Some people say drill and practice is really "drill and kill." What can teachers do to make sure this kind of use doesn't happen and drill and practice can serve a useful function?
There are two things a teacher needs to do when they’re evaluating a drill and practice situation. The first is to assess whether or not this is the best way to learn the skill, and the second is to find an appropriate software program. Certain skills, especially ones that require automaticity, work especially well for drill and practice (think typing, grammar, multiplication tables). The best thing a teacher can do is to sit down with various software options and use them or test them on a few students for a short period of time to see if they fulfill the promise of skill mastery. The software must be interesting enough that students will stay interested in it, but not overly complicated or too stimulating.
Another thing to keep in mind is the age of the children and their normal attention span. Expecting children in kinder to work at such a program for more than about 10 or 15 minutes would be inappropriate, even though they may zone out in front of television or video games at home for much longer. In order to be a true learning experience, a developmentally appropriate time-frame needs to be addressed.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Discussion - Week 11
Some educators feel that distance technologies will greatly improve education; some feel education will suffer if they are overused. What are factors you can cite in support of each of these positions?
If I lived in a small town or a rural community, the idea of distance education would be very exciting to me, as it would give me opportunities that I wouldn't otherwise have. I grew up in Kansas, and there are so many small, rural schools that can't afford to have AP programs in many subjects, and I think distance education would be a great thing for them. I also have friends who travel for a living and educate their children on the road. Going from traditional correspondence courses to online courses has really made a difference in the types of activities that the kids can learn and also their participation in different types of classes. A lot of them are still using video-type courses, but as reliable mobile Internet services become easier to acquire, I think that will become the dominant form of distance education. Distance education allows these special home-schoolers to have opportunities that their parents can't provide and may also help them work in special learning communities for group work that they wouldn't otherwise learn so easily.
In terms of disadvantages, I think the opportunity for cheating has to be at the top of the list. In the "old days," people would have others take their tests and things like that at large universities, so it only stands to reason that people with enough money could pay someone to get the degree on line for them, too. I know at least 3 people who have gotten degrees completely online, and while I think in these cases they all did all of the work themselves, I don't think that everyone has that same motivation and honesty. In a program that is completely online, anyone can be sitting at the terminal taking the test. I also think that casual interaction with your peers, colleagues and professors can sometimes be almost as beneficial as the course content, and while I know that these programs have a lot of group activities, I don't feel like the bonds that these people have forged on line are as strong as when people meet face to face. In most careers, networking is a huge part of moving up, and if the people you network with all live in different places, it won't help much unless you are able to be very mobile with your career.
If I lived in a small town or a rural community, the idea of distance education would be very exciting to me, as it would give me opportunities that I wouldn't otherwise have. I grew up in Kansas, and there are so many small, rural schools that can't afford to have AP programs in many subjects, and I think distance education would be a great thing for them. I also have friends who travel for a living and educate their children on the road. Going from traditional correspondence courses to online courses has really made a difference in the types of activities that the kids can learn and also their participation in different types of classes. A lot of them are still using video-type courses, but as reliable mobile Internet services become easier to acquire, I think that will become the dominant form of distance education. Distance education allows these special home-schoolers to have opportunities that their parents can't provide and may also help them work in special learning communities for group work that they wouldn't otherwise learn so easily.
In terms of disadvantages, I think the opportunity for cheating has to be at the top of the list. In the "old days," people would have others take their tests and things like that at large universities, so it only stands to reason that people with enough money could pay someone to get the degree on line for them, too. I know at least 3 people who have gotten degrees completely online, and while I think in these cases they all did all of the work themselves, I don't think that everyone has that same motivation and honesty. In a program that is completely online, anyone can be sitting at the terminal taking the test. I also think that casual interaction with your peers, colleagues and professors can sometimes be almost as beneficial as the course content, and while I know that these programs have a lot of group activities, I don't feel like the bonds that these people have forged on line are as strong as when people meet face to face. In most careers, networking is a huge part of moving up, and if the people you network with all live in different places, it won't help much unless you are able to be very mobile with your career.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Class Discussion - Week 9
Describe issues related to training special education teachers to use technology.
