Thanks to Jenny for helping me figure out how to embed the Popplet I showed you today. I’m going to continue to to update it to help me sort out all of my personal issues – if you want to be a collaborator on my Popplet (a.k.a. be my personal ICT therapist) please let me know and I’ll figure out how to add you.
Module 4 Questions
1. What would you say was your key defining ICT quality when you filled out the questionnaire at the beginning of the week?
I’m not sure I understand this question, so I may not actually end up answering it correctly. When filling out the survey I was comparing myself against some imaginary ideal of what it means to be a competent ICT user. I am embedded in a world, a school community, a circle of friends, and now a class full of learners. Within these circles there are people who know a lot more than I do and people who know a lot less. In many ways it is useless to judge yourself based on what you think you should know. I’m not going to know everything. I may never even know everything about one thing. The important thing I have to remember about my connection with ICT is that I need to know enough to accomplish what’s important to me and focus on the things that will best serve my students. It seems I definitely didn’t answer that question!
2. How were your ideas about ICT in school settings influenced by Will Richardson’s book, “Why School”?
It would sound jaded to say “I’ve heard it all before” so I won’t! I attended a workshop series last school year called “Engaging the Digital Learner” and many of the themes from “Why School” were discussed. I was aware of some of the cool things that we can do with ICT in schools, and that it’s becoming more important that students can work with information rather than simply knowing things. What this book did was change how I feel about my own role in the picture. As I mentioned in my presentation today, I have a habit of focusing on why something won’t work instead of (a) deciding if it will make my students more engaged in their learning and if so, (b) figuring out how to make it happen despite the time and frustrations. Richardson’s unlearning/learning ideas for educators are actually fairly easy to work into my life. I don’t think I’ll be able to do everything he suggests right away (talking to strangers, for example, will take much more unlearning on my part) but it provides a starting point! In the overwhelming sea of ICT options and theory, I feel that having a place to start will encourage me to do something to change the way I teach. Actually “place to start” is not exactly correct. I’m already doing some things. I now have a place to continue – I’m going to make one of my goals to be better at his first suggestion: sharing.
3. When you think about the cognitive, cultural, and technological dimensions of our connected selves, what stands out for you as a key concept?
I’m still wrapping my brain around these definitions. If it’s about me, I’ll find it more interesting, so I imagine the cognitive dimension being me and my squishy grey brain. I experience the world through my senses and a lens which has developed over time through my history. The way that I connect with the world depends on my skills, interests, genetics, body chemistry, moods, and previous experiences. The cultural dimension is all of my interactions with humans outside of myself, including friends, colleagues, students, authors, actors, historical figures, “society” (whoever they are), and anyone I may have missed. The technological dimension is a part of how connections are made. I find it interesting how the three dimensions interact and influence one another. It seems important to me to remember that ICT is just a piece of the puzzle. Learning happens through each of these dimensions and the technology is a way to enhance what we are able to do through our interactions with each other.
4. How do you define technology and information literacy today?
I found the following image on a blog and I wanted to include it, in addition to the list I posted earlier from the CASL, as part of a definition for information literacy:
It’s interesting how arranging something into a graphic organizer can make it so much more appealing that a list. Especially when there are colours! Technology literacy is a concept that I’m still working with. A definition from the Colorado Department of Education states that technology literacy is the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to:
- Communicate
- Solve problems
- Access, manage, integrate, evaluate, design and create information to improve learning in all subject areas
- Acquire lifelong knowledge and skills in the 21st century
I’m not sure I completely agree (point number four is vague), but it’s interesting how similar this is to the definition of information literacy.
5. What are the most important conceptual developments that you will take with you as we move forward in this course?
I don’t think I can know yet what will be the most important until I get there, but I think I need to work on how everything works together before we move further. Some work for the weekend!
6. What issues, interest, or opportunity have you identified as a key topic for your inquiry work next week?
Wow! There are so many of the issues from the mindmeister that are interesting to me and I don’t think I’m ready to decide, quite yet. I’m interested in the pedagogy around specific online resources – I want to know that I’m doing things because they’re good for the students, not just because it’s a fad or that someone who’s a skilled marketer has convinced me I need to. The concept of BYOD, including the challenges and benefits of these policies (and where the policies are coming from) may soon be a reality in BC, according to the BC Education Plan. I’d like to know more about it so I can become a better advocate (either for or against it… I assume against, but maybe I need to look at the other side). I’m also interested in social learning and how social media can be used to improve student engagement and interaction with the curriculum.
Thanks for your presentation. Your discussion on screen time really made me think about how much free time I spend on the Internet. I have been trying not to whip out my smartphone every time I have wait time.
You seem too optimistic to take a negative stance on BYOD. Does your school have laptops? Perhaps an inquiry project that has student groups working together (sharing a device) within the community (with possible partners) to discover answers to their questions.
Thanks for sharing,
Doni
Our laptops are in poor condition (and as others mentioned in their own situations, very outdated), but we’ve been told they may be in better working order next year (fingers crossed!). The major issue is that when you have 80 teachers in the school and one laptop cart it can be difficult to book them. Our library got a pretty significant grant for converting into a learning commons, so hopefully that will come with some new devices! Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi Charlotte,
Nice presentation today. I have agree with you, kids are comfortable with technology when they need to do something or if it affects their social life. Hence they are good at games, texting, using facebook, and finding free movies and music. When it comes to even printing, they can’t seem to manage that. I usually have to tell them to change the paper size from A4 to US letter and they don’t have a clue what you are talking about.
I think the goal you proposed for yourself is a realistic one. I think that doing and exploring what you think best serves your students will be the best. You know them better than anyone and when you use technology because you think it is appropriate they will respect you for that.
I just love your honesty, you have more questions than answers and in a way I think that is the intention of the course-you and I have to find our way and by doing so come up with ideas and formulate concepts to help that will work for us. I’m not in a panic with Why school? We certainly have to change, but we need to make sense of our situation, our colleagues and our students and even the curriculum.
I guess I didn’t follow the peer review guideline.
I agree the important thing to know about technology is how we are going to accomplish what we need to accomplish. I would also say another important thing is to know that we can get help when we encounter an obstacle rather than deciding, “This is not for me.” We are all on a learning continuum. I don’t think there will ever come a time that we ‘know it all’ (esp. in the knowledge era). Technology is part of our human existence, it is not a precursor to our human existence. On the other hand, when we look at technological phenomena and human existence, you will not find humanity without technology. We actually don’t exist without our uses of technology. The whole lifelong learning idea is an odd concept, truly a result of industrial era education. We are always learning, we have always been lifelong learners. Fostering that understanding in educational institutions is new, not the fact that we are lifelong learners. Our human species would not survive long if we were not continuously learning and adapting to changing conditions. If you put pedagogy before technology, and then incorporate technology because it is essential to our human survival, you can’t go wrong with that approach (in my humble opinion).
I feel that humans, as a species, could do very well living without technology (I have some acquaintances who have made the choice to live “off the grid” and have a very successful and happy life) depending on the definition of “technology”. Could I survive and lead a pleasant existence without my cellular phone and computer? Probably. Could I do the same in the absence of my oven and selection of knives? Maybe… but with some difficulty. How would I do without money and my bank card and my car… probably terrible! It depends a lot on how the term “technology” is defined. Humans, through societal pressures, have become reliant on technology and rely on it to maintain our current standard of living. It may, in fact, be what defines us as human. Anyway – I’m going to avoid a huge Darwinian rant here, but I agree that adapting to changing conditions is necessary for survival!