My first graduate
class in integrating technology into education was very interesting. This blog post will attempt to share some of
what I learned. I had heard the term Web
2.0, but really did not know what it all entailed. Web 2.0 is the second generation of the
Internet. Instead of being a passive reader of the Internet, Web 2.0 tools
allow people to add, edit, and share their own creations on the Internet (Schrum
and Levin, 2009). Users can communicate
and collaborate instantaneously on the net, using tools like Google Docs,
wikis, blogs and podcasts. Users can
share information, pictures, and documents, some of which can be edited by
several people simultaneously. Tools
like VoiceThread (see post below) allow users to share
and discuss presentations, pictures, as well as ideas. A tool called a Ning allows people to create
their own social networks and share information about a common topic. Blogs, like
this one, allow a person to share ideas and information with anyone who has
access to the site. You Tube, and other sites, allows people to share videos, which
have had a huge impact on our world news recently, or help people to learn how
to do almost anything! There are many educational tutorials on YouTube, including some on how to use Web 2.0 technology. The variety of tools
available also allows teachers to reach all students with different learning
styles.
Web 2.0, therefore, is a beneficial tool for teachers to use, in the
classroom or outside of the classroom as supplementary instruction or review, along with their other teaching tools. There
are also alternative technologies and universal design tools that help all
children, but specifically those with disabilities, to succeed in school. Multiple ways of accessing the computer, for
those with motor difficulties, for example, or technology that aids struggling
learners with reading, writing and mathematics, are other forms of 21st
century educational technology. Many
products, Dragon or Clicker6 for example, allow alternative input or feedback
to the student. Many of them can be
modified to suit the educational level of the student.
Marc Prensky
has written and spoken extensively on this subject of 21st Century
education. In his article “Digital
Natives, Digital Immigrants” (2001), he calls the current generation of
students “digital natives” because they have been inundated with technology from
the time they were born. Because of this,
he asserts that they “think and process information differently” (Prensky, 2001,
n.p.) than previous generations did. Seventy-five percent of members of the
generation known as the Millennial generation, those born between the early
1980’s and 2000, have a Facebook account, and a majority of them use the
Internet for information or entertainment (Schrum and Levin, 2009). We need to use these tools to reach our
plugged-in students. Experts suggest a learner centered education, as opposed to the old lecture format. As Schrum and Levin put it, “teaching is not
just telling” (p.12). I have always
believed that children need to learn facts, but they also need to learn HOW to
learn, meaning how to find information and become lifelong learners. They need to have authentic learning
experiences, which they can obtain by interacting with students and people from
other states and countries over the Internet.
But that does
not mean sending them on to the Internet to surf randomly at their will. There are tools and standards that teachers
can use to design lessons and curriculum based around using the Internet. Interestingly, when I started teaching office
and publishing computer skills ten years ago, and was trying to develop a
curriculum, there were no state standards for what we were expected to
teach. There were some guidelines. Today there are state standards for
Information and Communication Technology, as well as student, teacher and
administrator standards from the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE). Common Core standards have technology
interwoven into the core subject standards.
There are also safeguards and protocol that must be integrated. There are sites mainly for education, like Edublogs.org
and Edmodo, which are alternatives to other blog sites or social networking
sites. Many of these sites have controls
in place that allow the teachers to control who is able to access the sites as
well as moderate posts (in case there is anything personal or offensive being
shared) . The WebQuest, developed by
Bernie Dodge and Tom March, at SDSU, is a tool that allows teachers to organize
and specify which sites their students are to use to complete their
projects. For more info on WebQuests,
see http://webquest.org/index.php.
Of course teaching students about Internet
safety and Netiquette are also important prerequisites and ongoing learning experiences. Educational bookmarking sites, like
Evernote.com and Delicious.com, among others, allow students to organize and
save information for project reports, as well as share that information with
their peers, when working on a group project.
Some may also be effective for saving student work in a portfolio, which
is also a requirement by some state education departments.
Lastly, there
are many roadblocks to integrating technology into education. First, education for the teachers is an important
part of 21st century education.
There are so many products and tools available, but if the teachers are
not trained to use them, they may not use them.
Teachers need to research and learn how to use the tools before
implementing them. The TPAK model shows how content, pedagogy, and technology
all combine to develop a framework for integrating technology into education
(Koehler, M. and Mishra, P., 2006). It
is important for teachers to seek out professional development opportunities,
and 21st century websites like ISTE and Classroom20.com (a Ning
site) provide those opportunities. There
are also concerns about privacy and protection of our children. Laws like CIPA
and COPPA, FERPA and possibly HIPPA constrain use of the Internet in education.
Some districts block everything to ensure compliance with these laws, but we
need to find ways to comply with the laws and ensure online safety without
limiting the ability of teachers and students to use the web to expand their
educational possibilities.
Resources:
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital
Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the
Horizon, 9 (5).
Mishra, P. and
Koehler, M. (2006). Technological
Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College Record 108 (6).
Schrum, L and
Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools. Corwin. Thousand Oaks, CA.