Special education teachers already face a lot of time-consuming challenges and numerous rounds of special training, so I can only imagine that they would be overwhelmed by having to take more training to learn to use new technology properly and proficiently. Since special education students have IEPs, it takes much longer for teachers to make those plans and to develop individual TAKS testing. I think time is probably their greatest enemy. Cost is probably also a factor, as there are so many different special education needs. Technology may be very expensive and farther down the list than assistive devices that are simple to use or benefit numerous students. With some new technology, teachers may not yet see relative advantage.
Give examples of no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech solutions for special students.
With gifted and talented students, the old low-tech way to do research would be to do projects with pencil and paper, posters with markers or to make some sort of craft piece. With low-tech accessories like typewriters, tape players and cameras, students can make more elaborate scrapbook type projects, tape interviews or even produce old-fashioned slide shows. With higher-tech computerized systems, today's kids produce podcasts, digital films, computerized slide shows, web pages, blogs, and multi-media presentations with ease.
Special education teachers already face a lot of time-consuming challenges and numerous rounds of special training, so I can only imagine that they would be overwhelmed by having to take more training to learn to use new technology properly and proficiently. Since special education students have IEPs, it takes much longer for teachers to make those plans and to develop individual TAKS testing. I think time is probably their greatest enemy. Cost is probably also a factor, as there are so many different special education needs. Technology may be very expensive and farther down the list than assistive devices that are simple to use or benefit numerous students. With some new technology, teachers may not yet see relative advantage.
Give examples of no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech solutions for special students.
With gifted and talented students, the old low-tech way to do research would be to do projects with pencil and paper, posters with markers or to make some sort of craft piece. With low-tech accessories like typewriters, tape players and cameras, students can make more elaborate scrapbook type projects, tape interviews or even produce old-fashioned slide shows. With higher-tech computerized systems, today's kids produce podcasts, digital films, computerized slide shows, web pages, blogs, and multi-media presentations with ease.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Discussion - Week 7
What are the "history wars," and what are their implications for technology use in history?
The history wars are essentially the disagreements between various arbiters of history. They disagree about whether social studies curriculum should include strictly a timeline of historical events and civics lessons, or whether a broader version of social studies including cultures and cultural differences should be encompassed.
With students' ready access to information on the Internet, what might be the concerns of social studies teachers?
Most students are not prepared to pass judgment on the quality of the web sites that they access. They need to have lessons about how to locate and select sources, how to recognize bias, how to give proper credit to the sources they use and whether a web site is current in its information. Students also need a fair amount of supervision while working on the Internet, as many of them will drift off task if not monitored. Internet access can also lead to plagiarism. Whole papers and works can be copied much more easily than in previous eras.
The history wars are essentially the disagreements between various arbiters of history. They disagree about whether social studies curriculum should include strictly a timeline of historical events and civics lessons, or whether a broader version of social studies including cultures and cultural differences should be encompassed.
With students' ready access to information on the Internet, what might be the concerns of social studies teachers?
Most students are not prepared to pass judgment on the quality of the web sites that they access. They need to have lessons about how to locate and select sources, how to recognize bias, how to give proper credit to the sources they use and whether a web site is current in its information. Students also need a fair amount of supervision while working on the Internet, as many of them will drift off task if not monitored. Internet access can also lead to plagiarism. Whole papers and works can be copied much more easily than in previous eras.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Week 5 - Chapter 9 Discussion
Many educators believe that with the growth of media and information technology, media literacy is just as important as – or even more important than – print literacy (that is, learning to read and write). What is your position on the relative importance of the two “literacies”?
