November, A. (2011). Emerging roles
within the knowledge community. In Schrum, L. (Ed.), The best of Corwin:
Educational technology for school leaders (59-76). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Summary
November advocates connecting
education with reality through collaboration and technology. Rather than finding and learning every new
app or program available, teachers should pay attention to what their students
know about and can do with emerging technologies. Teachers can also expand their classrooms to
include colleagues, student peers, and experts from around the world. By making connections globally and locally,
teachers can give their students meaningful projects that will give purpose to
and stimulate learning. This is by no
means a simple task, as many students are accustomed to a passive role in the
classroom, and teachers themselves face uncertainties when encouraging and
incorporating more and more technology into their classrooms.
Reflection
I always sniffed at the idea of a digital native; I mean, I remember when
our modern technology really took off and I’m pretty darn good at adapting to
it. (Unless of course, we are talking about making a switch from cassette tapes
to CDs, VHS to DVD, or Office 2003 to Office 2010.) November gave me a reality check however,
when he included the E-Venture Dino Documentary in his article (pg. 64-65). While working on life science curriculum for
K-5, I kept figuring that students would record their thoughts and ideas using
crayon and paper… those who can’t quite write can draw. Clearly I am being narrow-minded in this
regard. These students would make
excellent documentaries, especially for a live-animal focused curriculum!
November also reinforced the idea of
teaching through problem-solving. I
wonder how effective the client approach
would be for lower elementary students.
He clearly gives evidence of fourth grade students responding to this
kind of prompt (pg. 74). How young will
this extend?
I think generally people underestimate what kids can do and technology can be very leveraging.. They have found that video an really reach kids at risk for dropping out.. I know an english teacher in an alternative school who have kids that are at risk make movie stories (like soap operas) but before they are done they have written scripts.. made commercials (more persuasive prose).. and have worked in groups and organized large projects.. These are kids that they could not get to come to school and thought were lost causes.. Sometimes a difference of media, and a sign of trust and belief from a teacher can make all the difference.. For science, I have found kids that can't pass a test, can watch a show on discovery and make all kinds of connections.. So a change of media can really reach ..
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember that media can keep you motivated.. in science we have all had worksheet Packet teachers.. sometimes media can help maintain teacher motivation..
Kiddos are amazing!
DeleteI understand what you mean about changes in media. I wonder if online videos are going to become the next worksheet packet though. I was at the fall Oklahoma Science Teachers Association meeting and one of the session leaders mentioned that the videos they put up to help teachers understand how experiments would work/what they would look like, ended up being the experiment for the students.
Thus, the students were still robbed of the opportunity to work with materials and make connections themselves - it was all in the video...
I have to admit I used to think about integrating student produced media in the classroom just took to long and did not contain enough content for me to justify using it. Then last year I finally introduced the periodic table and elements to the students by letting them pick an element or group of elements and make about a two minute video. I was shocked at the quality of the products and the time some of these kids put into their work. Many of them as they were researching were learning things about the elements they picked that I had never even heard about before. I quickly found out that it can be amazing what kids can do if you just give them time to do it.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a great example of partnering and giving students the opportunity to answer questions that are meaningful to them.
DeleteI always try to keep an eye on Bloom's 2.0 for technology integration ideas. That is one of my favorite resources.