fighting a lost battle?

image from this flickrer

Article: E-safety and Web 2.0 - Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4
Mike Sharples, Rebecca Graber, Colin Harrison and Kit Logan

Wow, just when you think teaching/learning technologies and Web2.0 tools are amazing, the darker side rears its ugly head. Cyber-safety and cyber-bullying are INCREDIBLY important topics, ones that ABSOLUTELY MUST be thoroughly explained to students. This excerpt from the article above highlights the role a teacher must play in keeping children away from danger:

Schools can have a role in educating children to use the new internet safely and responsibly. Teachers can help children to appreciate when they cross the line from normal and acceptable Web 2.0 activity, which may include posting some personal details online, to abnormal and risky behaviour. Currently, most children are prevented from engaging in any social activity on the web at school. While this may remove the immediate danger to children and protect the school or local authority against lawsuits, it may also store up further problems for society at large. Now that most children have home access, safe behaviours are essential, but a strongly protected online environment at school may not provide the opportunity to learn these.

While on prac, and during my work at a before/after school centre, I witness verbal and physical forms of bullying every day. It saddens me to think that once more and more technology is introduced into our schools, cyber-bullying will become much more apparent. I believe that it is absolutely vital to teach our children social skills and how to interact fairly in group work/play situations - THEN and only then, introduce technology into the picture. If our children grow up to be anti-social beings, ones that have no idea how to cooperate fairly in teams, then what is the point of adding another thing that teachers must fight against - tackle the underlying issue first.

But then again, are we really fighting a battle that has already been lost? Many children nowadays have severe anti-social qualities, and alot have computers in their bedrooms. If we do all we can as teachers to educate about online safety and cyber bullying, is that enough? I think parents more so than teachers need to first be educated about the risks of allowing their children to surf the net unsupervised.

Martine, in her blog, provides a checklist of information that parents/and additionally teachers can use when discussing and implementing internet safety:

- keep the computer in a family room, NOT in a bedroom
- understand parenting controls on your internet browser and how to block websites and emails - find softwares that can be used to help protect your child
- dont allow your child to submit personal information on line without your permission
- encourage them to show you and tell you about anything that makes them uncomfortable when surfing the internet
- familiarise yourself and talk to your child about who they contact on-line

For more information, the article linked above provides statistics and easy to read information about these issues. All in all, a very thought provoking issue!

Papert's Opinion.

thanks to this flickrer for the big blue apple lego.

Seymour Papert is the inventor of the Logo Computer Language the first and most important effort to give children control over new technology. He has written many articles regarding the issue of the importance of technology in schools. In his article, "Technology in schools: To support the system or render it obsolete", Papert comments on the idea of whether schools can simply 'introduce' technology into their classrooms, or whether schools need to 'change completely' to accommodate for true technology-enhanced learning. He states:

"And as long as schools confine the technology to simply improving what they are doing rather than really changing the system, nothing very significant will happen".

Sorry Seymour, I disagree.
Maybe I am just being put off by everyones need to introduce every little bit of technology into schools, but really - no, I don't think changing the entire system is necessary! Sure, technology is advancing at a rapid rate, but honestly, children do not need to have it thrown in their faces every second of the day. For example, I really don't like the idea of people wanting to introduce the iPad to read stories. JUST GET A REAL BOOK!

I understand and appreciate Papert's viewpoint, and although I am not against technology in schools, I truely believe there needs to be a balance. Too much technology can be over stimulating, resulting in student misbehaviour, or simply a lack of physical activity.

When I become a practicing teacher, of course, I will definately use and appreciate technology in my classroom. But I will make sure there is a balance. All in all, in my opinion, technology should be used to 'improve' the current system, not to 'change' it completely.

Digital Video

'Digital Video Goes To School'
Hoffenberg, H., & Handler, M. (2001). Digital video goes to school. Learning & Leading with Technology, 29(2), 10-15.

Ok, to be honest, I just skimmed this article. But I picked up on some really great information and tips on how digital video promotes meaningful learning and examples of how to use it in the classroom. Here we go with some quotes:

"In the process of creating a video, students are practicing many of the following skills:
- the technical skills involved in making and editing a video
- visual literacy skills
- the higher-level thinking skills of analysing and synthesising the information they want to present as they come up with a point of focus their work and as they decide what details to include in their videos"

Some formats that digital video can take include:
- video newscasts
- documentaries
- infomercials
- video clips for websites or multimedia presentations

"Video is a natural fit when you want to capture:
- emotion
- heritage or culture
- memorable experiences
- change over time
- a process
- a phenomenon in nature"

Well, there it is. I think the idea of digital video in the classroom is quite amazing. I am constantly learning more about this medium through this course, and am excited to incorporate what I have learnt on my prac in two weeks! Keep the learning coming!

Building Sandcastles

Thanks to this flickrer!

Who knew that when you were a child, playing by the seashore and hoping to dig to China, that you were infact LEARNING. But now, reading this article, it all makes sense.

Idit Harel claims that "children learn best when they are in the active roles of designer and constructor, like the kids building the sand castle on the beach". I personally agree and support this notion. I remember back to the 'simple and innocent' times where I played aimlessly with my brother on the white Bondi Beach sands, creating masterpieces like the image above. (Ok, well maybe not as good!). But I remember trying to make tunnels and bridges through the sand, and becoming frustrated when the sand would collapse around me. I soon realised that I needed to have a strong support or foundation for the bridge to actually hold up. When I realised this, after many trials and errors - I perfected the art of sand bridge making! And I guess to this day, I still can make a pretty good sand bridge!

But back to the point - this 'constructionist' approach to learning is pretty accurate. I really believe learning becomes more personal/emotional/and meaningful when the child discovers something on their own, through their own 'construction', or perhaps even 'deconstruction'.

The article futher reflects on how we as educators can use technology to support this kind of 'sandcastle learning'. Harel states that "the Net...offers a wide-open learning environment in which children can explore the world, express themselves, save their creations, revise and refine them over time and exchange ideas in ways that were simply not possible in the past. But it is not the technologies themselves that are so important; rather, what is important are the ways that we use the technologies and think about them."
YES! This is the point of it all! We shouldn't introduce children to technology just for the sake of it, we should present technologies that sustain and encourage constructionist or 'sandcastle' learning!