and technical issues when I taught at an inner city school. How can schools effectively incorporate technology into the curriculum if they do not have the means to support the students?

When reflecting on some of my earliest interactions in an educational setting, the Logo program came to mind. I distinctly remember being brought as a whole class to the “computer lab” and being promised that we would be learning an “amazing new tool” to help us learn all about computers while having fun. Just being able to sit down at a computer keyboard was exciting at the time, and we all looked forward to this part of the day.  The “Turtle” was basically the cursor in this program, and using standard commands we were learning the basics of programming. We could draw geometric shapes! I remember reflecting that, “there must be more to this machine”, and wondering why we were resigned to play on “Logo” every time we went to the computer lab. Now as I reflect, I realize that the educators were also still learning how to use this “computer” in education as well, and they taught us how to use this program because it came with a guide and they could understand it. (Well, it wasn’t that complicated). Overall, now this has me reflecting about whether or not we as current educators are providing enough rich and meaningful experiences with the technology that most students have at their fingertips.