ED C&I 831 Ken Meredith’s Blog

The video is a thought provoking reflective piece on technology use in the classroom.

The engagement of students by using technology is accurate.  Technology use is very motivational.

The creator of the video gives an example of using a cell phone to get information from others outside the school (or country).  Information like what you had for breakfast, etc.  The next slide states “Talk about acquiring useful data”.  Don’t get me wrong, the exercise would be very engaging to the students.  But acquiring useful data is a stretch for me to believe.

Using technology is not good enough.  We have to find out instructional approaches where learning is enhanced.

I certainly agree with portions of the video.  The creator speaks of engaging them, rather than enraging them – excellent point. 

The other snippet was – if you can’t beat em – join em.  Technology is an integrated part of society.  We have an obligation to teach students how to use it effectively.

Using technology just to use it is part of the process.  Students and teachers have to feel comfortable with the technology before we have a hope of using it effectively in the classroom.

My post is confusing as a flip flop from anti-tech to pro-tech.  I guess that is the struggle with technology.  Does using technology enhance learning enough to warrant its cost?

Safety of our children has to be taken into account when using technology.  Does this mean that some the power of the Internet will be diminished.  Yes it does.  Having said that, students can still benefit from the technology activities and enhance their learning.  If we expect society to control this aspect of technology, good luck.  The education sector has to take this upon themselves to ensure the safety of the children.  I realize this is easier said than done. 

A recent example that comes to mind is when I uploaded my video to YouTube.  Two of the related videos on the sidebar were pertaining to oral sex and erectile dysfunction.  Maybe that says something about my video. 

Seriously though, does society want our children exposed to this?  I know as an administrator, it would be difficult for me to talk my way around this if a parent had concerns. 

We can’t just throw our hands up and accept this.  I think we have to do reasonable steps to ensure the safety of our students while they are using technology.  I’m not a lawyer, but I would be curious to see the outcome of a case involving a school division and these types of technology safety issues.

This is my 1^st experience with del.icio.us.  What a great concept.  Back in the day when I was primarily a computer geek, book marking sites for classes was a pain.  I eventually figured out a method to put them on a server and have them downloaded to the student’s profile.  But even that was frustrating because it was different for Win 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP, not to mention the Mac. 

To have it web-based is long overdue and a real time saver (imagine that with technology).  It is really nice to have my home computer bookmarks available at work and vice versa, without trying to remember them all.  Nobel Prize for the creator – or at least 2 thumbs up.

This is my professional blog.

 As other members of the class mentioned, the technology (Adobe Connect) can be frustrating at times.

Working through the frustration and creating a more productive environment using technology is exciting.