My undergraduate degree is in Mass Communication, but even in today’s world, I don’t think that media literacy should be considered as or more important than learning to read and write. We would do a great disservice to our students to pretend that this is the case. I was fortunate enough to come to first grade just after a few years of a new theory where spelling was not taught at all. The result of that experiment showed a lot of people that some “old-fashioned” ideas were still important (and this was before computers with spell-check). As they progressed to the higher grades, the students who didn’t learn to spell had a harder time reading and comprehending, and had difficulty communicating in writing – they knew what they were saying, but others did not understand. Even today, improper spelling will keep a student from getting information from some databases, search engines and on-line catalogs. Students need media literacy as a tool, but it should not replace a strong emphasis on good reading and writing skills.
What information from this chapter helps support your position?
When looking at the NCTE/IRA Standards for English/Language Arts, only one standard (#8) specifically specifies technology skills. The rest of the skills involve reading, writing and using higher-level skills to assimilate knowledge. While technology can be used as a tool in these endeavors, technology cannot replace the skill set of reading and writing to achieve these goals. Having a sense of media literacy will be necessary as students complete their work, as using word processing and information programs for routine research also requires an understanding of the media and its limitations. But again, these are tools to supplement the print literacy.
My undergraduate degree is in Mass Communication, but even in today’s world, I don’t think that media literacy should be considered as or more important than learning to read and write. We would do a great disservice to our students to pretend that this is the case. I was fortunate enough to come to first grade just after a few years of a new theory where spelling was not taught at all. The result of that experiment showed a lot of people that some “old-fashioned” ideas were still important (and this was before computers with spell-check). As they progressed to the higher grades, the students who didn’t learn to spell had a harder time reading and comprehending, and had difficulty communicating in writing – they knew what they were saying, but others did not understand. Even today, improper spelling will keep a student from getting information from some databases, search engines and on-line catalogs. Students need media literacy as a tool, but it should not replace a strong emphasis on good reading and writing skills.
What information from this chapter helps support your position?
When looking at the NCTE/IRA Standards for English/Language Arts, only one standard (#8) specifically specifies technology skills. The rest of the skills involve reading, writing and using higher-level skills to assimilate knowledge. While technology can be used as a tool in these endeavors, technology cannot replace the skill set of reading and writing to achieve these goals. Having a sense of media literacy will be necessary as students complete their work, as using word processing and information programs for routine research also requires an understanding of the media and its limitations. But again, these are tools to supplement the print literacy.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Week 3 - Discussion Question Response
1. Why do you think the teachers did not see the relative advantage of this technology?
Several possibilities: inadequate funding or lack of access to appropriate software, inadequate teacher training on hardware and/or software, inadequate technical support, lack of perceived priority by campus administration, lack of parent permission for students to access the Internet.
2. If you were made responsible for integrating this technology into instructional activities, how would you translate the superintendent's rationale into problems and solutions for which the relative advantage would be clear to teachers?
The superintendent needs to find instructional problems within the system and address those inadequacies with technology solutions. Teachers will be looking for help with identifiable instructional problems, so when presented with solutions in a technology format, they will be more likely to see the relative advantage. Once the problem and the technology solution are identified, the superintendent also needs to insure that the teachers are fully trained and comfortable with the technology they will be using and that they understand the channels available to them if they encounter problems.
Several possibilities: inadequate funding or lack of access to appropriate software, inadequate teacher training on hardware and/or software, inadequate technical support, lack of perceived priority by campus administration, lack of parent permission for students to access the Internet.
2. If you were made responsible for integrating this technology into instructional activities, how would you translate the superintendent's rationale into problems and solutions for which the relative advantage would be clear to teachers?
The superintendent needs to find instructional problems within the system and address those inadequacies with technology solutions. Teachers will be looking for help with identifiable instructional problems, so when presented with solutions in a technology format, they will be more likely to see the relative advantage. Once the problem and the technology solution are identified, the superintendent also needs to insure that the teachers are fully trained and comfortable with the technology they will be using and that they understand the channels available to them if they encounter problems.
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